2025 Guests of Honour
Bill Benham
Bill Benham started playing Dungeons & Dragons as a kid and knew he would make games one day. “One Day” was the summer of 2018 when he joined the Wizards of the Coast as a producer for D&D. Before joining Wizards, Bill served 20 years in the Army, earned a master’s in healthcare administration, and was a clinic manager in the public sector. Besides work, he fills his days finding new games, searching for new places to eat in Seattle, WA, and watching horror movies with his loyal French bulldog, Kizzy.
Sharang Biswas
Sharang Biswas has won two IGDN awards, four Ennie Awards, an IndieCade award, and a Golden Cobra award for roleplaying games. He has showcased interactive works at institutions such as The Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, the Toronto Reference Library, and The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. He has worked on games such as "Avatar: Legends", "Pathfinder", "Vampire: The Masquerade", "Spire: The City Must Fall", "Moonlight on Roseville Beach", "Jiangshi: Blood on the Banquet Hall", and "Dungeons & Dragons Live", as well as boardgames including "Holi: Festival of Color", "Mad Science Foundation" and "Sea of Legends". His fiction and poetry has appeared in Lightspeed, Augur, Strange Horizons, and more. He is the co-editor of "Honey & Hot Wax: An Anthology of Erotic Art Games" (Pelgrane Press). Sharang currently teaches games at the NYU Game Center and Fordham University.
Erica Bouyouris
Breakout is thrilled to welcome Erica Bouyouris, the Design Lead for Spin Master Games, as a Guest of Honour to this year's con. Erica has designed over 25 games based on movies and IPs; such as the newly released Arizona Iced Tea game, Wicked the Game, and the Dumb Ways to Die card game (which earned a nomination for both Game Designer of the Year for the Play Creators Awards and as Adult Toy of the Year at the Toy of the Year Awards 2023). Erica is also a co-designer on games such as Bosk and the Mensa Select award winning game, Kodama 3D. Occasionally, she also does development work such as Disney's Robin Hood Sheriff of Nottingham. Erica is the co-host of the long running podcast Ludology, a podcast all about games, game design and the gaming industry.
Industry Guests
Aaron Lim
Aaron Lim is a tabletop gamemaker, occasional games educator, and community organizer based in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. He's made storygames like An Altogether Different River and Spectres of Brocken. Aaron is an avid proponent of the art of the trashpost game, and runs the fortnightly playtesting meetup Playtest Zero.
Agatha Cheng
Agatha Cheng is a co-host for the ENnie Award-winning Asians Represent! podcast which celebrates, challenges, and redefines Asian representation in games media and beyond. She is a game designer & writer as well as a cultural consultant for topics of Chinese diaspora and Chinese mythology. Her latest works appear in Deathmatch Island as well as Tomb Raider: Shadows of Truth. Her shoujo manga hack for Good Society, Budding, won at The Awards 2024.
Allison Cole
Allison is an artist and game designer from Montreal with an MFA in Interactive Digital Media and Game Design from New York University. She has a passion for Live Action Role Play, Immersive Theatre, and becoming the best Escape Room Player the world has ever seen. She can be found primarily at Gal Pal Games, where she creates games with her wife and working to fulfill her recently funded Kickstarter "Gay Games to Play in the Car While your GF Drives You to Go Camping."
Andy Kim
Andy Kim is a Canadian board game designer and creator of the cooperative game "The Spill" published by Smirk & Dagger Games. He continues to work on new designs in his free time when he's not playing games with his friends and family. He organizes and runs a board game ministry at his local church and loves to teach games to others.
Ava Islam
Ava Islam is a fool, a wretch, a rogue, and a rapscallion. You can read the ravings of her brain worms on her blog (permacrandam.blogspot.com) or check out her game, Errant.
B Marsollier
B Marsollier (she/her) is a Canadian illustrator, game designer (100% Modern Ghosts, A Fool's Errand), and award-winning podcaster (co-host, Planet Arcana). B’s background is in writing, editing, comic books, and blackjack. B’s interests include ghost stories, curation, and high camp.
