2024 Guests of Honour

Bridgett holding a d20 peering mysteriously into the camera.

Bridgett Jeffries

Bridgett Jeffries (she/her) works as Chaosium Inc.'s Community Coordinator, where she is an enthusiastically loud (very loud) coach, advocate, and cheerleader for community content creators. She also helps run Chaosium's Organized Play program, The Cult of Chaos. She's also a multi-bestselling creator on the program!

She is the founder and owner of Symphony Entertainment Gaming & Arts LLC, a horror club that focuses on horror-based TTRPG systems. You can catch her rambling (and hysterically laughing) on the Miskatonic University Podcast, where she and the other co-hosts discuss weird and horrific roleplaying games. When she’s not writing horror content, you can watch/listen to this ENnie Award-winning podcaster on various shows to include Chaosium’s Stream of Chaos, Ain’t Slayed Nobody, The Calyx, Red Moon Roleplaying, and more! Bridgett is a resident of Columbus, Ohio, USA. She has three dogs (Sony, Zoe, and Gabriel). They’re pretty cool. Actually, no… they’re awesome.

Eric Lang smiling at the camera, with crystal green water behind him

Eric Lang

Eric Lang (born in Montreal Canada) has been a tabletop and video game designer for over 25 years. He's best known for titles like Blood Rage, Marvel United, Game of Thrones LCG, Chaos in the Old World, Ankh: Gods of Egypt, Cthulhu: Death May Die, and in the last few years several titles by Exploding Kittens.


Often mistaken for a panda, he believes his best work is still ahead of him and doesn't at all hate writing about himself in the third person.

Industry Guests

Adriel holding a milkshake up to the camera in a classy black and white photo

Adriel Lee Wilson

Adriel Lee Wilson (he/him) is part owner of 9th Level Games and the creative visionary behind The Excellents, Savage Sisters, and Nancy Druid. A true reindeer bee at heart, Adriel brings to their publishing practice a wealth of game industry experience and a deep love for all things handmade.

Agatha Cheng smiling in front of a blurred garden background

Agatha Cheng

Agatha Cheng is a podcaster, game designer, and cultural consultant. She is the co-founder and co-host of the ENNIE award-winning Asiands Represent! podcast and has written for games such as Deathmatch Island, One Child's Heart, and the ENNIE-nominated Odd Jobs collection of RPG Micro Settings. When not enjoying high-tension drama in rpgs, Agatha can be found fending off her cats to play and work on new games.

Alara smiles into the camera

Alara Cameron

Alara Cameron has been designing and developing board games for almost a decade. Her design credits include Legend of Korra: Pro-Bending Arena, Batman the Animated Series: Rogues Gallery, Blade Runner 2049: Nexus Protocol, Kingdom Rush: Elemental Uprising, and Clans of Midgard. She has several development credits that are forthcoming and unannounced, and is working on launching Lavender Games Studio - which will focus on publishing content for various TTRPG systems that focuses on queer themes and is designed and produced by queer teams.

Alex looking dapper in a vibrant sport coat overtop of a white collared shirt, black tie and black vest

Alex Sierputowski

Alexander Sierputowski, founder of GameDirection, is a visionary in the gaming industry, based in Cleveland, Ohio. With a mission to "Make inclusive games through accessibility to create memorable experiences," Alex leads GameDirection in the game design process, publishing and marketing innovative games like "Snack Attack," "Dungeons and Dinos," and "Emberwind", "The Big Shuffle". His company offers comprehensive services in game design, graphic design, marketing, and printing, excelling in areas such as prototyping, playtesting, and marketing. Apart from GameDirection, Alex enhances his expertise through his printing company, specializing in customer communication and production management. His commitment to the gaming community is evident in his weekly Monday night meetups, promoting collaboration and inclusivity. Alex's leadership at GameDirection is marked by a dedication to crafting accessible, engaging gaming experiences for a diverse audience.

Allison is standing on the street, wearing a pretty floral dress, in front of her a digital animal is adorbing heavily

Allison Cole

Allison is a Montreal-based game designer, crafter, and CSI Cyber enthusiast whose love language is designing games. She has created award-nominated and winning TTRPGs and Larps with Gal Pal Games (an imprint she runs with her partner), Soft Chaos (the worker-owned cooperative she co-founded with her closest friends), and as a solo designer. Her numerous games focus on the queer and the feminine including a witch with ADHD, reincarnated magical mistresses of the elements, gay games to play when you’re bored in the car, and fandom-based roleplay forums from 1999. Feel free to ask her about any of them!

Andrew Rivera, wearing a green toque with a beetle on it, writes in a leather bound notebook

Andre Rivera

Andre Rivera is a TTRPG illustrator, game designer, and actual-play performer, as well as safety coordinator for Unprepared Casters. Focused on dynamic personality-driven and thematically rich characters, Andre has worked with and alongside many other creators and shows, such as The Atomless, Party of One, Total Party Kiss, ManaPot Studios, Roll 4 Dylan, Kill Every Monster, Rolling For Charity, and The Welcome Inn.

Andy Kim smiling, holding spill, a game of his own design

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.

B placidly looking into the camera, her serene visage give the viewer the sense that all will be right in the world.

