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2023 Speakers
Alexander Swords
Writer, Narrative Designer & Director
Swords Narrative
(He/Him/His)
Naarm - Melbourne, Australia
A writer and narrative designer with a background in audience development and arts management. He’s worked for indies in Berlin, AAA in Sweden, and is now based in Australia helping forward-thinking developers forge strong relationships with their audiences through stories, narrative systems and player care.
With assistance from Creative Victoria’s Creator’s Fund, he’s also developed the Forest Paths Method of Narrative Design helping developers to discover the power of their own stories built on the design pillars of their projects away from Western conventions and with an understanding of player motivation beyond demographics and traditional models.
Swords Narrative
(He/Him/His)
Naarm - Melbourne, Australia
A writer and narrative designer with a background in audience development and arts management. He’s worked for indies in Berlin, AAA in Sweden, and is now based in Australia helping forward-thinking developers forge strong relationships with their audiences through stories, narrative systems and player care.
With assistance from Creative Victoria’s Creator’s Fund, he’s also developed the Forest Paths Method of Narrative Design helping developers to discover the power of their own stories built on the design pillars of their projects away from Western conventions and with an understanding of player motivation beyond demographics and traditional models.
Brooke Mags
Senior Narrative Designer
Remedy Entertainment
(She/Her/Hers)
Espoo, Finland
Brooke Maggs is an award-winning narrative designer who has worked on games like Control, The Gardens Between, Paperbark, and Florence. She works as a Senior Narrative Designer at Remedy Entertainment and is currently working on project Vanguard, a live, multiplayer game. When she’s not playing games, she’s writing her own fiction and enjoying the forests of Finland.
Remedy Entertainment
(She/Her/Hers)
Espoo, Finland
Brooke Maggs is an award-winning narrative designer who has worked on games like Control, The Gardens Between, Paperbark, and Florence. She works as a Senior Narrative Designer at Remedy Entertainment and is currently working on project Vanguard, a live, multiplayer game. When she’s not playing games, she’s writing her own fiction and enjoying the forests of Finland.
Rick Stemm
Design Manager/Narrative Director
PikPok
(He/Him/His)
Te Whanganui-a-Tara - Wellington, Aotearoa NZ
Rick Stemm is a Wellington-based game writer, designer, artist, and community leader originally from Madison, WI and San Antonio, TX. He is Design Manager and Narrative Director at PikPok, supporting the entire Design Department, setting standards for the new narrative team, and most importantly, helping people communicate. Rick keeps a foot in the indie art scene, as a playwright represented by Playmarket, fight choreographer, and transmedia artist doing weird art.
PikPok
(He/Him/His)
Te Whanganui-a-Tara - Wellington, Aotearoa NZ
Rick Stemm is a Wellington-based game writer, designer, artist, and community leader originally from Madison, WI and San Antonio, TX. He is Design Manager and Narrative Director at PikPok, supporting the entire Design Department, setting standards for the new narrative team, and most importantly, helping people communicate. Rick keeps a foot in the indie art scene, as a playwright represented by Playmarket, fight choreographer, and transmedia artist doing weird art.
Maru Nihoniho
Games Producer
Metia Interactive
(She/Her/Hers)
Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāi Tahu
Tāmaki Makaurau - Auckland, Aotearoa NZ
Maru is the founder of Metia Interactive and Auckland based game development company. She leads a team of developers that include artists and programmers. As well as designing and developing her own games she also produces 3rd party games across multiple platforms.
As a games designer and producer her focus is on indigenous storytelling as culture-based games are hugely influential and are a powerful outlet for engagement and learning. Maru has published several Māori games, Sparx, to teach rangatahi how to manage depression, Māori Pā Wars, a strategic tower defense game, Tākaro to teach rangatahi about coding concepts and Guardian Maia, interactive fiction that follows the journey of a Māori woman through a dystopian New Zealand. Maru's goal is to deliver games that are meaningful, that feature strong cultural themes with unique stories to tell.
Maru has a Masters degree in Technological Futures and her aim was to get an in-depth understanding of converging and emerging technologies, how disruption will change current platforms and to be prepared for future platforms.
She was awarded a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit on 20 October 2016 for services to gaming and mental health and in 2018 was named as Forbes Top 50 Women in Technology.
Metia Interactive
(She/Her/Hers)
Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāi Tahu
Tāmaki Makaurau - Auckland, Aotearoa NZ
Maru is the founder of Metia Interactive and Auckland based game development company. She leads a team of developers that include artists and programmers. As well as designing and developing her own games she also produces 3rd party games across multiple platforms.