Bill Murphy
Bill, part owner and the Lead Creative at BSGames, began his career by helping establish the Canadian HQ for Games Workshop, where he formed a lasting friendship with Scott Kelly. After years in the gaming industry, Bill transitioned into a full-time graphics career, working with notable brands Tommy Hilfiger, Xbox, Molson, Sears, and Mike Weir Golf. His talents soon led him to a role in newspapers, where he redesigned movie ads across Canada and further honed his graphic design skills at The Mississauga News.
Throughout his career, Bill continued to nurture his passion for creativity through his company Purple Alien Illustration and Graphic Design. Here, he combined his expertise in design to solve creative challenges for various clients. Despite his success in the graphic design world, Bill never lost his passion for games. Teaming up with Scott for several years, they both are channelling their passions into BSGames, where the two now work to bring their innovative game ideas to life.
Brian Sago
Brian Sago is a writer, artist and teacher. Some days he tries to do all three and forgets to go for a walk. His art leans medieval, typically made using 600-year-old methods with 120-year-old tools. His games poke fun at modern cultural horrors, like corporate training manuals, Santa Claus, and butter-themed agricultural royalty pageants. He illustrated Pick Me, The Wassailing of Claus Manor, and Dark Designs in Verdigris. He is the author of Pick Me and Butter Princess, a roleplaying game about stealing the 90-pound butter sculptures from the Minnesota State Fair.
Cassandra MacDonald
Cassandra is a perpetual storyteller with a love for indie RPGs weird and unique. They were inducted into the cult of D&D at an age most would consider "too young", and are best known for their breakout DM's Guild title Skullport: Shadow of Waterdeep, as well as their work on ENWorld's Level Up and MCDM's Flee Mortals and upcoming Draw Steel. They've been tinkering and homebrewing for over a decade now, and Must Be Stopped™. If you'd like to try, they can be challenged on Bluesky @theicequeer.
Chris George
Chris George loves Breakout and is happy to be on the list of guests! Finally his mother will be proud of him! Chris runs the YouTube channel Room and Board, which is a channel dedicated to helping you find your next favourite game, where he promises to give you one SINGLE chuckle along the way, and no more! Chris is an expert in Crowdfunded board games, having read through every single rulebook that has passed through Kickstarter/Gamefound/Backerkit in the past 3.5ish years (over 2500 games), and consulted in multiple research studies focused on the hobby and industry trends.
Chris is also the Director of Production for the World Series of Board Gaming (a title he gave himself), handling all of their media, filming, and running mini tournaments across North America. He will be running the WSBG Mini Tournament this year at Breakout, and encourages everyone to stop by and say hi. It's a free event, so anyone can participate, or you can come by and help him not do his job by playing a game with him while the tournament is ongoing! He loves connecting with all board gamers and sharing the love of this fantastic hobby of ours.
Chris Sellers
Chris Sellers is a designer and publisher who makes games to help you envision the world you want to live in. They made the best-selling game Raccoon Sky Pirates, about chaos and trash, and they hope to playtest the Toronto expansion at Breakout Con. They’re also showcasing the queer sword-and-sorcery adventure-romance Defy the Gods. In it, you confront jealous gods and cruel authorities while exploring your emotional entanglements with each other and spiraling upward toward your most glorious, monstrous self.
Chris Tung
Chris Tung is one half of the lifestyle brand Pink City. Founded alongside his brother Mike, Pink City specializes in anime/gaming inspired streetwear - with a strong love for TTRPGs, they have hosted various Dungeons & Dragons charity streams throughout the past three years. Chris Tung is also the award-winning producer/editor/current GM for the comedy TTRPG podcast Super Journey Dudes, and runs the world’s highest production Lancer show called Blink Space Blues. He is known for his wacky homebrewed concepts (including a popular Pokémon themed D&D campaign) and enjoys injecting stories with humour and heart as both a GM and a player. Find him online @lil_tungsta.
Christian Malleck
Christian Malleck is a small-time game designer from Ontario, Canada. His goal is to create games that do something no other games do, either through unique mechanics or concepts. He loves roleplaying games that are cinematic, or a bit silly, so that's what he typically makes. He sells his games as a means to fund the next game he's designing, or to buy other indie games.
Christopher Chan
Christopher Chan is an award-winning art director by day and a game designer by every other moment. His first published game was The Night Cage, which he co-designed and illustrated. He followed that up with Portents, The Night Cage: Shrieking Hollow, and Stalk Exchange. His newest game, Push Push Penguin, is coming out this spring and features his artwork. When he's not making games he's probably running or taking photos of bugs.