B Marsollier

B Marsollier (she/her) is a Canadian podcast host, GM, illustrator, VO artist and fledgling game designer. As co-creator and co-GM of Planet Arcana (a D&D 5e-based audio drama/actual play podcast), B has been active in the TTRPG space for the past 3 years. In 2023, Planet Arcana received 9 awards nominations across two festivals, ultimately earning 2 “Best D&D Actual Play” awards, and 1 “Best GM” award alongside her co-host J Strautman. B is currently working on her first game “100% Modern Ghosts”, a ghost-documentation game that can be played solo or as a group.

Bee smiling into the camera with pastel braids in their hair

Bee Zelda

Bee Zelda is your nonbinary busy bee. They are the community manager for Kitten Cup Studio, making indie video games. Bee is a professional TTRPG Twitch streamer, podcaster, writer, sensitivity consultant, & event host. Bee has appeared in over 50 different podcasts about tabletop gaming and has contributed to countless TTRPG projects.

A side profile of Brent, his well-manicured beard and chiseled jaw cut an imposing figure.

Brent Logan

Brent is an intermediate teacher with the Toronto District School Board. He loves to play Dungeons and Dragons, X-Wing, and other tabletop games. He'll play anything once. Brent is the co-owner of Akinji Entertainment Inc. with his partner in crime Shiraz Sheikh. He is the author of Cataclysm: The RPG and is co-author of the expansion the Tome of Meowgic! You are guaranteed a great adventure if he is sitting at your table.

Brian Flaherty smiling in front of a velvet curtain

Brian Flaherty

Brian Flaherty (he/him) is a New York City-based executive producer at the TTRPG podcasting company Many Sided Media. He is a producer, editor, and sound designer as well as the host of the award-winning actual play podcast My First Dungeon and the co-host of the TTRPG conversation show Talk of the Table. He is also the layout artist for the solo time-travel roleplaying game Project ECCO. You can listen to all the shows from Many Sided Media wherever you get your podcasts.

Brian smouldering into the camera, wearing a burgundy v-neck t-shirt, while smiling

Brian Gray

Brian Gray aka urbanbohemian (he/they) is a Black Queer writer, gamer, foodie, streamer, charitable fundraiser, comic book lover, cocktail connoisseur, stalwart brunch supporter, disco music aficionado and all-around Generation X geek having grown up through the introduction of video games–from arcades to home consoles to computer gaming–and loving every new innovation along the way.

As a streamer, he showcases a variety of game genres, dabbles in food and drink streams from the kitchen, takes place in virtual panels and roundtables, and has been in several tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) from charity one-shots to starring as Virgil in "Rivals of Waterdeep," one of the longest-running Dungeons & Dragons actual play shows, and De Ross in "Cyberpunk: Independence," a Cyberpunk RED actual play podcast and stream.

His approach to gaming and streaming is that everyone should have fun, whether it's GMs and their players, or streamers and their viewers! With a focus on finding games where representation and diversity is prominently woven into the content instead of an afterthought, he enjoys showcasing and featuring a wide variety of gaming genres and creative voices.

He was selected as a PAX Together Intersection Fellow for 2023's PAX Unplugged. He's been honored on Rainbow Game Jam's Queer In Games List, identifying 50 people in the industry whose efforts have made the industry a more welcoming and safer space for the LGBTQIA+ community. 

Inside UP Company Logo

Carter Morash

Inside Up Games is a Canadian board game design and publication company with one simple goal, to create exciting and entertaining games, so you can have fun with your family and friends! We believe that everyone deserves a spot at the table, and strive to create gaming experiences that are enjoyable and inclusive.

Chris, looking very cool in designer sunglasses, cocks an eyebrow intensely, as if daring the camera to challenge him to a game. Over his right shoulder, mounted on the wall, is a circular maze...

Chris O'Neill

Chris has been in the tabletop industry for over 25 years. He is a game designer, graphic artist, and the founder of 9th Level Games. Chris is best known for creating the cult classic Kobolds Ate My Baby, which just hit its 25th anniversary this year. ALL HAIL KING TORG! Additionally, he created and designed the polymorph system which is the foundation of 9th Level Games RPGs and used in Mazes Fantasy Roleplaying, Return to Dark Tower Fantasy Roleplaying, The Excellents, Rebel Scum, and many more. You can find him with his puppet companion Yeet or in deep discussion about nerd things.

Chris Tung, in a vibrant pink Pink City branded hoodie, flashes a casual smile with a reverse peace sign

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 producer/editor/current GM for the comedy TTRPG podcast Super Journey Dudes, and currently 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.

Christopher holding a copy of his game lanterns and pretending to take a bite

Christopher Chung

Christopher Chung is the lead designer on My Little Pony: Adventures in Equestria: The Deck-building Game, and designer of Lanterns: The Harvest Festival and Spell Smashers. When he's not piecing together a prototype at the very last minute, he's probably thinking about chess and how to lose his next game in less than 20 moves.

Logo for Sasquatch

Cody Barr

Cody is a Canadian indie designer focusing on solo game experiences. He has been self publishing since 2020, focusing on the emergent storytelling nature of tabletop games.

Daniel Kwan smiling into the camera

Daniel Kwan

Daniel is a Canadian podcaster, game designer, and cultural consultant. He is the recipient of 4 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 Ross Rifles. As a cultural consultant, he has worked for companies like Dimension 20, Critical Role Productions, and Asmodee. He is currently working on Wandering Blades, a wuxia game of violent melodrama in the style of old school TTRPGs.