As a games designer and producer her focus is on indigenous storytelling as culture-based games are hugely influential and are a powerful outlet for engagement and learning. Maru has published several Māori games, Sparx, to teach rangatahi how to manage depression, Māori Pā Wars, a strategic tower defense game, Tākaro to teach rangatahi about coding concepts and Guardian Maia, interactive fiction that follows the journey of a Māori woman through a dystopian New Zealand. Maru's goal is to deliver games that are meaningful, that feature strong cultural themes with unique stories to tell.
Maru has a Masters degree in Technological Futures and her aim was to get an in-depth understanding of converging and emerging technologies, how disruption will change current platforms and to be prepared for future platforms.
She was awarded a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit on 20 October 2016 for services to gaming and mental health and in 2018 was named as Forbes Top 50 Women in Technology.
Colin "CJ" Rowsell
Writer & Founder
Project Tempest/Man on Fire
(He/Him/His)
Te Whanganui-a-Tara - Wellington, Aotearoa NZ
Colin 'CJ' Rowsell is a narrative specialist with over 15 years experience shaping living stories across video games, TV, film, and startup businesses.
CJ is the creator of Project Tempest, an emerging horror story world set on the Lovecraftian frontier of New Zealand. Early Project Tempest releases have been shortlisted for major international horror awards including the Shirley Jackson & Australasian Shadows. As part of this CJ hosts the Project Tempest Podcast, interviewing creators from around the world about their journeys, struggles, and inspirations.
Project Tempest/Man on Fire
(He/Him/His)
Te Whanganui-a-Tara - Wellington, Aotearoa NZ
Colin 'CJ' Rowsell is a narrative specialist with over 15 years experience shaping living stories across video games, TV, film, and startup businesses.
CJ is the creator of Project Tempest, an emerging horror story world set on the Lovecraftian frontier of New Zealand. Early Project Tempest releases have been shortlisted for major international horror awards including the Shirley Jackson & Australasian Shadows. As part of this CJ hosts the Project Tempest Podcast, interviewing creators from around the world about their journeys, struggles, and inspirations.
Paris Buttfield-Addison
Co-founder, Secret Lab /
Producer, Yarn Spinner
(He/Him/His)
Muwinina - Hobart, Lutruwita- Tasmania, Australia
Dr Paris Buttfield-Addison is co-founder of Secret Lab (https://secretlab.games), a game development studio based in beautiful Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Secret Lab builds games and game development tools, including the BAFTA- and IGF-winning Night in the Woods, the wildly popular Yarn Spinner (https://yarnspinner.dev), an open source narrative game development framework, and the award-winning ABC Play School and Qantas Joey Playbox iPad games.
Paris formerly worked as a software engineer, and later product manager for Meebo, which was acquired by Google in 2012. He has a degree in medieval history, a PhD in Computing, and writes technical books (around 30 so far) on machine learning, programming, and game development for O’Reilly Media. He can be found on the Fediverse at http://cloudisland.nz/@parisba and online at http://paris.id.au
Producer, Yarn Spinner
(He/Him/His)
Muwinina - Hobart, Lutruwita- Tasmania, Australia
Dr Paris Buttfield-Addison is co-founder of Secret Lab (https://secretlab.games), a game development studio based in beautiful Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Secret Lab builds games and game development tools, including the BAFTA- and IGF-winning Night in the Woods, the wildly popular Yarn Spinner (https://yarnspinner.dev), an open source narrative game development framework, and the award-winning ABC Play School and Qantas Joey Playbox iPad games.
Paris formerly worked as a software engineer, and later product manager for Meebo, which was acquired by Google in 2012. He has a degree in medieval history, a PhD in Computing, and writes technical books (around 30 so far) on machine learning, programming, and game development for O’Reilly Media. He can be found on the Fediverse at http://cloudisland.nz/@parisba and online at http://paris.id.au
Samara-Jade Sendek
Narrative Designer /
Freelance Writer
(She/Her/Hers)
Naarm - Melbourne, Australia
Before becoming the deadly sistergirl the fascists fear, Samara-Jade was born to an unassuming family in rural Australia. She then had a heart attack before discovering dresses with pockets. Now, she is a freelance writer, narrative designer and QA wench. She still does MMA on the side, in between delivering talks and making G-14 classified games.