Christopher Chung
Chris is the designer of Lanterns: The Harvest Festival, Spell Smashers, and soon to be released My Little Pony: Festival of Lanterns. Sometimes a tutor, but always a tutee, and will always make room for cheesecake when there is none left.
Collette Quach
Collette Quach is an award-winning Chinese-Cambodian narrative designer based in California. With a passion for mythology and their own culture, they've worked on projects such as the Tian Xia Character Guide, the Unbreakable Anthology, and the Uncaged Anthology. They have an interest in making games that incorporate ephemera, physical media, and exploring ourselves.
Daniel Kwan
Daniel is a Canadian podcaster, game designer, and cultural consultant. He is the recipient of 5 Gold and 4 Silver ENnie Awards for his work in the tabletop gaming industry. You might know him as the co-host and showrunner of the Asians Represent! podcast. As a freelance narrative designer, some of his notable works include Candlekeep Mysteries, the Ultimate Micro-RPG Guide, Avatar Legends, Dark Archive, and the Tian Xia series. As a cultural consultant, he has worked for companies like wizards of the Coast, Dimension 20, Critical Role Productions, and Asmodee.
David Van Drunen
David Van Drunen loves bringing people together with "fun"! For over a decade, David has been designing and developing board games that connect people around the shared feeling of "Wouldn’t it be cool if...?”
By mixing the familiar with the unexpected David creates wonderful new games inspired by their Dutch heritage, childhood toys, and nature.
(Design: Block and Key. Gnomes at Midnight. || Develop: The Wolves. The Networks.)
Derek Chung
Derek is an easy-going, globe-trotting mental health professional by day and an award-winning game designer by night.
While he got into game development the usual way—a steady diet of geek media and anime, a hatred of sleep, and way, way too much beer—his background in psychotherapy is what reinforced his love of shared worlds and co-operative storytelling. Seeing and experiencing the similarities between therapy and gaming, Derek now marries the two, and is one of the pioneers in the young field of therapeutic gaming that attempts to make psychological health more inclusive, available, and most-importantly, fun, for everyone.
Derek Gour
Derek is a Toronto-based indie game developer who designs both tabletop and computer games. Creator of the card-based story game Hope Inhumanity, which celebrates its 10-year anniversary in 2025, Derek thinks of game design as crafting memorable experiences for players. His influences range from roleplaying classics like Burning Wheel and Apocalypse World to computer strategy gems like Civilization and Crusader Kings. You can keep up with Derek’s latest game design adventures on his YouTube channel, Dandy Barbarian.
Dora Rogers
Dora Rogers (she/her) is a writer and game designer in Montreal, QC. Her work is interested in domesticity, intimacy, flirtation, femininity, and being gay as hell. She designed Sapphic Slumber Party and Drink My Sweat, and co-designed the Indie Groundbreaker-nominated Alchemistresses with Allison Cole. She has also written about queerness in Magic: The Gathering at Hipsters of the Coast.
Dwight Wade
Dwight aka The Big Bearded Nerd, is a Michigan based stream producer, project manager and mini painter. As 1/2 of Mini Terrain Domain, Dwight has produced several charity streams including Legends of Eleanora and Jasper's Game Day. Dwight also produces an ever growing pile of unpainted minis, but let's not talk about that.
Elliot Davis
Elliot Davis, aka "moreblueberries", is a Brooklyn-based game designer, podcaster, and artist who loves all things weird and wonderful about the TTRPG industry. He is known for such releases as Project ECCO, Rom Com Drama Bomb, and the upcoming The Time We Have. When he's not losing sleep over a new game idea you can hear him play, host, GM, and more on the podcasts My First Dungeon and Talk of the Table which he produces as part of the Many Sided Media team.
Emiel Boven
Emiel Boven is a game designer and artist from the Netherlands. You might know him from his work on DURF or the science-fantasy zines series, The Electrum Archive, which he creates together with Ava Islam. Due to Emiel's talent for switching effortlessly between design, art, and writing, there is a good chance you have seen some of his work in any of the indie RPGs that have come out in the last few years.
Emma Wakelin
Emma Wakelin is a Toronto-based actress, comedian and enthusiastic gamer.