A cartoon image of David, with double finger guns and wearing a d20 shirt with the 20 side facing out. His robust beard his a critical hit, and if it were a d20, it would show 20 on every side.

David Lombardo

AwkwardTurtle Games is the pseudonym of David Lombardo: a photonics engineer by day, and an indie RPG writer by night. He loves to drop a whole handful of dice on the table, then divine the results to generate a new place for his players to explore. Creator of generators, adventures, modules, and even a few games in the new school revolution space.

David smiling into the camera, with meeples raining down

David Van Drunen

For over a decade David Van Drunen has been bringing people together around fun experiences. From design to developing, David loves using board games to build community and connect people. Driven to capture the unusual and wonderful in game form, David draws inspiration from their Dutch heritage, kid's toys, and donuts. (Designs: Gnomes at Midnight, Block and Key. Dev: The Wolves, and upcoming titles)

Derek crouches behind a table, an emberwind banner at his back, before him lies a map drawn on a piece of rough-hewn leather.

Derek Chung

Derek is an easy-going, globe-trotting mental health professional by day and an award-winning game designer by night. He is the mind behind many top-shelf tabletop games, and is frequently found speaking on the importance of accessible mental health all across North America. 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 few pioneers in the young field of therapeutic gaming that attempts to make psychological health more inclusive, available, and most-importantly, fun, for everyone. Derek often speaks (and teaches) about the importance of inclusive game design on podcasts, interviews, and on panels at many conventions across North America.

Derek Gour, clad in stylish glasses and a baseball cap, smiles into the camera, distant mountains, and an alpine village on a lake in the distance.

Derek Gour

Derek Gour has a passion for indie role playing games. He is interested in adding story and character to structured game systems, like board games. His card-based story game Hope Inhumanity was nominated for two IGDN Groundbreaker awards: Most Innovative Game, and Best Rules. He has since published a 2nd edition and an expansion for the original game.

Dillin casually smiling into the camera, wearing large round glasses and a blue shirt

Dillin Apelyan

Dillin, or Superdillin, is a Queer Armenian-American game designer and actual play performer based in NYC. She is a principle cast member on The Atomless, and has been featured on Unprepared Casters, Party of One, Adventuring Academy on Dropout, Critter Hug on Critical Role, and more. Dillin's games, including Guys in Chairs, Spin the Bottle, and others, seek to spotlight the drama and magic in the usual and mundane. His independently made games have been published by Plus One Exp, and he is a contributing writer for City of Mist: Local Legends and CAPERS: Cyberpunk.

Dora smiling broadly flanked by a vibrant green plant

Dora Rogers

Dora Rogers (she/her) is a writer and game designer in Montreal, QC. Her work is interested in domesticity, intimacy, flirtation, and being gay as hell. She is one half of Gal Pal Games with Allison Cole, and designed or co-designed Alchemistresses, Sapphic Slumber Party, and Her Cup Overfloweth. She also writes about queerness in Magic: The Gathering at Hipsters of the Coast. Look for her new ttrpg project coming soon: Drink My Sweat, Make Me Bleed.

Drew Quon wearing a checked, collared shirt, standing in front of a crisp wooden fence. His hair is a cutting blue at the top, and a warm purple at the sides.

Drew Quon

Drew Quon is an ENnie award-winning podcaster and TTRPG designer by night and a historic interpreter and museum educator by day. He is a co-host of Asians Represent! and one-half of No Dice, No Problem. His work can be found in Paizo's upcoming book, Lost Omens: Tian Xia, as well as Wandering Blades, a game being co-written with Daniel Kwan.

The Big Bearded Nerd wearing a cap, his jaw tight, staring powerfully into the camera

Dwight "The Big Bearded Nerd"

Dwight is a Michigan based stream producer and project manager. As 1/2 of Mini Terrain Domain, Dwight has produced several charity streams including Legends of Eleanora and Jasper's Game Day.

Elliot with a well-manicured beard smiling into the camera

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 and the upcoming Orbital Blues: The Wanderer. 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.

Emma is standing in front of a white background, dressed smartly with classic black eyeglasses, a silver pendant and pearl earrings.

Emma Wakelin

Emma is a Toronto-based actress, comedian and activist. ​A graduate of The Second City Conservatory, she has appeared in numerous commercials and television shows including a lead role in YTV's Extreme Babysitting. A community organizer, she is an in demand commenter on several media outlets and has given speeches on 2SLGBTQ+ issues in many venues and to audiences ranging from Pride events to Parliament Hill. ​She is a proud life-long gamer, and has been seen on the #QuestfortheCure D&D actual play series benefitting Jesse's Journey and as the Storyteller on Cyberpunk: Independence.

Emma leaning toward the camera with a placid orange cat on her back that's bathed in sunlight

Emma Yasui

Emma Yasui is a cultural consultant, educator, and anthropological archaeologist who specializes in the pop culture, foodways, and extended past of the Japanese islands. She has been a podcast guest and Discord moderator for Asians Represent! since 2019, and more recently became a member of the production team. Emma has also worked as a cultural consultant, researcher, and writer on various game projects, and swears that she will one day finish that RPG thing she’s been working on for over a year now.

Felix looking adorably disheveled standing in front of a flat - his beard, lustrous and thick, his hair, wild like the sea of his games.