Freelance Writer
(She/Her/Hers)
Naarm - Melbourne, Australia
Before becoming the deadly sistergirl the fascists fear, Samara-Jade was born to an unassuming family in rural Australia. She then had a heart attack before discovering dresses with pockets. Now, she is a freelance writer, narrative designer and QA wench. She still does MMA on the side, in between delivering talks and making G-14 classified games.
Cam Rogers
Author. Game Writer. Turbo Nerd.
(He/Him/His)
Canada / Australia
Cam Rogers is a novelist, game writer and screenwriter. Cam has written for games such as Quantum Break and The Walking Dead: No Man's Land. He is currently the writer on Warframe.
Born in Australia, he's been a crime reporter, journalist, vampire extra, and stand-up comedian. He once spent weeks cutting up chicken in a steel room with a defecting Soviet weightlifter and was almost trapped into working a Yakuza-run bowling alley in Kyoto. He currently lives and works in Canada.
(He/Him/His)
Canada / Australia
Cam Rogers is a novelist, game writer and screenwriter. Cam has written for games such as Quantum Break and The Walking Dead: No Man's Land. He is currently the writer on Warframe.
Born in Australia, he's been a crime reporter, journalist, vampire extra, and stand-up comedian. He once spent weeks cutting up chicken in a steel room with a defecting Soviet weightlifter and was almost trapped into working a Yakuza-run bowling alley in Kyoto. He currently lives and works in Canada.
Mike Boyes
Senior Narrative Designer
PikPok
He/Him/His
Te Whanganui-a-Tara - Wellington, Aotearoa NZ
Mike Boyes is a Senior Narrative Designer with almost a decade of experience in game development. His career spans over thirteen titles, most notably as a narrative designer on the award-winning Into The Dead 2. Mike's passion for storytelling goes beyond writing and includes directing voice actors and cutscenes while working inside the talented narrative team at Pikpok.
PikPok
He/Him/His
Te Whanganui-a-Tara - Wellington, Aotearoa NZ
Mike Boyes is a Senior Narrative Designer with almost a decade of experience in game development. His career spans over thirteen titles, most notably as a narrative designer on the award-winning Into The Dead 2. Mike's passion for storytelling goes beyond writing and includes directing voice actors and cutscenes while working inside the talented narrative team at Pikpok.
Zhia Zariko
Games Design Lecturer
SAE Institute
(She/Her/Hers)
Naarm - Melbourne, Australia
Zhia Zariko is an academic turned educator, wanting to use her weird penchant for analysis to assist game developers to make better games. Currently an established tertiary educator in games design and media cultures, she is in the process of dipping her toes into the world of game development by diving into the deep end without water wings and making her own game about romance, intimacy, and kissing monsters.
SAE Institute
(She/Her/Hers)
Naarm - Melbourne, Australia
Zhia Zariko is an academic turned educator, wanting to use her weird penchant for analysis to assist game developers to make better games. Currently an established tertiary educator in games design and media cultures, she is in the process of dipping her toes into the world of game development by diving into the deep end without water wings and making her own game about romance, intimacy, and kissing monsters.
Timothy Best
Narrative & Systems Designer, Writer
(He/Him/His)
Naarm - Melbourne, Australia
Timothy C. Best was a game journalist for almost a decade, working on magazines including Australian PC Gamer, Hyper, and PC PowerPlay ... which he edited for two years.
In 2008 he jumped from writing about games to designing them. He has worked at indie studios in Perth, Melbourne and, now, New Zealand. Timothy is on contract as Principle Narrative Designer at Wētā Workshop's game studio.
(He/Him/His)
Naarm - Melbourne, Australia
Timothy C. Best was a game journalist for almost a decade, working on magazines including Australian PC Gamer, Hyper, and PC PowerPlay ... which he edited for two years.
In 2008 he jumped from writing about games to designing them. He has worked at indie studios in Perth, Melbourne and, now, New Zealand. Timothy is on contract as Principle Narrative Designer at Wētā Workshop's game studio.
Jonathon Manning
Narrative Technologies Lead
Yarn Spinner
(He/Him/His)
Muwinina - Hobart, Lutruwita- Tasmania, Australia
Jon Manning is the co-founder of Secret Lab, an independent game development studio best known for their work on the BAFTA- and IGF-winning Night in the Woods, and on the hugely popular narrative tool Yarn Spinner. Jon is also the co-author of a number of books on Unity, Swift, and machine learning, and holds a PhD about jerks on the internet.