A multi-disciplined comedian and actor, she is a graduate of The Second City Training Centre’s Conservative Program, and in addition, has studied improv at the Bad Dog Theatre in Toronto and The Annoyance Theatre in Chicago.
As a stand-up comedian, she has hosted a semi-regular comedy variety show at the Social Capital Theatre and has appeared in numerous sketch and improv shows and has taken part in The Ottawa Improv Festival, The Toronto Fringe Festival, Globehead & Theatresports.
She has been seen on various television shows and commercials and as a series regular on YTV’s ‘Extreme Babysitting”. She can currently be heard monthly on 89.5fm CIUT in Toronto on the panel show “Left, Lefter, Leftist” on “The Radical Reverend” and was the Storyteller of the Cyberpunk actual play podcast "Cyberpunk:Independence".
She is a 14th level cleric worshipping the deity Gygax.
Eric Lang
Eric is a game designer from Toronto and has been active in the community for 25+ years. He has published games with Hasbro, Fantasy Flight Games, CMON, among many others.
Felix Isaacs
Felix Isaacs is the ENNIE award-winning writer and designer of the Wildsea and Pico, and spends as much time as possible on balconies.
Gio Manning
Misael "Gio" Manning is a freelance concept artist and illustrator focused on mechanical design. He has worked in concept art for indie games such as Pizza Titan Ultra and mobile games such as Fallout Shelter. He has illustrated for Iron Widow, Cyberpunk Red, Into the Motherlands, and Maharlika RPG. His newest illustration project, for Gehenna Gaming, Eldritch Automata is coming out soon.
Greg Leatherman
Greg Leatherman (he/him) graduated with a degree in Theater Arts and he’s put all those skills into bringing characters to life in his favorite pastime playing Tabletop RPGs on his actual play podcast Very Random Encounters and off the mic. He has self-published his own award-winning RPG called Glitter Hearts in 2020 and has published his second TTRPG called The Mystery Business. He is working on his third TTRPG that should kickstart soon.
J Strautman
J Strautman (they/them) is a Toronto-based TTRPG designer, professional musician, and award-winning podcaster. They’ve released two zine-sized games: Contact and Insatiable Cravings, both GMless and monstrous leaning. They tour the world as a professional bass player, and co-host, score, and edit Planet Arcana - a tarot-infused science fantasy Actual Play.
Jake Noorman
Jake Noorman, better known as MTD Jake, is a TTRPG producer, DM/GM, and player. He is also a freelance content creator & producer. Jake spends his time fostering a welcoming and inclusive community of fans and friends, promoting mental health awareness, and telling stories with his friends. He has produced numerous charity livestream events benefiting causes such as Legends of Eleanora with Todd Stashwick and the Pablove Foundation, DragonFallCon, Roll for Persuasion, Absolute Tabletop, WizKids, Quest for the Cure, Worldbuilders 2020 (VoD Editor), and Jasper’s Game Week 2019-2021.
Under the banner of MiniTerrainDomain, Jake produces, runs, and plays in numerous TTRPG actual play livestreams. He runs and plays in a variety of systems including D&D 5e, Pathfinder 2e, Kids on Bikes, Call of Cthulhu, and more.
Jake offers services consulting on livestream development, graphic design, production services, and more. He has raised thousands of dollars producing charity-based livestream events, collaborating with industry professionals, livestreaming peers, and celebrities.
In his personal life, Jake loves to be creative. He enjoys 3D printing, painting miniatures, crafting miniature terrain and dioramas, and photographing his creations. He is a father, grandfather, husband, and veteran of the United States Army Infantry.
James Kerr
James Kerr is a publisher, Indie Groundbreaker nominated table-top RPG designer, and arcade champ from rural Ontario. He runs Radio James Games, a publishing house of weirdo gonzo indie games, and is the Membership Coordinator for the Indie Games Developer Network (IGDN), where he champions other folks' weirdo gonzo indie games.
Jason Pitre
Jason Pitre (he/him) is a Canadian designer, publisher, podcaster, layout pro, and RPG coordinator for the Ottawa-based convention CanGames. He is the president of Genesis of Legend Publishing which has recently released such games as Sig: City of Blades, Palanquin, and Once More Into the Void. You can learn more about him and his games at www.genesisoflegend.ca.