Felix Isaacs

Felix Isaacs is an Ennie-winning writer and designer, known for the Wildsea (though 'known' might be too strong a word). Though they're currently working on PICO, a game of tiny bugs that ride cats, most of their last few years has been spent firmly in a haven of treetop seas, chainsaw ships, and arachnid hive-minds.

Graham standing on the sidewalk, gesturing fervently to the camera and a sandwich board all at once. The sandwich board says "Free Maggot Bath" and the expression on Graham's face is a unique combination of horror, surprise, exhultation, and curiosity.

Graham Gentz

Graham Gentz (he/they) is a board game expert, game designer, educator, comic book writer, event facilitator, master dungeon master, and all-around bringer of fun. With over 20 years of experience for deep love in discovery and curation, Graham prides himself on finding the right game for every person and each occasion. From Albuquerque, NM to New York, NY, Graham has been a key staff member in board game cafes and libraries across the country, including Slice & Dice and Brooklyn Game Lab. With a long history in theater-making and directing, and over 100 professionally published articles, he brings with him a flare for adventure, inclusivity, critical analysis, and infectious joy. Some notable achievements include "Under the Autumn Strangely", a storytelling game of pastoral horror and anchronistic Americana in land that Never Was; the publication of the scifi comedy comic book “Wyrdspace“ with artist Jacob Peifer; and the facilitating MegaGames for three consecutive Shut Up and Sit Down Expos (SHUX) in Vancouver, Canada.

Greg Leatherman in sleek black glasses, leaning casually against a tree

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.

A cartoon image of Imani Dean, holding a plushy penguin and flashing a peace sign

Imani Dean

Imani is a Queer Black Woman in the game design and development space, creating works for both digital and analog games. They can be found doing all the things all over the internet, such as game development & design projects, multidisciplinary creative writing works, live lets plays of solo tabletop board games, and then some.

J. holding an open D&D book, staring pensively off camera, in front of a luxurious and plush background

J. Strautman

J. Strautman is a Toronto-based musician, game designer, and award winning podcaster. They co-helm the three-time award winning actual play, Planet Arcana, where they also score, sound design, and edit the show. J. is also a TTRPG designer with two released zine-sized games: Contact, an alien communication RPG, and Insatiable Cravings, a TTRPG card game for hungry monsters and their admirers. You can catch J.’s podcasting work all over the internet, or catch them touring as a professional bass player around the world.

Jake, holding a darth vader mug, eyes the camera with a cocksure grin behind a luxurious salt and pepper beard.

Jake Noorman

Jake Noorman, or MTD Jake as he is more commonly known, is a TTRPG DM/GM & player across his own and other channels. As Mini Terrain Domain he produces and GMs a weekly Pathfinder 2e campaign (Scribes & Scrolls), and a Kids on Bikes RPG (Welcome to Paradise, Michigan). He also produces a bi-weekly D&D 5e campaign (Skymetal: Iron Gods), a monthly Call of Cthulhu series (Mythos Investigators) all on the Mini Terrain Domain twitch channel. Additionally, he produces and plays in a monthly D&D 5e campaign on Nerdarchy’s YouTube channel (The Old Guard). He is a freelance Content Creator & Producer, including stream development consultation, graphic design, production services, & more. He has raised over $86,000 producing regular & charity-based streaming events for 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. He has raised over $86,000 producing regular & charity-based streaming events for a variety of causes with industry professionals, other streamers, and celebrity guest players and GMs. Jake is a Veteran of the United States Army Infantry.

Jam smiling, with purple hair glinting in the light

Jam

Jam (she/they) is a queer, Latine artist with a passion for colorful design. She's known for her IGDN award-winning project Dinocar, ARPIA award-winning work on Logan and her ENNIE-nominated layout for NOVA. She's an illustrator, layout artist, game designer, and co-founder of Dinoberry Press

James Kerr looking intensely into the camera, wearing a blue blazer and a t-shirt

James Kerr

James Kerr is a publisher, broadcaster, Indie Groundbreaker nominated table-top RPG designer, and arcade champ from rural Ontario. He brings traditional publishing methods to gonzo indie games, believes grassroots does not have to mean poorly thought out, and seeks to challenge the medium both mechanically and in terms of information dissemination. James is also the Membership Coordinator of the Indie Game Developer Network. Radio James Games is his publishing house, where marvellous notions take on life.

Jason wearing a while collared shirt, casually unbutton, looks deeply into the camera lens

Jason Ox

Jason Ox is a Game Designer and comedian who has a deep love of every type of gaming. He's the co-creator of Sine, a new TTRPG that aims to bring your own ideas to the established lore of the world. Stay tuned for more projects coming from Jason's mind as he enters into the gaming world as a designer.

Jay, looking at the camera through stylish glasses, is dressed in a smart black blazer with a casual t-shirt beneath, effortlessly blending business-forward and casual chic.

Jay Gellerman

Jay Gellerman/ @Neofett3 (on the Socials) is an American GM, content creator and twitch streamer. He's most notable for his the Shadowport Adventures series with the Star Wars RPG created by Fantasy Flight Games. He is the CEO of The Emporium of the Wayward Gamer LLC and Twitch Channel. He can be found running many different genre games as a Pro-GM for several publishing companies as well his own games at several conventions around the United States including Gary Con, Gamehole Con, Gen Con, PAXU and many more.

