Dylan McKenzie
Dylan outdoors with a mountain landscape behind him

I make games and useful tools.

I'm Dylan, a trainee software engineer at Kainos and a Computing Systems student at Ulster. I build personal projects and help people get started in tech.

Say hello on LinkedIn Find me on GitHub
Illustration of a red ball rolling along an elevated path in a bright landscape Illustration Coming soon

Rumble Ball

A Roblox game I've worked on under Vorox Games. Players roll around in a ball and take on different minigames.

Vorox Games
Onward's topic guides for the Northern Ireland car theory test in the light theme Onward's topic guides for the Northern Ireland car theory test in the dark theme

Onward

A free revision app I built for the Northern Ireland car theory test, with practice questions, mock tests and progress saved in your browser.

onward.dylanmck.com

Fripp Bot

I built a community automation platform for Cupcake Valley in Star Stable Online, bringing racing schedules, news and group activities into Discord. A private dashboard manages settings and notifications, with persistent scheduled jobs, restart recovery and protection against duplicate notifications behind the scenes.

LumosMaxima

A PowerShell automation tool for Windows that switches app themes between light and dark with the time of day.

Open Night Game

A reaction-time game for Primary 6 and 7 pupils visiting my school, introducing the coding club I started.

Play the game

Work & study

At Kainos, I currently work with the ICO. I also study Computing Systems at Ulster.

Helping people get started

Mentoring through CodeCamp, Earn As You Learn and IglooCode.

A little logic. A lot of cats.

Play Catnap

Catnap is my take on the coloured-region logic puzzle. Place one cat in every row, column and coloured region. Cats cannot touch, even diagonally.

There are Journey, Daily and Free play modes, with undo, hints and reveal controls when you need a hand.

Catnap daily puzzle in the light theme, with the puzzle board, rules and undo, hint and reveal controls Catnap daily puzzle in the dark theme, with a cat placed in a coloured region
Catnap - Daily puzzle on desktop
Catnap Journey puzzle on a phone in the light theme, with a six-by-six board and touch controls Catnap Journey puzzle on a phone in the dark theme
Catnap - Journey on a phone

Car theory, at your own pace.

Try Onward

I built Onward as a free revision app for the Northern Ireland car theory test. It brings a study plan, topic guides, practice questions and mock tests together in one place.

Revision progress is stored locally in your browser, so you can return to your study plan. The app focuses on the knowledge questions and does not include hazard perception.

Onward's study plan with a starting check and revision progress on desktop in the light theme Onward's study plan with a starting check and revision progress on desktop in the dark theme
Onward - Study plan on desktop
Onward's study plan with a starting check and revision progress on a phone in the light theme Onward's study plan with a starting check and revision progress on a phone in the dark theme
Onward - Study plan on a phone
Onward's essentials topic list with search and study progress on desktop in the light theme Onward's essentials topic list with search and study progress on desktop in the dark theme
Onward - The essentials on desktop
Onward's essentials topic list with search and study progress on a phone in the light theme Onward's essentials topic list with search and study progress on a phone in the dark theme
Onward - The essentials on a phone

File tools that stay on your device.

Try LocalShift

I built LocalShift as a free collection of file tools that run in your browser. Convert files, inspect archives, view and edit metadata, and verify file integrity.

Everything runs locally on your device, with no file uploads or accounts required. It also includes tools for creating GIFs and memes, without watermarks.

LocalShift's file converter with format categories and a file picker on desktop in the light theme LocalShift's file converter with format categories and a file picker on desktop in the dark theme
LocalShift - File converter on desktop
LocalShift's file converter with format categories and a file picker on a phone in the light theme LocalShift's file converter with format categories and a file picker on a phone in the dark theme
LocalShift - File converter on a phone
LocalShift's meme maker with an image preview and caption controls on desktop in the light theme LocalShift's meme maker with an image preview and caption controls on desktop in the dark theme
LocalShift - Meme maker on desktop
LocalShift's meme maker with an image preview and caption controls on a phone in the light theme LocalShift's meme maker with an image preview and caption controls on a phone in the dark theme
LocalShift - Meme maker on a phone

Work, study and learning as I go.

I'm based in Belfast. I joined Kainos in September 2024 through Earn As You Learn, a four-year pathway combining work with my Computing Systems degree at Ulster.

At Kainos
I currently work with the ICO, using Microsoft SQL Server, SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), Power Automate, C#, Dynamics and Azure.
Before that
After the engineering academy, I spent around a year on the admissions project for Queen's University Belfast, using Playwright for automated testing alongside manual testing.
Away from the code
Photography, building and fixing computers, and a good hot chocolate.

Helping people get started.

I help people get started in tech through mentoring, school visits and events.

Kainos CodeCamp

I attended in 2023 and returned to mentor in 2025 and 2026, helping young people work through their projects.

Earn As You Learn

After my first year, I was paired with a new joiner from the 2025 intake for one-to-one mentoring: checking in, answering questions and helping them settle into Kainos.

IglooCode

I contributed in 2025, then helped lead the room, guide pupils, and organise and set up the 2026 Belfast event while I was chief operating officer at Verglas. Almost 300 pupils took part across 60 teams.

I also took part in ESB Science Blast Belfast in 2026 and returned to Ashfield Boys' High School for its 2025 careers fair, sharing my route into tech and talking to pupils about work experience, CodeCamp and Earn As You Learn.

Catnap daily puzzle in the light theme