Jay Gellerman
Jay Gellerman/ @Neofett3 (on most socials) is an American Professional GM, content creator and Twitch Streamer. He’s most notable for his Shadowport Adventures series with the Star Wars RPG Edge of the Empire created by Fantasy Flight Games. He is the owner of the Emporium of the Wayward Gamer LLC and Twitch Channel. He can be found running many different genre of games including horror, sci-fi and fantasy for several publishing companies as well as his own games at many conventions around the United States including Gary Con, Gamehole Con, Gen Con, Strategicon, PAXU plus many more.
Jean Luc Lariviere-Lacombe
Jean Luc Lariviere-Lacombe of The Dungeon's Key is a Canadian indie tabletop role-playing game author and publisher. He is also proudly the president of the Indie Game Developer Network, an international trade organization that champions diverse voices in the game development community. He is best known for his Mörk Borg supplements, Kavlov's Sanctuary and Dwellers of the Bog, and his latest game, Dirtbags!, is in the final stages of development and will be showcased at Breakout this year.
Jeff Fraser
Jeff Fraser is an Ottawa-based game editor, developer, and layout designer specializing in board game rules. He has worked on over 100 published games since 2017, including The Fox Experiment, River of Gold, Critter Kitchen, and The Castles of Mad King Ludwig.
Jess Levine
Jess Levine is an author, TTRPG designer, kindergarten teacher, and communist organizer. Her diverse creative interests are united by one theme: lesbians. She resides in Pittsburgh, on the occupied land of the Shawandasse Tula, Osage, and Monongahela peoples. Her fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld, while her non-fiction has been featured in the magazines Blood Knife and Seize the Press. She publishes TTRPGs as Jumpgate Games, including the CRIT Awards 2023 Best GMless Game of the Year going rogue 2e, I Have the High Ground, and PLANET FIST. You can find Jumpgate Games, which publish Jess' award-winning TTRPGs on Bluesky as @jumpgategames.itch.io, and all her work on her website jessfrom.online.
Jessie Lo
Jessie "Aki" Lo is a a queer mixed Asian-Canadian, ENNIE Winning TTRPG Content Creator. From artist to writer, to performer and GM, Aki wears many hats including being a producer for the award-winning Pathfinder 2e podcast Goblets and Gays. The self proclaimed Barbie of TTRPGs is here to create passionate stories that uplift voices of colour and showcase chaotically raw energy.
Jex Thomas
Jex Thomas (they/them) is a part-time writer, game designer, and founder of Last Pine Press. In their other life, they work in mental health and help parent a dungeon goblin. Their interests include fiction first roleplaying games, labor history, sci fi and horror, loud music, and cats (even though they are allergic). They used to play in bands but feel too old for that now. In a past life, they studied creative writing with a focus on poetry and short fiction.
Joe Raso
Joe loves building engaging stories and getting his hands dirty with all aspects of TTRPG development with writing, editing, and graphic design credits on a host of independent publications. Joe is an avid cottager, a mediocre hockey player, and the world’s okayest GM. He continues to brave the wilds of suburbia with his family while trying to squeeze money from electrons.
Joe Slack
Joe Slack is a board game designer, publisher, developer, instructor, and the author of the #1 international best-selling book, The Board Game Designer's Guide, along with 4 other books on game design. He has taught Game Design and Development at Wilfrid Laurier University and runs the Board Game Design Course, an online course for new game designers. Joe has 9 published games and has raised over $200,000 Canadian on 4 successful Kickstarter campaigns.
Jonathan Lavallee
Jonathan has been working in and around games for the past twenty years. He began with line license for CyberGeneration and eventually published his own games. He’s published a few things for other people, but mostly focuses on his own content. He has just released the updated version of his latest game We Used To Be Friends (a collaborative teenage detective drama game), Behind You! (a collaborative slasher horror game) and Behext (a take that deckbuilder) published by Smirk and Dagger games.
Julian Frid
Julian Frid is an improvisor, teacher and game designer. He is a founder of the Canadian TTRPG 'Sine' as well as Toronto Comedy darlings Sex T Rex. Sine is currently a podcast and also in the works of being Kickstarted in 2025. Julian is a huge fan of how RP promotes organic atypical storytelling and would love to talk to you about how your favourite system does the same.