Jeff Fraser wearing a blue striped button up shirt in front of a blurred background of boardgames

Jeff Fraser

Jeff Fraser is a board game developer and rules editor living in Ottawa, Ontario. He's edited and developed over 100 published games, including Flamecraft, The Castles of Mad King Ludwig (Collector's Edition) and MIND MGMT. He is also co-designer of the recently released game The Fox Experiment with Elizabeth Hargrave.

Jesse, sits in front of a cauldron that belches smoke and flows green, he holds a skull in his right hand and a tome in his left, and smiles impishly in a black velvet hat.

Jesse Gazic

Jesse Gazic is a game designer and TTRPG writer, podcaster, and pro GM! He is a cast member on Many Realms, a multi-system actual play podcast produced in Toronto. He's written contributions for publishers like Hit Point Press, and in his spare time he runs learn-to-play sessions with the Toronto Public Library.

Jessie Lo holding her head with delicious and ornate nail designs

Jessie Lo

Jessie "Aki" Lo, Aki, or Akino (she/her), is a queer, 1st generation Asian-Canadian game designer, tabletop performer, artist and all round content creator. Some of her projects include the award-winning all Queer podcast Goblets and Gays as well as the upcoming Curse of Sapphics stream. When she's not producing, you can find her art featured on several TTRPG shows.

Jex holding their chin in their hand, looking deeply into the camera lens.

Jex Thomas

Jex Thomas is a part-time writer, game designer, musician, and future podcaster from Milwaukee, WI. They are the author of Bump in the Dark, a tabletop roleplaying game about community, chosen family, deindustrialization, and beating the shit out of monsters. In real life, they work in mental health and help parent a dungeon goblin.

Joe Slack smiling at the camera

Joe Slack

Joe Slack is a board game designer, publisher, instructor, and the author of the #1 international best-selling book, The Board Game Designer's Guide, along with 3 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, in addition to courses on getting published and running a successful crowdfunding campaign. Joe has 4 games published with other publishers (Zoo Year’s Eve, Kingdom’s Candy: Monsters, Four Word Thinking, and King of Indecision) and has self-published games including 14 Frantic Minutes, Relics of Rajavihara and the expansion Montalo’s Revenge.

Jon sitting behind a stack of games he's designed including Dead of Winter, Dinosaur Island, Wasteland Express and More

Jonathan Gilmour-Long

Jonathan Gilmour-Long (he/him) is a Board Game Designer and Developer from NW Ohio. His credits include: Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game, Kids on Bikes, and Dinosaur Island. His greatest weaknesses are writing Bios, and the color green. He loves long walks on the beach and playtesting games. Sometimes at the same time. His favorite color is Orange, so please let him have that as a player color. His favorite games are Cosmic Encounter, Nations, and The Mind. His least favorite game is "The What Game Should We Play" game. He has four awesome children, with the goal of having a built-in game group any time he wants it.

Jonathan with a cat on his shoulder.

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 smiles awkwardly at the camera, his facial expression looks uncertain about whether you liked the joke he just told

Julian Frid

Julian Frid is an improvisor, teacher, DM and game designer. Founding member of the award winning theatre group Sex T Rex and teacher of recreational improv at Hart House, University of Toronto. He has performed and done panels at Cons in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto for the past two years. He recently published a new Canadian TTRPG with Jason Ochs called Sine.

An animated (cartoon) Julien with a diamond earring drooping playfully from their left ear

Julien Legault

Julien is a tabletop role-playing game designer, artist, and writer dedicated to making immersive and carefully-crafted storytelling experiences. Their work focuses on bringing interesting and meaningful stories to light through metaphor and imaginative settings, and ranges from cozy to somber. Their latest work, a game about survival, nature, and belonging called The Things We Become, is making its debut at Breakout this year.

Justin smiling into the camera, wearing a fetching cowboy hat and leather jacket.

Justin Vandermeer

Justin Vandermeer is one half of Shouting Crow Press, a small indie company with a focus on weird little solo tabletop and journaling games like Hedge Witch. As an artist and game designer, Justin often helps new creatives get their first games in print. He also has a newsletter where he picks apart his favourite games to see what makes them shine.

Kris wearing a classic woolen sweater smiles effortlessly into the camera

Kris Siddiqi

Kris Siddiqi is a comedian, actor and writer from Toronto! Recipient of the 2015 Canadian Comedy Award for Best Male Improviser and the 2014 “Best Of” Now Magazine Awards. Trained in sketch and improvisation since a young age, Kris studied with the world-renowned Second City, joined the Mainstage cast in 2009 and wrote 3 revues with them. From there he went to voice work, becoming the Network Voice of Country Music Television, principal roles on many cartoons as well as becoming a series regular on the Comedy Panel Show on CBC Because News. His most recent creation was the multi-award winning miniseries BIT PLAYAS. Conceived and originated by Kris, the show would go on to win 2 Canadian Screen Awards for Best Writing and Best Series, Best Representation of Communities Of Color from the Minnesota WebFest 2020, Best Actor in the Toronto WebFest awards, as well as multiple other awards from festivals all over the world. Kris’ recent film & tv credits include Netflix’s I WOKE UP A VAMPIRE, HBOMax’s TITANS, Aaron Sorkin’s MOLLY’S GAME, Amazon’s THE BOYS, AppleTV’s THE CHANGELING and a recurring face on IFC/CBC’s BARONESS VON SKETCH SHOW. And if he wasn’t enough of a huge nerd, Kris is also the sound editor, sound designer and main character for his fantasy radio-drama DWARVEN MOSS, which recently won Best Leisure Podcast from the Canadian Podcast Awards.

