Was John Is Dead the first game I have ever made?

Technically, no.  

I made my first videogame (if you can call it that) sometime during High School for a school project.   All of us had to create a math-centered project and present it to others, much like a science fair. I asked my teacher's permission to make my project a short video game. Once they said yes, I immediately opened up RPG Maker and got to work! My goal was to make something that was simple and very focused on math gameplay-wise.  

 My game, called "The Mathster", was about a math teacher who has to rescue his math students using new math-based abilities. It used all the RPG Maker's default assets with a few tweaks to the combat situation. You had a round of 10-30 seconds to solve a basic math equation. If you got it right, you could attack with one of the six math-themed spells. If not, you would take damage.   

Like many first games, it wasn't that good. The tutorial was too long and wasn't particularly balanced well despite being such a short game. I added a few jokes here and there that didn't necessarily add anything to the story. Was it the best game ever? Not really. It was enough for me to get an A+, though.  

 In retrospect, I probably could have made something a lot simpler and still have gotten an A. But where's the fun in that? Part of the fun in life is pushing yourself forward to see what you can do. If I hadn't made this math game, John Is Dead wouldn't even exist.   

Maybe one day I will remake The Mathster. I still have some of the files with me. It will take some time to update the art and edit the story. That's still easier than starting another game from scratch. Besides, the world is always in need of more math-based JRPGS (I think).