Staff Profiles
Meet the people who make the games!
Alex Blakeney, Accounting Assistant
Updated April 25, 2023
After about a decade in Film Production, I decided I would much rather watch them than make them. (I blame Nicholas Cage). Now I spend all my time playing, teaching and helping others design games.
Jimmie Bragdon, IT Manager
Updated July 27, 2017
Over two decades ago, I joined the Network branch of the Consipiracy under the guise of Illuminati Online and began my foray into helpdesks, network administration, and [REDACTED]. Since then, I've been through the back rooms and data centers of businesses, telecom companies, and even a major computer manufacturer (where the iDomination initiative is going quite well). I've since returned to the home office to patch myself into the heart of the Network once again.
In my free time, I enjoy a pretty wide range of gaming interests. I enjoy roleplaying games, from the periodic pen-and-paper game, to the online MMO. I'm also a fan of any number of board games, non-collectible card games, and lightweight miniatures games. Outside of gaming, I do on and off-stage work in local theater, and am on the board of directors of The Baron's Men troupe.
Susan Bueno, Chief Operating Officer
Updated April 25, 2023
I've been with the company since 2014. My favorite parts of the job are editing and announcing new titles, plus the fact that to do these things, I get to interact with almost everyone in the company.
When not working, I prefer to hang out with my partner and our puppy. In the middle of the night, I play Words with Friends (and also with Complete Strangers!) and Rummikub. Wordle is a new favorite. I have three pretty neat kids and three rambunctious grandsons. Life is never boring . . .
Alex Fernandez, Senior Production Artist
Updated October 26, 2008
Alex like to draw pictures. Alex no like word things.
Alex like lizards and monkeys. Some of Alex art here.
Sabrina Gonzalez, Production Manager
Updated December 2, 2014
Sabrina's brain prefers to keep around less useful information like song lyrics instead of things like where she placed her cellphone last. Sometimes her dog keeps tabs on where all the missing things go.
Steve Jackson, President, Editor-in-Chief
Updated October 31, 2008
Steve Jackson founded the company in 1980, so it's all his fault. Blame him.
Steve has also designed way too many games, including Ogre, Car Wars, Illuminati, GURPS, and Munchkin. He wants to do some more. Thus, gaming no longer counts as a hobby, though it's still a Favorite Thing. His actual hobbies include Lego, pirates, tropical fish, rolling ball machines, and gardening. He really wishes he could still find the time for beekeeping, model railroading, and keeping up with videogames . . . and in his weaker moments he misses the SCA. If only we could do something about this sleep thing . . .
He is a carnivore, specializing in sashimi. Mmm, sashimi. A few years ago, he broke a 30-year 3-liter-a-day Coke addiction. Now it's two cups of coffee a day. This is better, honest. He drinks sissy drinks and Kahlua. He reads science fiction and fantasy. Did we mention that he games?
You can find his personal website here.
Ross Jepson, Director of Sales
Updated December 16, 2010
Ross Jepson started in the games industry in 1979 working part time at the Sentry Box, a retail store, and then TD Imports Inc., a Canadian hobby distributor, in Calgary, Alberta. In 1981, he took over operations of TD Imports and ran it full time until he sold it in May of 1999 and went to work for Steve Jackson Games as Director of Sales. Today, Ross is both the Director of Sales for Steve Jackson Games as well as the Director of Hobby Sales for PSI. In his spare time, Ross enjoys cycling, backpacking, historical miniatures gaming, board wargaming, and the study of military history.
Devin Lewis, Munchkin Associate Developer
Updated April 25, 2023
An avid gamer, both video and board, and an avid media consumer, Devin knows too much about too many things that *don't matter*. He doesn't like food. He talks too much if he likes you. When he's not at work he designs board games and dabbles in writing.
He thinks he's funny.
Steven Marsh, Warehouse 23 Digital Manager
Updated April 25, 2023
Steven Marsh has been a gamer since he was 13, when his newly generated Dungeons & Dragons magic-user – creatively named Zappo Zam – happened to roll all 18s during character creation.
Although his blatant cheating tapered off once puberty kicked in, Steven's love of gaming grew as he went to college at Florida State University. While there, he worked at a comic and game shop, resulting in a truly frightening collection of comics and games. His break in the creative aspect of gaming came in 1997, when a letter he wrote to Shadis magazine detailing his theoretical "perfect" issue was turned into the "Special Steven Marsh Issue." He wrote a couple of articles for Shadis, and in 2000 he joined the Steve Jackson Games family as the editor of Pyramid. Since then, he's done work for Green Ronin Publishing, West End Games, Grey Ghost Games, White Wolf Publishing, and others. In 2008 he started working more extensively for Steve Jackson Games, wearing many hats but primarily managing PDFs, PODs, and GURPS projects.
When not wrangling administrivia or tackling writing projects as his fancy is struck, he enjoys Marvel Champions and other co-op games, escape rooms, mystery-solving kits, Doctor Who, portable video-game systems, community theater, tinkering with computers, and cooking. He lives just outside Indianapolis with his wife and their son, in a home with more bookshelves than walls.