Kurt Refling smiling into the camera, wearing a leather checked shirt, stylishly

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, This Spells Trouble, and Faewater.

Lauren smiling into the camera, her reds a crimson red, her backdrop a tree of the purest green

Lauren Bryant-Monk

Lauren Bryant-Monk (she/her) is dedicated to making the Tabletop Industry safer, more diverse, and full of smooches. She is a game designer, safety consultant, and a co-curator of the TTRPG Safety Toolkit. Her work can be found in DIE RPG, Starforged, and Fight, Item Run. Her self-published games centre emotional intimacy, meaningful relationships and important choices and have been featured in Dicebreaker and Gizmodo. She can be found on most places on the internet as starvingsoubrette and on twitter as @jl_nicegirl

Marren smiling into the camera, wearing a collared shirt, their eyes glinting mischievously in the light

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.

Matt and Eric looking up contemplatively at The Goblin's Corner logo in the corner of the photo

Matt Staples and Eric Holden from The Goblin's Corner

Eric is an Atlanta artist, comedian, father figure to offspring and furry critters, and co-host of The Goblin’s Corner. Eric has been performing since he was old enough to speak and has carried this into every creative format, from various improv and live acts, to sketch comedy and gaming. With 30 plus years of running various table top games, he has extensive knowledge of both the industry and the performance art of storytelling overall. Eric can be seen in the wild building false idols to Godzilla, drinking coffee with abandon, and rolling 20 sided dice wherever fine products are sold.

Matt is a husband, long time geek enthusiast and storyteller, Cat herder, and cohost of the Goblin's Corner Podcast and YouTube channel. Matt has over 30 plus years of gaming experience; running adventures, world building, storytelling and playing. Additionally, he possesses the mutant ability to find the loophole in any system, which results in amusing gameplay and (oftentimes) frustrated storytellers. Matt can often be found roaming gaming conventions, clad in summer-wear and a bemused expression, while handing out rum to discerning palettes.

Matt Ekberg smoulders into the camera, casually dressed wearing a button up plaid shirt

Matthew Ekberg

Matthew Ekberg (CaptainKrail) is the GM and editor of the award-winning Starfinder podcast, The Atomless as well as a player featured on One Shot, The Welcome Inn, Demiplane, and more!

Cartoon image of Michael, in front of a red moon

Michael Mars

Michael Mars is reputedly a mad sorcerer. His existence is strongly debated by scholars, many of whom argue his identity is merely hearsay, while others claim to have studied direct evidence of his machinations. When maintaining corporeal form, Michael deals in Project management and Fulfilment, and reigns in tortured artists with the promise of wealth and fortune.

Michael, standing in front of a non-descript grey brick wall, smiles casually, his eyes twinkling with a spot of mischief.

Michael Prescott

Michael Prescott is the ENnie-award winning writer and illustrator of Trilemma Adventures, a series of short-form fantasy adventures. When he's not tweeting silly campaign ideas, you can find him blogging about RPG theory, annotating actual play transcripts, or building out a growing family of short-form RPGs.

MoMo, wearing a flowered crown, looks distantly into the camera

Morgan "MoMo" O'Brien

Mo Mo O'Brien creates youtube videos about 'Immersive Experiences'. Larps, Ren Faires, Theme Parks, and other real adventures YOU can experience. With a diverse range of talents, she not only has released original music, but also shares her passions and hobbies through costumed character acting videos. Mo Mo's creativity and emotions shine through in all her endeavors, inspiring and delighting her audience to love themselves and the world they live in.

Natalie staring deeply into the camera, wearing striking purple eye and lip makeup

Natalie Chenard

Natalie Chenard is a Canadian freelance artist and TTRPG actual play performer. When she isn't illustrating fantasy or creating intriguing characters at streaming tables, you can catch her dabbling in writing TTRPGs and as a part-time pro-GM. She produces solo TTRPG videos on various games to highlight different types of play.

Nevyn stylez casually, with a tightly cropped beard and rose-gold framed glasses

Nevyn Holmes

Nevyn "Nova" Holmes is a nonbinary game designer that loves making weird, experimental designs. They designed GUN&SLINGER, Justicar, You're In Space, and co-founded Dinoberry Press. Their main goal in game design is to create projects that focus on feeling, story, and using the medium in fresh ways.

Noordin, with a fetching full beard, lays on a pillow with his hand propping up his head

Noordin Ali Kadir

Noordin Ali Kadir (he/him) is an all-around tabletop creator, working as a freelance writer, editor, sensitivity consultant and award-winning performer who still wants to be a professional nap taker when he grows up. He's known most for his writing on Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall, Deimos Academy, and the upcoming Into the Mother Lands, consulting on Werewolf: the Apocalypse 5th Edition, and performing in podcasts like Missing Annie Lee and most recently The Atomless as Azhaam Ehmr, the Ifriti Envoy.

Omega Jones, with a raised eyebrow stares thoughtfully into the camera - shadows and light play the mischievous game across their body in this beautifully taken photo.

Omega Jones

Omega Jones, also known as the Critical Bard, is a professional actor and vocalist from the Midwest. A proud member of Actor's Equity Association, he had a focus on live musical theatre & performance until he switched to being a full time content creator on Twitter & Twitch. As a TTRPG professional, he has worked with many companies including Wizards of the Coast, World of Darkness, and created the theme song for Critter Hug, a signal boosting monthly show produced by Critical Role.