Julien Legault
Julien is a designer focusing on roleplaying games. Their work is shaped by a passion for clear, evocative design, a background in fine arts and music, a love of nature, and a fascination with the psychology of play. They publish games under Starlight Grove, a label founded in 2022 with fellow Toronto designer Ryan Khan. Starlight Grove celebrates original storytelling, creating games that range from short and lighthearted to deep and emotional, focusing on exploring the many ways humans connect with one another. Julien's perspective is deeply informed by their life experiences—growing up as a queer, nonbinary person in a small town, living in a time of ever-increasing conflict and polarization, witnessing the seasons change on the shores of Lake Huron, and navigating life as an artist in an era of social media and late-stage capitalism. Their next game, Memoria, explores how we remember our lives and those of others through epic journeys.
Keith Dozois
Keith Dozois is a creative that has a deep adoration for board games, RPGs, and escape rooms. He is the owner of USB Escape, a take-home horror escape room game that has been played across the world. When Keith is not designing escape room games, he can be found sipping coffee and tinkering with small electronic circuits (poorly).
Ken Lowery
Ken Lowery is a game designer based in San Antonio, TX, publishing under the name Bannerless Games. He primarily creates solo games such as the ENNIE-winning VOID 1680 AM, Lighthouse at the End of the World, and No-Tell Motel. He used to self-publish comics for a long time, too, so maybe you also know him from there.
Kurt Refling
Kurt Refling is a designer, writer, and artist based in Ottawa, ON. He's also the co-creator of Here We Used to Fly, a game about abandoned theme parks and the bittersweet nostalgia of growing up. Kurt has published narrative TTRPGs including Knots in the Sky, Big Dog Big Volcano, and Star Chapters.
Marceline Leiman
Marceline Leiman is a freelance New York City-based game designer, developer, and adjunct professor at NYU Game Center. She loves exploring new forms of playing games, focusing on those that draw players closer together.
Marren MacAdam
Marren MacAdam (They/Them), the human behind Marren's Musings, is a Canadian TTRPG designer, writer, and aspirant for the title of "most Dark Souls inspired TTRPGs in the scene". They are the creator of LORDSWORN, a GMless TTRPG about soldiers sworn to now dead Gods returning home in the apocalypse, and THE CROWNLESS, a pocketmod series of Zines for an Elden Ring inspired TTRPG of killing Pretender Gods and renewing the world in apocalyptic fire. They are working on a game called WHERE THE MOONFLOWERS BLOOM, about dungeon crawling in the fallen moon of a dead god, with mechanics affected by the real life moon phases.
Matthew Robinson
Retired game designer Matt Robinson (Origins Award 2002, Game of the Year: Mechwarrior: Dark Age; Director of R&D, WizKids; Director of Design, BioWare) spends his time gaming at local clubs in the Toronto area and discussing design with all who will listen. His current focus is on updating terrific old games to make them more accessible to new players. See his most recent work at canvaseagles.com
Mikey Hamm
Mikey lives in Edmonton, Alberta with his wife Stephanie and their two children, Butterspoon and Agent Roundhouse. He feels privileged to spend his early mornings doing something as wonderfully unimportant as making games. His titles include Two-Hand Path and the award-winning TTRPG, Slugblaster.
Noah Morrison
NL Morrison is an award nominated, Michigan-based, game designer. They're most well known for their flagship TTRPG Print Weaver, where players use their own fingerprints to create their unique and immortal adventurers.
Pamela Punzalan
Pam Punzalan is a multi-awarded Filipino queer woman best known for her work on D&D: Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel, Spire: Shadow Operations, Hunter: The Reckoning, Thirsty Sword Lesbians and the up and coming Dagger Isles Supplement for Blades in the Dark. You may also recognize her for her work with Big Bad Con, where she is one half of Special Events - including their uplifting work for POC creatives in tabletop.
Pascal Godbout
Pascal is the main designer for @SpotlessDiceGames and has published multiple supplements for Fate of Cthulhu. He returns to BreakoutCon with Ringmaster, his new Descended from the Queen TTRPG.