Yarn Spinner
(He/Him/His)
Muwinina - Hobart, Lutruwita- Tasmania, Australia
Jon Manning is the co-founder of Secret Lab, an independent game development studio best known for their work on the BAFTA- and IGF-winning Night in the Woods, and on the hugely popular narrative tool Yarn Spinner. Jon is also the co-author of a number of books on Unity, Swift, and machine learning, and holds a PhD about jerks on the internet.
Ellen Jurik
Narrative Director
Blowfish Studios
(She /Her/Hers)
Eora - Sydney, Australia
Ellen is a Game Director, Writer, Designer, and Producer. She has spent over a decade creating games for a variety of genres and platforms, exploring new and existing IPs in both original projects and games for clients. Working with companies including Fox/BlueSky Studios, Scholastic Inc., New Holland Publishing, Valiant Entertainment, EA Respawn, Gameloft, and Blowfish Studios. As Narrative Director for Phantom Galaxies, Ellen spearheads the storytelling strategy and execution for the game and beyond.
Blowfish Studios
(She /Her/Hers)
Eora - Sydney, Australia
Ellen is a Game Director, Writer, Designer, and Producer. She has spent over a decade creating games for a variety of genres and platforms, exploring new and existing IPs in both original projects and games for clients. Working with companies including Fox/BlueSky Studios, Scholastic Inc., New Holland Publishing, Valiant Entertainment, EA Respawn, Gameloft, and Blowfish Studios. As Narrative Director for Phantom Galaxies, Ellen spearheads the storytelling strategy and execution for the game and beyond.
Henry Feltham
Production Director / Narrative Designer
Deep Field Games
(He/Him/His)
Ōtepoti - Dunedin, Aotearoa NZ
Henry Feltham is a narrative designer, producer and screenwriter based in Ōtepoti - Dunedin. He started writing for games in 2007 on the award-winning Casebook series, and was most recently lead writer on Rocketwerkz Studio’s 2021 co-op survival title Icarus. As a producer, he worked on Stationeers, and is currently Studio Director for Deep Field Games. He has also worked extensively in film, including co-writing This Town (2020) and for the upcoming Sundance series Far North.
Deep Field Games
(He/Him/His)
Ōtepoti - Dunedin, Aotearoa NZ
Henry Feltham is a narrative designer, producer and screenwriter based in Ōtepoti - Dunedin. He started writing for games in 2007 on the award-winning Casebook series, and was most recently lead writer on Rocketwerkz Studio’s 2021 co-op survival title Icarus. As a producer, he worked on Stationeers, and is currently Studio Director for Deep Field Games. He has also worked extensively in film, including co-writing This Town (2020) and for the upcoming Sundance series Far North.
Stacey Wellington
Experienced Narrative Designer
PikPok
(She/Her/Hers)
Te Whanganui-a-Tara - Wellington, Aotearoa NZ
Stacey Wellington is a Narrative Designer with experience in both console and mobile games, currently working at PikPok. Before joining the games industry at the beginning of 2020, Stacey worked in libraries and museums, and completed an MA in Classical Studies. She is most interested in how games represent people and the worlds they live in, and how narrative design can achieve emotional impact, even for players who ‘don’t care about story.’
PikPok
(She/Her/Hers)
Te Whanganui-a-Tara - Wellington, Aotearoa NZ
Stacey Wellington is a Narrative Designer with experience in both console and mobile games, currently working at PikPok. Before joining the games industry at the beginning of 2020, Stacey worked in libraries and museums, and completed an MA in Classical Studies. She is most interested in how games represent people and the worlds they live in, and how narrative design can achieve emotional impact, even for players who ‘don’t care about story.’
Edwin McRae
Lore Master for Flesh and Blood
Legend Story Studios
(He/Him/His)
Ōtepoti - Dunedin, Aotearoa NZ
Edwin has been a professional storyteller for games, novels, comics and television for the last 15 years. He has earned his keep as a freelance game writer and narrative designer while developing his own story worlds through novels and visual novels such as Skulls of Atlantis and The Falconers: Moonlight.
Legend Story Studios
(He/Him/His)
Ōtepoti - Dunedin, Aotearoa NZ
Edwin has been a professional storyteller for games, novels, comics and television for the last 15 years. He has earned his keep as a freelance game writer and narrative designer while developing his own story worlds through novels and visual novels such as Skulls of Atlantis and The Falconers: Moonlight.
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