He has been seen on a plethora of TTRPG actual plays including Into The Mists (Noggins) with Realmsmith, New Pantheon: Academia (Kwame) with Saving Throw Show, & KOllOK (God of Purity) on FearHQ. His focus in content creation revolves around variety, equitable inclusion, and activism. He is the creator and moderator of the #BLACKAFRoundtable, a series of talks about the realities of racism with the tabletop space & community. He is one of the designers for Into The Motherlands, an afrofuturistic TTRPG. Some hosting credits include The Weekly with Twitch Gaming & Twitch Rivals: Pride Month Invitational ft. Lil_Lexi.

He has appeared as a special guest in many spaces, including VirtuousCon, PAX East, DragonCon, PAX Unplugged, GenCon, & more. He was chosen as one of the QueerInGames finalists for this work as a queer activist in the content creative space, was featured as a face of Twitch Pride 2021, & was a 2022 GaymingAward nominee for LGBTQ+ Streamer of the Year. As a partnered Twitch streamer, he strives for continued black and queer representation & urges folk to keep making treble wherever they go because it is up to us to shake up this broken system, one Treblemaker at a time.

Ray Chou stands proudly before a book shelf of diverse games and graphic novels.

Ray Chou

Ray Chou is a Los Angeles based writer, educator, and publisher. He is one half of Mythworks, publishers of Original Worlds and Stories including Skies of Fire, Glow, and The Wildsea. When he isn’t creating, he enjoys reading, exploring, dancing, and shepherding the next generation of thinkers and movers.

Reed in a blue hoodie holding a copy of his game vigilante

Reed Mascola

Reed Mascola (he/him) is a board game designer based in Toronto. He has released two games to date, including CATNIP Auction House, published by Tin Robot Games, and Vigilante, published under his own publishing company, Paranoia Rising Games. Since 2020, Reed has also been the co-founder of Thursday Wolfers, an online Werewolf community partnered with Werewolf ATL. Reed might say he's a Villager, but he's probably lying.

Richard looks into the camera, a rocky, natural terrain behind him

Richard Ruane

Richard Ruane is a Brooklyn-based tabletop RPG writer who created R. Rook Studio in 2019. His work includes "Moonlight on Roseville Beach," which won an ENnie Award in 2023, "Sherwood," "My Chivalric Bromance," and "Barrow Keep." He is a member of SFWA, where he serves on the Game Writing Committee, and previously organized Gauntlet Con and the New York Game Designers Room at Pax Unplugged.

Ricky, wearing a paper half-mask of Spider-man's cowl, kneels precariously on a bannister, holding his hand out with his pinky and index finger extended, and his middle and ring fingers tucked into his hand, using an imaginary web-shooter.

Ricky Wells

Ricky Wells is an absurd contradiction of a person, a self-described introverted nihilist who cares about everything and enjoys hot-dogging in front of a crowd. His Pentecostal upbringing sparked his interest in the occult and subsequently a complete infatuation with science fiction and all things Lovecraftian. He is a family man who practices martial arts and an enthusiastic gamer who on any given night is looking up into the stars or down into the depths of his dark basement staircase for his next gaming hook. He was a regular cast member for the Scribes & Scrolls Dungeons and Dragons Stream and Keeper for the Mythos Investigators Call of Cthulhu stream.

Brian, with arms folded across his chest, and wearing a GI Joe T-Shirt, is styled in front of a GI Joe character background. Yo Joe!

Ryan Costello

Ryan Costello is a co-designer of the Essence20 system for Renegade Game Studios, and an author on over a dozen Essence20 products, including the G.I. JOE, My Little Pony, and Transformers Roleplaying Game Core Rulebooks. He also podcasts and blogs about Essence20, GMing, and Pathfinder as the Director of Logistics on the Know Direction Network. Outside of gaming, he is the Lead Writer at Laughing Dragon Studios, and from 2022-2023, he wrote the Looking For Group webcomic.

Ryan laughing joyfully in a classy black and white image

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 was sensitivity consultant on The Wildsea RPG. He loves to explore the intersection between games and learning, and how play drives creativity. His upcoming game Bug Dish - a TTRPG about travelling bug chefs who compete in cooking competitions - is currently in playtesting.

Sam dressed smartly in a red collared shirt under a blazer

Samantha Leigh

Samantha Leigh (aka, GoblinMixtape) is a TTRPG designer from Virginia and the owner of Blinking Birch Games. She is best known for her ENNIE-nominated solo game, Anamnesis, and her short-form TikTok videos on indie TTRPGs. Sam's writing credits include Cloud Empress, The Zone, and Project ECCO. They were a judge for the 2023 Indie Groundbreaker Awards, and a source artist for BalletCollective's 2023 season during which their TTRPG was transformed into a ballet in NYC.

A cartoon of Scott, a man wearing glasses with a long brown hair in a ponytail

Scott Kelly

Scott Kelly is a teacher and game designer who is always thinking about making a new game. He is half of BSGames, the Mississauga-based company that created Mathemagician's Duel and the upcoming abstract strategy game SInoda.

Sean looks to be seated at a sporting event, wearing a shirt that says home is toronto.

Sean Jacquemain

Sean Jacquemain is a Toronto-based photographer and board game expert. He is the Marketing Director for Kids Table Board Gaming and Burnt Island Games and previously founded The Daily Worker Placement blog.