Reed Mascola
Reed Mascola (he/him) is a Toronto-based game designer and founder of Paranoia Rising Games. He designed and self-published Vigilante, a superhero game with hidden roles, and CATNIP Auction House, which was published by Tin Robot Games. Watch out for other new designs to hit the shelves, including the Rûnebeasts Deck-Building Game and more!
Rhys Yorke
Rhys Yorke crafts immersive worlds across comic books, television, film, animation, and games. His notable works include “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” and the Emmy-nominated “Blue’s Clues & You”. His passion for science fiction and fantasy unites these diverse projects, showcasing the transformative power of storytelling. From role-playing adventures to cinematic narratives, Rhys brings a sharp focus on character development and world-building to every project. Whether pioneering narrative design, directing films, or leading tabletop campaigns, he creates experiences that illuminate what it truly means to be human.
Ric Heise
Ric Heise is Mythworks' Chief People Person! Ric is the first point of contact for people interested in Mythworks. For Mythworks, Ric handles the Supporter Experience, Retail and Related Relationships, Connecting a Network of Creativity, and Your Curiosity. Ric is a contributing writer and designer for The Wildsea in addition to being Head of Playtesting. Ric is a Lyric Game Creator and Curator of Ephemeral Joys. Ric can be found on Mythworks' related Discords, or reached by emailing contact@myth.works. Ric would love to play a game with you, especially if you made it!
Richard Ruane
Richard Ruane is a Philadelphia-based tabletop RPG creator and founder of R. Rook Studio. His work includes "Moonlight on Roseville Beach," which won an ENnie Award in 2023, "Dark Design in Verdigris," "Sherwood," "My Chivalric Bromance," "Barrow Keep," and the upcoming "Silver Age." He's a co-owner at Plus One EXP, where he wrangles operations, logistics, and special projects. He is a member of SFWA, where he serves on the Game Writing Committee.
Roberto Panetta
Roberto Panetta is the creative force behind Rock, Stone & Dice Games, a Canadian board game publisher renowned for crafting whimsical and approachable gaming experiences. Roberto struck gold with his first hit, Gems of Iridescia, a game that masterfully blends exploration, resource management, and market manipulation.
With a passion for world-building, strategy, and just the right amount of chaos, Roberto brings his signature touch to every project.
Robin Ekberg
Robin Ekberg is a Tabletop producer and performer, known as the GM of the Award winning Starfinder show The Atomless, and Frequencies, as well as appearing on Unprepared Casters, Demiplane, Paizo, One Shot and credited in TTRPGs such as Ragnarock, All the Witches and Daggerheart.
Rui Albino
Rui Albino is a Story Artist, Director, and Animator for Film and AAA gaming since 1990. Rui received an honorarium for dungeon mastering in the early 80s and has been a Table Top Gamer ever since. Some of Rui’s accomplishments can be seen on IMDB or in the credits of Ubisoft games, Disney’s “The Gargoyles” and many, many more. Rui has been developing The Seas of Infinity TTRPG for the last four decades and has committed to completing his life long passion.
Ryan Khan
Ryan Khan is a London-based TTRPG designer and teacher. He is the author of Told by Starlight and The Festival of Deep Winter, and the sensitivity consultant on The Wildsea RPG. He loves to explore the intersection between games and learning, and how play drives creativity.
Scott Kelly
Scott Kelly is the S in BSGames. Along with Bill Murphy, he created Mathemagician's Duel and Sinoda, and continues to come up with more ideas for games than he has time to work on them.
Sebastian Yūe
Sebastian Yūe (they/them) is an award–winning, queer TTRPG designer, writer, and editor based in Canada. They are best known for their contributions to Apocalypse Keys: Doomsday Delights, Cloud Empress: Year One Adventure Bundle, and Pathfinder Lost Omens: Divine Mysteries, and their editing work on the Cosmere RPG, Daggerheart, and UNCAGED: Goddesses. A former competitive fencer, Sebastian brings the might of the pen and the sword to their work.
