2016 Judges

Born in 1967 in Lisbon, Vital Lacerda has a masters degree in Marketing and Advertising. Board game design is his greatest and most loved passion. He started designing in 2007 and published his first game in 2010. His games include Vinhos, CO2, Kanban, and The Gallerist.

Shari Spiro is the founder of Ad Magic / Breaking Games, the printer of Cards Against Humanity and Exploding Kittens, and the publisher of games like Letter Tycoon and Game of 49.

Dirk is a social futurist by day and a game designer by night. His most recent release is Tesla vs. Edison: War of Currents and he is currently working on Chronicles: Origins, Corrupted Kingdoms, and Futbol Strategy.

Matt Morgan is a freelance writer covering the tabletop gaming industry, having worked with Wired, MTV, and The Escapist. Matt is also the deputy tabletop manager for PAX East and PAX South.

Gil Hova is a game designer and publisher living in Jersey City, New Jersey. He has designed everything from word games to strategy games to party games. His most recent game, The Networks, raised over $100,000 in funding on Kickstarter in September 2015.

Tam Myaing is an artist, engineer, entrepreneur, and game designer. He has been creating digital and board games since his early teens and is the founder of Wee Big Games and Neuronic Games. @TamAtPlay

Kevin Brusky is the founder and president of APE Games, a board and card game publishing company since 1997. When he's not making games, Kevin... OK, who are we kidding, Kevin's always making games.

Rich is an admin at the Board Game Designer's Forum (BGDF.com) where he runs a monthly game design showdown for designers to sharpen their skills. Rich makes a living as a play and learning designer, creating games for NGOs and other organisations. 

Banana Chan and Herb Ferman are tabletop game reviewers with a passion for writing and food (and games, obviously). They insult the crap out of each other (and other people) in the form of written reviews and YouTube videos for your entertainment.

Ed Marriott (@edpmarriott) is the designer of Scoville by Tasty Minstrel Games. He also blogs about board game design and homebrewing on boardsandbarley.com. 

Chris Kirkman is the founder of Dice Hate Me Games, and is currently the Game Development Director at Greater Than Games where he finds awesome games and makes them awesomer. He enjoys podcasting, whiskey, and games with camels.

Corey Young is best known for being "that Gravwell guy." He's a big fan of Star Trek and his wife, though not necessarily in that order.

Jason Tagmire has designed games for AEG, Eagle Gryphon, and Wizkids. In his free time he runs Button Shy Games, the independent publisher of wallet-sized games.

Frank Durant, nicknamed The Playtest Guru (@PlayTestGuru) is an avid gamer, comic book nerd, and TV/movie geek who is eager to help designers make their games the best they can be. Linda Durant is a bibliophile, passionate gamer and brutally honest playtester.

Geoff Engelstein is an award-winning tabletop game designer whose titles include The Ares Project, Space Cadets, and Survive: Space Attack. He is also a noted podcaster. Since 2007 he has been a contributor to the Dice Tower, the leading tabletop game podcast, with GameTek, a series on the math, science, and psychology of games. He has also hosted Ludology, a weekly podcast on game design, since 2011.

Jay Treat designed Cunning Folk, Legacy of the Slayer, and three games expected in 2016: Merchants of Araby, Cahoots, and Very Busy Business Person (in partnership with Chris Zinsli).

Andrew is the founder of Knapsack Games and designer of Apotheca and Knee Jerk. Follow him on Twitter at @knapsackgames.

John Pappas is a library manager with a degree in Learning, Cognition and Development and has developed board game collections for three library systems. He reviews on Troll in the Corner, believes he is a dragon, and has a crush on Dirk Knemeyer.

Tim got this particular haircut as part of a carefully crafted bet. He also invents and publishes games via his company Brooklyn Indie Games. Find him on Twitter as @dicefoodlodging.

Brian Frahm (@frahminator) is an Arizona-based board game geek. As a father of three, he's learned how to lose gracefully to his budding gamers on quite the regular basis.

Cardboard Fortress Games is Anthony Amato and Nicole Kline. The duo make games in their spare time in Philadelphia.

Scott is a youth worker, amateur game designer, and connoisseur of pens and paper.

Doug Levandowski is an English teacher and game designer from New Jersey. He's the co-designer of Gothic Doctor and Unpub: The Unpublished Card Game and the designer of You're Fired.

Peter C. Hayward is a full-time author and game designer. His current projects include games involving Dracula holding a masquerade ball, wizards who make Mexican food, and icy sea-monsters attacking a merchant steam ship.

Ken runs Geek-Craft.com and does a little bit of everything. Editing, playtesting, demoing, and reviewing. He has too many games and not enough time but is almost always up for playing something. 

Anthony Racano is the host of The Cardboard Jungle Podcast and an avid gamer. He is not afraid to say what he truly feels about a game and lives by the mantra that "Friends tell friends their games suck."

Nate Murray is the Product Manager for IDW Games. IDW Games publishes the SDJ-nominated and Geekie Award winning Machi Koro as well as a host of licensed and original properties. Nate is also the co-designer on the upcoming Godfather: Mafia card game, and claims to be undefeated at Air Hockey.

David is a passionate board game enthusiast, euro game evangelist, and budding game designer. His most recent project was developing Scythe Automa with design partner, Morten Monrad Pedersen. He is currently working on an expansion for Euphoria and a variety of fun projects.

Brett is a game designer and playful learner. His games have been published by Steve Jackson Games, WizKids and R&R Games. He is also an advocate for playing in public and hosts free bi-weekly public board game nights at local pubs. 

Dr. Wictz has written academic-inspired articles disguised as practical advice for board game design since 2012. You can find Dr. Wictz's writing and learn about their game designs at dr.wictz.com.

Matt Wolfe is the designer of Wombat Rescue and Avalanche at Yeti Mountain. He founded the Game Designers of North Carolina and assures everyone he'll one day design a game without a strange creature in it.

Jeff has worked in the hobby games industry for over nine years, with roles ranging from podcaster to game developer to logistic coordinator.

Ryan LaFlamme is the founding editor of The Cardboard Republic, a review and content site that focuses in part on indie games.

Matthew O'Malley is the designer of Diner, Knot Dice, and The Princess Bride: A Battle of Wits, and the co-designer of Between Two Cities.

John du Bois is the designer of Avignon (the game, not the city in France), a speech pathologist who uses hobby games as speech therapy materials, and an ardent supporter of gnomes as the best playable race in any game ever, including ones in which technically gnomes are not a playable race. Yes, even that one.

Steven Cole is both a game designer and game publisher. He is the owner of Escape Velocity Games and, of course, dozens of unfinished prototypes.

Paul Imboden is President of Split Second Games, publishers of Quicksilver: The Great Airship Race and the soon-to-be-released Paradox. He’s not above getting bribed with a blueberry pie.

Chris & Suzanne Zinsli are game designers and the founders of Cardboard Edison.