 The game that became Fez began in a collaboration between Montreal @-@ based Phil Fish and Toronto @-@ based Shawn McGrath on McGrath 's idea for a puzzle game : a four @-@ sided 3D space with each side in 2D , similar to Fish 's 3D <unk> ( <unk> ) as incorporated into Fez . The entirety of Fez 's design , lore , and art descends from this game mechanic . Fish provided the project 's art and credited his influence to Shigeru Miyamoto and <unk> Miyazaki . Fish and McGrath 's partnership <unk> due to creative differences , as Fish wanted to create a platform game . Fish continued to work on the game in his spare time and announced his search for a programmer on <unk> , and the first person to reply , <unk> Bédard , became lead programmer . They were both the same age and living in Montreal . Though Bédard had some <unk> experience in 3D graphics and was studying computer science , Fez was his first professional game development project . His first task was to write the level editor and game engine . 