Kira Matrejek, App Developer
Updated April 25, 2023
Kira built much of the original SJGames website, including the first Warehouse 23 and e23 stores and the Pyramid webzine. She also helped migrate Warehouse 23 to our new Shopify store, and developed most of our iOS apps. She's even written apps for NASA. (Apps in spaaaaace!)
When she's not writing code, she likes taking photos, painting tiny horses, and sculpting dragons.
Brandon McClelland, User Support Technician
Updated April 25, 2023
Brandon vividly recalls playing his first RPG campaign at age 8 with a group of his mother's university friends who often encouraged him to try silly things: quickly leading him to play an ear-less elf after picking a fight with an entire tavern of dwarves. He still remembers repeatedly bugging his uncle to teach him how to play Car Wars. This love of table-top games led to a fascination with miniature collecting and painting in middle school that paralleled his growing interest in computer programming and video games. His current interests also include artificial intelligence programming, circuit bending, making collages, creating music with guitars and electronic synthesizers, as well as wandering around Austin.
Sean Punch, GURPS Line Editor
Updated April 25, 2023
Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch entered the academy to become a chemist in 1985 and left it as a theoretical particle physicist in 1995, when he became the GURPS Line Editor. He has since revised GURPS into its fourth edition (2004), designed the related Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game (2017), and written, edited, or otherwise contributed to hundreds of GURPS releases and countless Pyramid articles. Sean has been a gamer since 1979, but devotes most of his spare time to Argentine tango and much of the rest to experimental mixology. He lives in Montréal, Québec with son amour, Geneviéve. To stalk him, visit his DreamWidth or follow him on Facebook.
David Rock, Ogre Line Editor
Updated April 25, 2023
David started gaming in the late 70s when his uncle gave him copies of D&D and G.E.V. for Christmas. Some of his hobbies are ham radio (mostly digital modes), astronomy and astrophotography, retro computing, microcontrollers, practical special effects, running a BBS, and of course, boardgaming (especially Ogre; go figure).
Gabby Ruenes, Production Artist
Updated April 26, 2010
Gabby is a dork. He accepted a position with Steve Jackson Games after realizing he will never achieve his dream of becoming Bruce Campbell's personal assistant / masseur. He enjoys board games and video games, comics and cartoons and all things Bruce Campbell . . . even Man with the Screaming Brain . . . which is awful.
Randy Scheunemann, Operations and Security Manager
Updated April 25, 2023
Randy is a wanderer. He made his way into the office one day, and hasn't managed to fully escape yet.
His job is nebulous and if you are involved in the hobby board game community at all, you have seen him "around".
Randy's gaming interests are varied. A game of Catan is as welcome as a few games of Endeavor, followed by a giant game of Werewolves around the campfire. He has also started to dabble in the world of V.R.
Will Schoonover, Munchkin Line Editor
Updated April 25, 2023
Will is known by a variety of names, with Oz being the most common alias you may have heard.
This is their second time working for SJGames. The first time around involved a lot of hats, including some game design work on things like Munchkin Quest and Revolution!. This time around, the primary hat says "Munchkin Line Editor". That isn't to say that there isn't anything else on their plate, including plenty of other fun game development and helping out at cons.
Kristie Shaw - Administrative Assistant
Updated April 25, 2023
I have been at SJGames for 8 years. I have worked in Accounting, Marketing and with all the contracts.
Nikki Vrtis, Assistant GURPS Line Editor
Updated April 25, 2023
Nikola Vrtis has been the production artist and indexer for most of the hundreds of GURPS products published since 2008, as well as editor, print-on-demand pundit, errata coordinator, and copywriter. She began her career in the gaming industry at West End Games, where she was the co-designer of the Men in Black Roleplaying Game, co-designer and co-editor of the DC Universe Roleplaying Game and its supplements, and the architect and line editor for the unified D6 System series of books. She enjoys science fiction, most things Mandalorian, and playing all kinds of cooperative, puzzle, and family games. Nikki currently resides just outside of Indianapolis, Indiana, with her spouse and their child in a house. It has bookshelves. And maybe walls.
Ben Williams, Production Artist
Updated April 25, 2023
Ben's one goal in life is to paint all the minis. Unfortunately minis cost money and his hands get tired. But Steve Jackson Games will pay him money to work on The Fantasy Trip and board games (the second best thing to painting minis) when his hands get tired. Sometimes SJGames will even pay him to paint more minis, bringing his life goal that much closer...
Irene Zielinski, Car Wars Line Editor/Marketing Assistant/MIB Control
Updated April 25, 2023
Irene got into gaming at the tender age of eleven, when her stepfather brought her into the fold with a shiny new GURPS Fourth Edition Basic Set. She founded a tabletop gaming club in high school and was later elected Games Librarian at Wargamers of UBC, a university club which has maintained its library and game night events continuously since its inception in 1966. Her taste in board games is eclectic, but favorites include Iron Dragon, Onitama, Food Chain Magnate, and Scrabble.
Today, Irene works for SJ Games, studies psychology at Georgia State University, moonlights as a TikTok TTRPG influencer, and is writing her first standalone RPG with 9th Level Games. When she gets spare time, she loves to hike and camp with her girlfriend Emma and terrier Nelson.
