Women and Nonbinary Board Game Designers: the Americas
In 2018, only 7 games of the top 200 on Board Game Geek had a non-male designer involved. (It's now up to 10.) I got tired of being called "one of very few non-male board game designers," so I started compiling a list and ended up with over 200 women with published games.
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Western North America
Susan McKinley Ross | California
@ideaduckSusan was the first (and only) woman to win the Spiel des Jahres for a solo design, with her game Qwirkle. She also designed Hoot Owl Hoot and more than a dozen other games.
Marsha Falco | Arizona
@marshafalcoMarsha designed the game Set in 1974. She gambled her kids' college fund to print the first 5,000 copies. Thirty years later, it's still in print.
Shanon Lyon | Washington
Shanon was a designer at Cranium before becoming a freelance designer and founding the design group Department of Recreation with Marisa Peña.
Marisa Peña | Washington
At Department of Recreation, Marisa and Shanon have published several games, including Outfoxed, which won the Kinderspiel des Jahres in 2018.
Nicole Jekich | Washington
@njekichNicole co-designed the game Food Truck Champion as a freelance designer before joining the staff at Forrest Pruzan (now Funko). She's also director of events for PlaytestNW.
Victoria Caña | Washington
@victoriacanaVictoria worked as a management consultant before joining the staff at Wizards of the Coast as a game producer. She recently Kickstarted her game Gladius.
Sarah Reed | California
@EurogamergirlSarah's self-published games include Oaxaca and Project Dreamscape. She was also a host on the Our Turn! Podcast.
Rebecca Bleau | California
Rebecca has designed multiple escape room games, including Mystery at Stargazer's Manor and Secret of Dr. Gravely's Retreat, as well as several lighter games like Wooly Whammoth. She co-founded Blue Matter Games.
Mary Jo Reutter | California
Mary Jo has designed over a dozen published family games including Sumo Ham Slam, Laundry Jumble, and Buck Buck Moose.
Elisa Teague | California
@GeekyPinupElisa has an incredibly diverse oeuvre that includes kid-friendly (Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh My), trivia (Geek Out!), hobby game (Apocrypha Adventure), puzzles, and RPGs. She also edited the book Girls on Games.
Emma Larkins | Washington
@emmalarkinsEmma's published games include ...and then we died and Heartcatchers, and she's got more in progress.
Alice Davis | Oregon
@pa8tedAlice is designer of Kitten Klash, Thieves' Den, and Dinos Not Assembled.
Rosie Roberson | Oregon
Rosie has a dozen published family games including Cha-Cha Chihuahua, Say the Word, What's It, and This Big!.
Colleen McCarthy Evans | California
Colleen has co-designed over a dozen published family games with Joyce Johnson, including Sounds Like a Plan and In a Pickle. She is also an award-winning children’s book illustrator.
Joyce Johnson | California
Joyce co-designed over a dozen published family games with Colleen McCarthy Evans, including Sounds Like a Plan and In a Pickle. Her more recent games are collaborations with other designers.
Rachel Simmons | California
Rachel (who continues to work under her former name, Bowen) is a wargame designer whose titles include Napoleon's Triumph and The Guns of Gettysburg. She has twice been a finalist for the James F. Dunnigan Award for outstanding achievement in historical wargames.
Richelle Brady | California
@StormKRBRichie worked at Cryptozoic Entertainment as a designer for Adventure Time Card Wars, Portal, and DC Comics Deckbuilding Game. They currently work at Square Enix as North America Tabletop Games Lead for FINAL FANTASY TCG, Chocobo Party Up!, and Cactpot Party.
Gina Manola | California
@GinaManolaGina is the award-winning designer of the games Feed the Woozle and Race to the Treasure. She also directed ChiTAG's Young Inventor Challenge.
Sarah Graybill | California
@thegraybillion , @BlackStrawGamesSarah Graybill is half of the design studio Black Straw Games. Their games include Grackles, Animal Crackers, and Rocket Squad.
Stephanie Kwok | British Columbia
Stephanie is co-founder of First Fish Games and co-designer of Get Off My Land!
Kai Jensen | California
Kai is a co-designer of the wargame Combat Commander: Pacific, winner of the Golden Geek award for best wargame in 2009.
Juliana Patel and Ariel Rubin | California
@EscapeRoomInBoxJuliana and Ariel had a successful Kickstarter for their game Escape Room in a Box: The Werewolf Experiment. Then it got picked up by Mattel.
Malorie Laukat | Utah
@malorielaukatMalorie co-founded Red Raven Games and co-designed their recent release Megaland.
