Five Cats Studios is a one-person indie software studio based in Grundy Center, Iowa. I'm Nathan — a former pastor and hospice chaplain who spent decades in ministry before finally turning a lifelong passion for coding into a real business. I founded the studio in 2026 and I'm currently building three Android apps and a PC video game, all at the same time. The apps — ScriptureQuest, PrayerPath, and AdultingQuest — are faith and life-skills tools designed to help people grow, pray, and navigate everyday life in a more intentional way. ScriptureQuest launches in about two weeks. The game, Smoke & Honey, is a cozy beekeeping farm sim set in a small Iowa town — the kind of slow, systems-rich game that gives people room to breathe. Everything is built by me, solo. What inspired me is simple: I spent my whole career walking alongside people in their most tender moments, and I want to make things that are actually good for them — tools that calm, focus, and delight rather than addict.
The funds will go toward software licenses, development tools, marketing, and the costs of getting these products in front of the people who need them. I'm not trying to go viral — I'm trying to build something lasting from a small town in Iowa. If you're reading this, thank you — genuinely. I know there are a thousand things competing for your attention and your generosity, and the fact that you're here means something to me. I'm not a startup. I don't have investors or a team. I'm one person, in a small Iowa town, building things I believe in — and every dollar you contribute goes directly into making these products better and getting them in front of people who need them. ScriptureQuest is weeks away from launching. PrayerPath is helping people pray in ways that actually fit their life. AdultingQuest is teaching real-world skills to young people who need them. And Smoke & Honey is a quiet little game about bees and seasons and belonging — the kind of game the world needs more of. Your support doesn't just fund software. It tells a former small-town pastor that it's not too late to build something new — that the thing you've been putting off your whole life is still worth doing. If you can give, thank you. If you can't, sharing this with one person who might connect with it means just as much. Either way — I'll keep building. — Nathan
The funds will go toward software licenses, development tools, marketing, and the costs of getting these products in front of the people who need them. I'm not trying to go viral — I'm trying to build something lasting from a small town in Iowa. If you're reading this, thank you — genuinely. I know there are a thousand things competing for your attention and your generosity, and the fact that you're here means something to me. I'm not a startup. I don't have investors or a team. I'm one person, in a small Iowa town, building things I believe in — and every dollar you contribute goes directly into making these products better and getting them in front of people who need them. ScriptureQuest is weeks away from launching. PrayerPath is helping people pray in ways that actually fit their life. AdultingQuest is teaching real-world skills to young people who need them. And Smoke & Honey is a quiet little game about bees and seasons and belonging — the kind of game the world needs more of. Your support doesn't just fund software. It tells a former small-town pastor that it's not too late to build something new — that the thing you've been putting off your whole life is still worth doing. If you can give, thank you. If you can't, sharing this with one person who might connect with it means just as much. Either way — I'll keep building. — Nathan
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