Sen-Foong Lim
Sen is constantly dreaming, even when he’s awake. He is passionate about helping people lose track of time in meaningful ways. An award-winning designer and writer, Sen co-designed many board games, including Belfort, Junk Art, Akrotiri, The Legend of Korra: Pro Bending Arena, Kingdom Rush: Rift in Time / Elemental Uprising, Scooby-Doo: Escape from the Haunted Manor, Mind MGMT: The Psychic Espionage “Game”, and Corps of Discovery. Sen co-authored the TTRPGs Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall, An Exquisite Crime, The Revenant Society, and the forthcoming Tian Deng. He’s worked on many of the biggest roleplaying campaigns in Kickstarter’s history including the Gloomhaven RPG, Legends of Avantris: Crooked Moon, Avatar: Legends, and the record-breaking Cosmere RPG system. When he’s not gaming, Sen teaches psychology and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu - though not at the same time! Sen is a founding member of the Tabletop Game Designers Association and serves as the organization's secretary. He also co-hosts the Ludology podcast and the Meeple Syrup Show from his home in London, Ontario. Discover more at https://senfoonglim.carrd.co.
Shannon McDowell
Shannon McDowell is a Canadian board game and puzzle designer who works with various board game publishers and professional organizations to design escape room games and gamified learning programs, including Funko’s Star Trek: Cryptic. She has published two academic articles on cultural bias in escape rooms, and was a member of the design team for the 2019 Red Bull Escape Room World Championship.
Shiraz Sheikh
Shiraz Sheikh is a passionate educator and creator with a multifaceted career spanning academia, game design, and media. As a professor in the Liberal Arts, he teaches a wide range of subjects at various colleges and universities in Toronto and surrounding area. Shiraz is also a game designer and one of the creators of the CATaclysm: The Roleplaying Game. He is currently developing a board game adaptation of CATaclysm and designing a new multi-genre RPG system. As the founder of Akinji Entertainment, Shiraz channels his creativity into innovative gaming experiences. In addition, he co-hosts the popular podcast The Commanders of the Cosmos, where he dives into geek culture and storytelling with his signature enthusiasm and expertise.
Sidney Icarus
Sidney Icarus (they/them) has more than 15 years of experience designing playful and meaningful interactions across military, healthcare, government, and consumer games. They are a full-time digital game designer and operator of applied game consultancy Wax Wings. In 2023, Sidney's game Decaying Orbit won the Australian Independent Role Playing Game of the Year. When not playing with game design, Sidney enjoys spending time with a coffee (Magic) and their cat, Radar.
Skylar Swift
Skylar K. Swift (@transmisc) is an illustrator, fine artist, and TTRPG designer from Southern California. They've published small, queer, artsy, self-illustrated titles such as Godling, Cabinet of Curiosities and // electric sheep //. Raised in Portland, Oregon, Skylar graduated with a degree in Illustration from the Pacific Northwest College of Art, and works during the day in marketing and communications for a transgender services nonprofit. Skylar has also featured on actual play streams for networks such as Nerds with Dice and Bardic Inspiration.
Stefan Alexander
Stefan Alexander is the designer of CuBirds, King Chocolate, and Area 51 (and quite a few more to come). He likes games with simple rules, high interactivity, and emergent gameplay. He especially loves card games.
Tim W. K. Brown
Tim W. K. Brown, a multiple award winning game designer from Stouffville, Ontario, is proud to be a guest once again at Breakout. His games have been sold in a dozen countries and have been featured in multiple magazines and podcasts. His most well known games are Wreck Raiders, Quartex, Gridstones, and Order of Invention.
Todd Crapper
Todd Crapper is an award-winning tabletop roleplaying game designer and indie publisher for almost 30 years. Looking at that number for the first time, he fell back against the chair and felt a shiver run down his spine. A career of beloved games flashed before him, from the Combat Advantage zine to Killshot to High Plains Samurai. As if chiming in to a narrator's rendition of chilling poem, he whispered, "What if there was more?"
Viditya Voleti
Viditya Voleti is an award winning game writer, designer, and educator; creator of Bloodbeam Badlands, Space Goblins!, and LONGSWORD. His diverse body of work explores all aspects of play and interaction. He's worked on a diversity of projects and clients across the spectrum of the TTRPG industry from Paizo and Evil Hat to World Champ Games Co and Possum Creek. You can find his games at vidityavoleti.itch.io and everywhere @vidityavoleti
Will Jobst
Will Jobst is an award-winning game designer, editor, and co-publisher at Good Luck
Press. Some of their games include This Discord Has Ghosts in It,
TORQ, Black Mass, and more!