Erin Lee Escobedo | Arizona
@GutterOwlErin is the designer of 2018 game Meltwater: A Game of Tactical Starvation.
Teeuwynn Woodruff | Washington
@EvansVanishedTeeuwynn was a game designer at Wizards of the Coast for over a decade. She has worked in RPGs, puzzles, trading cards, miniatures, and board games, including Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, Duelmasters, Dreamblade, AngelQuest, and Betrayal at House on the Hill.
Molly Johnson | Washington
@urbanfotsMolly is part of the Flatout design collective. Their first game, Point Salad, will be released soon from AEG.
Gaby Weidling | Washington
@ermahgerdgerbyGaby is a puzzle designer and game developer who works at Lone Shark Games. She has worked on the Pathfinder Adventure series and other games.
Lisa Steenson | Washington
@GutbustingamesLisa founded Gut Bustin' Games to promote her game Redneck Life. Trailer Park Wars was an Origins Award Nominee in 2008. Her other games include Oh Gnome You Don’t, Cheap Shot, and Creeps of Keister Island.
Jen Ellis | Oregon
@jellispants, @twogetherstudioJen is co-founder of Twogether Studios and has worked on all of their titles including Illimat and Phoenix Dawn Command. She designed Action Cats and Action Pups.
Connie Kazmaier | Alberta
@steepedgamesConnie and her partner at Steeped Games wanted to make sure their game Chai had global appeal -- so they tested it with over 500 people in 26 countries.
Liz Spain | Washington
@voodoobunnylizLiz works at Lone Shark Games, where she designs card mechanics for games such as the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game and Apocrypha. She has also designed LARPs and escape rooms.
Lizzy Funkhouser | California
@hypersavvyLizzy is a co-designer of The Walking Dead: Something to Fear and Pocket Generals, both releasing in 2019. She also runs The Board Game Spotlight.
Liberty Kifer | Washington
@lightheartgamesLiberty's first design, Crystallo, won 7 awards in a BGG solo print and play game contest. She leveraged that into a very successful Kickstarter campaign.
Roberta Taylor | Alberta
@infiniterobertaRoberta is the designer of Octopus' Garden (to be reimplemented as Starfish Kingdom), plus others forthcoming.
Tanis O'Connor | Washington
@lemurtanisTanis O'Connor is a developer at Lone Shark Games, and works on the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game.
Karen Knoblaugh | California
@KKnoblaughKaren's first game, Consumption, draws on her background as a dietician.
Dani Hedlund | Colorado
@DMHedlundDani Hedlund published her first novel at age 18, founded an international literary nonprofit (Tethered by Letters) and an art and literary collection (F(r)iction), and a board game company (Bad Hipster Games). Her first game is Brexit: the Board Game of Second Chances.
Anna-Marie Nelson | Utah
Anna-Marie co-designed Healthy Heart Hospital, released in 2015 by Victory Point Games.
Jenn Sandercock | Washington
Jenn is an Australian game designer living in the US. She has worked primarily in digital games, but recently had a successful Kickstarter for a cookbook of edible analog games.
Rebekah Bissell | Colorado
Rebekah started out by designing games for her own children, and then graduated to designing for print-and-play contests on BGG. That led to three published games: The Livestock Market, Reindeer Races, and Knock Your Blocks Off.
Central North America
Peggy Brown | Wisconsin
Peggy is a prolific designer of mass-market games with three decades in the toy and game industry.
Kathleen Mercury | Missouri
@MmmmmmmercuryKathleen both teaches game design and makes games. You can hear her on podcasts including Our Turn!, On Board Games, and Games in Schools and Libraries.
Carla Kopp | Alabama
@WeirdGiraffesCarla is designer of Super Hack Override and Stellar Leap, and developer of several other games published by her company, Weird Giraffe Games.
Adrienne Ezell | Tennessee
@DreadfulGamesCoAdrienne is an accomplished boardgame graphic designer, and also designs her own games -- including Shogunate and Ventures in the Void.
Anne-Marie De Witt | Texas
@firesidegamesAnne-Marie is CEO of Fireside Games and designer or co-designer of titles including Munchkin Panic, Bears!, The Village Crone, and Bloodsuckers.
Kim Vandenbroucke | Illinois
@TheGameAisleKim has many published titles including Blue Plate Scramble, Scattergories Categories, and The Build Up. She also consults on games under the wonderful title Brainy Chick.
Mary Couzin | Illinois
@MaryCouzin , @ToysandGamesMary designed commercially successful game Hollywood's Reel Schpeel before going on to found the Chicago Toy and Game Fair.
