The Five Most-Important Games of My Career

ACROPHOBIA — In grade school, I created a little game to make funny phrases from acronyms. In 1994, that game became Acrophobia, a game people played in IRC chat rooms. In 1997, I joined Berkeley Systems and we created a commercial version with a gameshow feel. Acrophobia launched a new type of social gaming, and it won Gamespot's 1997 Game of the Year award for online games. Read more about Acrophobia on Wikipedia.

CHRON X — The first digital collectible card game, first released in 1997. I was a beta tester and tournament prize player, and joined the project in May 1998 as Lead Designer. Chron X won Computer Gaming World’s 1999 Shareware Game of the Year award (because they didn't use words like "microtransaction" in the 90s). The game had seven expansions, with the last one released in 2005. Read more about Chron X on Wikipedia.

EA ULTIMATE TEAM — UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 was the very first collectible card game with real user-to-user trading over Xbox Live. I was the producer and co-designer of that feature, called the “Ultimate Team.” Nearly every review mentioned the trading cards feature as the reason to buy the game. That feature went on to be included in every subsequent EA Sports franchise, and has become a major driver in that division’s year-over-year growth.

SKILLZ ESPORTS PLATFORM — Not technically a game, but it enables games to generate revenue in a new way. I led the systems design of the Skillz Tournament Gaming Platform, which now has over 15 million users. I created a rating and ranking system that tracked players, their practice play, and their wagered play to make the matchups fun, fair, and competitive. Find out more about Skillz on their website.

HERO REALMS — Adapting the award-winning Star Realms into the fantasy genre was an obvious step to take. Making the game multiplayer-focused while still retaining amazing head-to-head gameplay was the real challenge, and I think we did a good job. Hero Realms had one of the largest deckbuilding game Kickstarters of all time.

Game Credits (in reverse chronological order)

  • Hero Realms
    • The Lich Boss, Lead Designer—2017
    • The Dragon Boss, Lead Designer—2017
    • Character Packs, Designer—2016
    • Starter Set, Editor—2016 to 2017
  • Epic Card Game
    • Pantheon, Designer and Editor-2017
    • Uprising, Designer and Editor-2016
    • Tyrants, Designer and Editor-2016
    • Starter Set, Editor and additional Designer-2015
  • Star Realms
    • Frontiers, Editor-2018
    • Scenarios, Editor-2017
    • Missions, Editor and additional Designer-2017
    • Cosmic Gambit, Editor and additional Designer-2016
    • United, Editor-2016
    • Colony Wars, Editor-2015
  • Skillz Tournament Platform, Lead Systems Designer-2013
  • RumbleTV Football, Producer and Lead Designer-2012
  • RumbleTV Baseball, Producer and Lead Designer-2012
  • Be Greedy!, Producer and Lead Designer-2011
  • Robot SMASH Battle, Producer and Lead Designer-2011
  • TAG: The Acronym Game, Producer and Lead Designer-2011

  • Star Wars Galaxies TCG
    • Threat of the Conqueror, Lead Designer-2010
    • The Nightsister's Revenge, Lead Designer-2009
    • The Shadow Syndicate, Lead Designer-2009
    • Agents of Deception, Lead Designer-2009
    • Galactic Hunters, Designer-2009
  • Legends of Norrath (the Everquest TCG)
    • Vengeful Gods, Designer-2010
    • Travelers, Designer-2009
    • Storm Break, Designer-2009
    • Against the Void, Designer-2009
  • Free Realms, Designer—2008 to 2010
  • Magic the Gathering - Tactics, Balance Designer—2009
  • Magic the Gathering, Playtester—2007 to 2008

  • MapleStory iTCG
    • Behold Zakum, Designer-2008
    • NPC Heroes, Designer-2008
    • P3ts, Designer-2008
    • OMG Bosses!, Designer-2007
    • Starter Set, Designer-2007
  • EUFA Champions League 06-07, Designer and Producer—2006 to 2007
  • EA Ultimate Teams, Designer—2006 to 2007

  • Chron X
    • Corruption, Executive Producer & Lead Designer-2005
    • Reboot, Executive Producer & Lead Designer-2004
    • Breakpoint, Executive Producer & Lead Designer-2003
    • Whiteout, Producer and additional Designer-2000
    • Defiance, Producer and Designer-1999
    • Ascension, Designer-1998
  • WWE With Authority!
    • Unforgiven, Producer & Lead Designer-2002
    • SummerSlam 2002, Producer & Lead Designer-2002
    • Second Edition, Producer & Lead Designer-2002
    • TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs, Producer and Lead Designer-2002
    • WrestleMania X8, Lead Designer-2002
    • No Way Out, Lead Designer-2001
    • First Edition, Lead Designer-1999 to 2001
  • Star Trek conQuest Online (the world's first digital collectible miniatures game)
    • A Matter of Time, Lead Designer-2000
    • Starter Set, Lead Designer-1999
  • Cosmic Consensus, Designer-1998
  • Get The Picture, Lead Designer-1998
  • Acrophobia, Lead Designer-1996 to 1997