Seb wearing a beanie, seated in a park.

Seb Pines

Seb Pines is a writer and game designer making curiosities into roleplaying games and games into a collection of curiosities. They are also a co-founder of Good Luck Press where they publish experimental roleplaying games. You can find them online most places as @smolghost or their published work with Good Luck at goodluckpress.co.

Shannon, vibrant pink hair catching the light, smiles in front of a shelf of games

Shannon McDowell

Shannon McDowell is a 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 is the Director for the 2024 Cryptex Hunt, 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.

Shenuque Tissera leaning his head onto his fist and smiling warmly.

Shenuque Tissera

Shenuque Tissera is a stand-up comedian, actor, writer, director, and AP performer. He is a co-founder of Many Sided Media, the team behind the award-winning podcast 'My First Dungeon.' Shenuque has performed stand-up across the country, featured in the New York Comedy Festival, and has also written for Someecards and HBO Max.

Shiraz wearing a blue collared shirt, with arms folded in front of him, standing in front of a recently cleaned blackboard

Shiraz Sheikh

Shiraz Sheikh is the co-founder of Akinji Entertainment, the creator of the popular tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) CATaclysm. With his current focus on developing a board game version of CATaclysm, Shiraz continues to innovate and expand the game's reach. In addition to his gaming endeavors, Shiraz serves as a professor of humanities at a college in Toronto. His academic background enriches his creative work, allowing him to seamlessly blend storytelling, world-building, and game design. Shiraz's dual expertise makes him a dynamic presence at the intersection of education and entertainment, inspiring both students and gaming enthusiasts alike.

Sidney Icarus smiles casually into the camera, blonde, shoulder-length hair, gathers around their shoulders

Sidney Icarus

Sidney Icarus is an award-winning game designer and coffee fanatic. They have over a decade of experience designing and facilitating Applied Games for military, healthcare, and community organisations. Sidney's Decaying Orbit was awarded the Australian Role Playing Industry Awards' Game of the Year for 2023. When they aren't operating as a principal systems design consultant for Wax Wings, they can be found enjoying a good pour-over or Magic while tucked up with their cat, Radar.

Steve giving a reverse peace sign in front of a beautiful art wall

Steve Huynh

Steve Huynh is a Toronto-based Vietnamese RPG writer and gaming enthusiast. He is currently one of the co-hosts of the podcast "Asians Represent!" which focuses on uplifting Asian voices in the TTRPG, gaming, and pop-culture media landscape. He was a writer and editor for the D&D 5E anthology Unbreakable Vol. 1 and an editor on Unbreakable: Revolution. He also self-published the Manual of Gainful Exercise, a compendium of D&D inspired workouts. He has also been involved with several charity streams and events, both as an expert panelist and as on-screen talent for Actual Plays.

An animated image of a person holding up a mirror in which is reflected glowing eyes and a sharp toothed grin

Strega van den Berg

Strega Wolf van den Berg is a graphic and industrial designer and illustrator, studying Industrial Design at the Technical University Eindhoven. They design to be loud. As a queer autistic person with BPD, they have had my voice stolen by society, and they aim to reclaim it back through high-contrast aesthetics and first person perspectives in their designs. They are worker-owner at the co-op of Bogfolk, and have developed Lichoma: A Card-based Meatpunk TTRPG together with them, which has been nominated for an Indie Groundbreaker award for graphic design. They make a range of art and graphic design as commissions for various projects, and host a Creative Comrades library with art to use for free, provided you're not a megacorp or millionaire. Also, they just make stuff because they enjoy making stuff.

Tatiana in a white overcoat leans casually against a metal fence on a bridge overlooking a picturesque canal

Tatiana Gefter

Tatiana Gefter is an indie podcaster who haunts the audio drama and ttrpg spaces. Currently she is the writer, producer, and voice actor for 'Soul Operator', an actual play-narrative fiction blend focused on highlighting incredible solo ttrpgs! She can be heard as the voice of Violet Lull in 'The Department of Variance of Somewhere, Ohio', Marigold in 'Tales from the Fringes of Reality', and many more places if you dare to look! No stranger to classic actual plays, Tatiana is also known for her work in season two of queeRPG's 'Of Kith and Pen' and 'A Short Trip', a Triangle Agency one-shot with her fellow DOV cast members.

Tim smiles proudly in front of a background of his games

Tim Brown

Tim is a multiple award winning board game designer from Stouffville Ontario. His games have been sold in over a dozen countries and have been featured in multiple magazines and podcasts. His published games include Wreck Raiders, Order of Invention, Quartex, and Gridstones. Look for Tim dragging his cart full of prototypes and ask to play one of his many yet to be published games.

Walton staring into the camera wearing a neon hat that says Vast Grimm

Walton Wood

Walton Wood is a cofounding worker-owner at Bogfolk, an international indie RPG publishing cooperative. He works full time as a freelance editor for the likes of Stockholm Kartell, Games Omnivorous, Exalted Funeral, Creature Curation, Infinite Black, Plus One Exp, and many other small publishers and self-published creators. He is also the cofounder of Ex Libris RPG, a platform for cataloging third-party content for indie games, and he blogs at Liber Ludorum.

Will wearing a stylish green jean jacket while smiling at the camera

Will Jobst

Will Jobst is a 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!