Elizabeth LaPensée | Michigan
@odaminowinElizabeth is an artist, writer, and researcher who designs primarily digital games. She worked with indigenous communities to design a board game called The Gift of Food.
Nikki Valens | Minnesota
@valens116Nikki spent 5 years at Fantasy Flight games before becoming a freelance game designer and developer. Their design credits include Eldritch Horror, Mansions of Madness 2nd edition, and Legacy of Dragonholt.
Molly Glover | Minnesota
Molly is a producer and game developer at Fantasy Flight, where's she's worked on many titles; she got co-designer credit on Battle for Rokugan.
Kara Centell-Dunk | Minnesota
@CHyphenDKara is a developer at Fantasy Flight who who has led development of expansions for Mansions of Madness 2ed and did development on many Descent: Journeys in the Dark expansions including the campaign book, Heirs of Blood.
Grace Holdinghaus | Minnesota
Grace is a developer at Fantasy Flight, with co-designer credits on Mansions of Madness 2ed and Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle Earth.
Christienne Hinz | Illinois
@xpeliciousDr. Hinz is studying the gamification of world history pedagogy with computer games, role-playing games, and board games that model the economic systems and socio-political structures of the past.
Mandy Goddard | Indiana
@jordanandmandyMandy is co-designer of the games Lotus and Death Note: Confrontation.
Katie Khau | Illinois
@comicentral92Katie is co-designer of the games Windup War and Heifer Heist. She's also a boardgame illustrator, perhaps most notably for My Little Scythe.
Alisha Volkman | Minnesota
@AlishaVolkmanAlisha is an illustrator & game designer. Her game Underlings of Underwing is about color theory and dragons. She’s now working on several other titles including War Torn and Escape from Kraken Cove.
Julie Ahern | Illinois
Julie started out designing educational games before becoming a developer and writer for Greenbrier Games, where she now serves as Chief Operating Officer.
Erica Svanoe | Minnesota
@marryingmrdarcyErica designed Marrying Mr. Darcy, a card game based on the Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice. She is also a composer and conductor.
Cecilia Hyland | Michigan
@Tank_DPSCC is the co-designer of games including Fleecing Olympus, Istanbul or Constantinople, and Above Snakes.
Kyla McT | Minnesota
@KylaMcTKyla is a game producer with Atlas Games. They put out her design Gloom of Thrones in 2019.
Cara Ryan Heacock | Nebraska
@caramiki , @waterbeargamesCara's first co-design, Discount Salmon, won the Tabletop Deathmatch in 2014. Other titles from her company Water Bear Games include Beeeees! and Nom Nom Pretzel.
Lorri Hopping | Michigan
@HoppingFunAfter developing educational games for Aristoplay in the 90s, Lorri has created games for companies like Penguin and PBS. Her published titles teach math, history, science, and Shakespeare.
Khiara Foss | Minnesota
@PuzzleyPunk @EnigmaEmporiumKhiara is half of the team behind The Enigma Emporium, a company that creates narrative adventure puzzle games including Wish You Were Here and Blowback. She also works in the escape room industry.
Maxine Ekl | Illinois
@CPCgamesMaxine's card-arranging game Stripes was just released by Breaking Games.
Karen Cleveland | Michigan
@GameBiologistKaren is a biologist who works for Michigan Department of Natural Resources as a game designer. Her game What in the Wild is being distributed to classrooms across Michigan.
Erin McDonald | Texas
@KrakenGamesInfoErin is a co-founder of Kraken Games, and co-designer of Evil Intent, Asking for Trobils, Flippin Monsters, and more forthcoming.
Carla Horger | Ohio
Carla is co-designer of several racing-themed games, including Thunder Alley and Grand Prix. Her 2019 release is titled Dark Domains.
Becca Lafair | Illinois
@MapmakerGameBecca and her brothers designed Mapmaker: The Gerrymandering Game after they saw the crazy boundaries of their hometown Congressional district. Arnold Schwarzenegger backed their Kickstarter and paid to send copies of the game to all the members of the Supreme Court.
Ellie Skalla | Illinois
Ellie's game Galactiquest won the ChiTAG Young Innovator's Challenge for "Most Marketable Game " when she was in 6th grade. It got picked up by Pressman and is now available at Target.
Eastern North America
Elizabeth Hargrave | Maryland
@elizhargraveI designed Wingspan and the forthcoming games Tussie-Mussie and Mariposas. You're on my website -- have a look around.
Mary Flanagan | New Hampshire
@criticalplayMary is a professor of game design and author of Critical Play. Her boardgames include Monarch, Visitor in Blackwood Grove, Buffalo, and Mechanica.
Suzanne Kabrt-Zinsli | New Jersey
@KabrtZinsliSuzanne is co-designer of the games Tessen, Cobras, and Ceylon, and provides amazing resources for designers through Cardboard Edison.
Kristin Looney | Maryland
@LooneyLabsKristin is CEO of game company Looney Labs and has designed or co-designed several Pyramid games and versions of the hit game Fluxx.
Mary Ellroy | Connecticut
Mary starting working in the game and toy field in 1990 when she sold her first game to Mattel, and she has more than 30 published toys and games. She works as a consultant and agent who will show your games to Mattel and Hasbro if it meets their criteria.
Erica Hayes-Bouyouris | Ontario
@FrienemyGamesErica is co-designer of Roar, Ink Monsters, Bosk, and several other forthcoming games. You can also catch her on Meeple Syrup.
Naomi Clark | New York
@metasynthieNaomi is a game scholar and designer at the NYU Game Center. Her 2014 card game Consentacle explores sexuality and consent. She is also author of the book A Game Design Vocabulary: Exploring the Foundational Principles Behind Good Game Design.
Helaina Cappel | Ontario
@kidstablebg, @burntislandgmHelaina is founder of two publishing companies, Kids' Table and Burnt Island. Her co-designed games include Food Fighter and Haunt the House.
Colleen Macklin | New York
@colleenmacklinColleen is a game designer and Associate Professor at Parsons School of Design . She is a founder of PETLab, which develops games for experimental learning and social engagement, and of Local No. 12, a game design collective. She is co-author of the books Games, Design and Play and Iterate: Ten Lessons in Design and Failure.
Jennifer owned a game store, then became a marketing consultant and Marketing Director for Keymaster Games. She co-designed the upcoming release Kibble Scuffle.
Pam Walls | Ontario
@PartyHatGamesPam designed the party game Hold That Face, published by Hasbro, and has more underway. She's been helping connect women designers on the Board Game Broads Facebook group.
- Vice video: How I Sold My First Game to Hasbro
- Pam's website
Heather O'Neill | Pennsylvania
@9thLevelGamesHeather is CEO of Ninth Level Games, and has co-designed titles including Meeple Party and Schrodinger's Cats.
Catherine Croft Swanwick | Virginia
@catlilli2Catherine is co-founder of Catlilli Games, which focuses on educational STEM games. She's also got a PhD in neuroscience.
Shannon McDowell | Ontario
@ShannonCreatesShannon is an escape room designer and researcher with an escape room game forthcoming from Maple Games, as well as other games under development.
Nicole Amato | Pennsylvania
@toitsNicole is co-designer of Atari's Centipede (the boardgame), Lazer Ryderz, Resistor, and more games on the way.
Catherine Stipell | New York
@playnyctophobiaCatherine made a big splash with her innovative game Nyctophobia, where all but one player play blindfolded.
MaryMartha Ford-Dieng | New York
@ClapBackGameMaryMartha created the party game The Ultimate Clap Back.
Kelly North Adams | Florida
@BoardofPlayingKelly's games include Veggie Garden, Chibi Quest, and Musical Chairs. She is one of the people featured in the documentary The Game Designers.
Heather Wilson | Massachusetts
@reindeerbeeHeather works in mobile games and designs both RPGs and board games. She's COO of 9th Level Games and co-designer of Schrödinger’s Cats.
Sydney Engelstein | NJ
@why_not_flySydney co-designed The Dragon and Flagon, Space Cadets and Survive: Space Attack! She's a developer for Stronghold Games.
Cassie Friedman | Florida
@FriedmanCassieCassie wears many hats in the industry: reviewer with The Indie Game Report, localization manager for Letiman Games, and designer. Her game Wizard Shelf is coming out in 2019 and there are more in the works!
Traci Van Wagoner | New York
@itdnyc , @TraciVanWagonerTraci's co-designs include Ninja Squirrels and Rooster Race. She also works as an illustrator and children's book author.
Adrienne Smith | Massachusetts
@BlitzChampz , @adriennethe10Adrienne is a tackle football player who created Blitz Champz, a card game about football that sneaks in some math skills for kids.
Lindsey Rode | Pennsylvania
@Linzy_RdLindsey is creative director for Dog Might Games, and designer of the game Countdown: Action Edition.
Diane Sauer | New Jersey
@ShootAgainGamesDiane is the co-designer of Pinball Showdown, Bigfoot vs Yeti, and Born to Serve. She also runs a business that restores pinball machines!
Gwen Ruelle | New York
@RunawayParadeGwen is half of Runaway Parade Games, designers of recently Kickstarted game Fire Tower.
Sarah Farber | New York
@sarafarber, @GalacticSneezeSarah is the co-founder of Galactic Sneeze, creators of family game Schmovie and adult party game Spank the Yeti. She has worked for Fisher-Price, Hasbro, Spin Master, and Sesame Workshop.
Adi Slepack | New York
@curliQtubeAdi is one of three women (with Ellie Black and Liz Roche) behind the game Someone Has Died, which they successfully Kickstarted.
Nashra Balagamwala | New York
@nashrabalagamNashra worked at Hasbro before designing the indie game Arranged -- a commentary on arranged marriage that received extensive press coverage -- and several other games drawing on her experiences as a Pakistani and an artist.
Morgane Gouyon-Rety | Quebec
@MorganeGR25Morgane is the designer of Volume VIII in GMT’s COIN Series: Pendragon – The Fall of Roman Britain.
Rita Orlov | New York
@GetPostCuriousRita Orlov is getting rave reviews for her epic narrative puzzle adventure, The Tale of Ord.
Joan Wendland | New Jersey
@BandCgamesJoan founded Blood and Cardstock games in 2002. Her designs include What Would Who Do, Dim Sum Derby, and Counting Zzzzs.
Christina Pittre | Pennsylvania
@PentreeGamesChristina's first game, On the Rocks, will be on Kickstarter in 2019.
Emily Escovar | New York
@emilyescovar , @PluckOffGameEmily's first game is Pluck Off, a set-collecting parody of city life featuring pigeon characters and limericks.
Colleen Skadl | New York
Colleen is the co-designer of several games including Red Dragon Inn, En Garde, and Kung Fu Fighting.
Fertessa Scott | Georgia
@Fertessa , @BookofVillainyFertessa's game Book of Villainy was a finalist in the Board Game Workshop contest in 2018.
Karen Boginski | Florida
Karen is co-designer of the games Renaissance Wars and Tournament at Camelot.
Bonnie Neubauer | Pennsylvania
@NeuBonBonnie is an author, writing teacher, grief coach, and game designer. Her first published game will be ADJitation from Breaking Games.
Rebecca Vessenes | Massachusetts
Rebecca co-designed The Phoenix Syndicate, published by Asmadi Games. She was also a core playtester for Innovation and Glory to Rome.
Violet Hargrave | Connecticut
@SecretGamerGrrlViolet primarily writes tabletop RPG material, but also co-designed IDW's Missile Command and several self-published board games. (We're not related!)
Allison Parrish | New York
@aparrish Allison is a computer programmer, poet, and game designer whose teaching and practice look at the intersection between language and computers. She codesigned Rewordable, a word building game where the units of play are cards with sequences of letters.
Jessica Creane | Pennsylvania
@IKantKoanJessica designs infinite tabletop games (Schrödinger's Cat) and game-theater experiences (Chaos Theory, R&J), including collaboration with the National Parks Service and teaching game design at Drexel University.
- No Proscenium interview
- Imaginary Worlds podcast
- TEDx interview: Gamifying Chaos and Embracing Uncertainty Through Play
Candy Weber | Florida
Candy's BoardGameGeek: The Card Game is her first published game. Her game Trios is signed by Flying Lemur Games and scheduled for release on Arbor Day, 2020.
Marja Erwin | Virginia
Marja is the designer of Tatchanka, forthcoming from Legion Wargames.
Lillian Medville | New York
@lillianmedvilleLillian is an artist, filmmaker, and writer who designed Your Privilege Is Showing, a game that allows for direct and personal conversations about privilege and equity.
Jewlz Holzschuh | New York
@penguinslapgameJewlz co-designed Penguin Slap! In her day job, she's an artist who does compositing for film.
Rachel Reilly | New York
@rcreillyRachel designed Flipology and is currently working on a TTRPG and several board games.
Helana Hope | Ontario
Helana is a co-designer of Kingdom Rush: A Rift in Time.
Latin America
Samanta Geraldini | Brazil
@SamantaGeraldi3Samanta co-designed the games Cafe Express, Cartas a Vapor, and New Eden Project. and co-founded the company Potato Cat Games. She also works as a mobile game developer.
Bianca Melyna | Brazil
@bimelynaBianca is a co-founder of Moby Studios and co-designer of the games Grasse and Overdrive. She also works as a translator and proofreader.
Sabrina do Valle | Brazil
@kihsanSabrina's games include Sereias from Potato Cat games and several self-published titles.
- On Nerd Noticias (Portuguese)