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Janaina Medeiros


Origami Around

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Game of Thrones Daily

JVL
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One Nice Bug Per Day
we're not kids anymore.

Love Begins
Cosimo Galluzzi
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
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let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open

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Blog Content Has Moved!
Our content has moved! For insights, event recaps, news, and more, please visit our new blog. Schell Games Blog.
Thanks!

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Visit with a Veep- Harley Baldwin
Harley Baldwin is the vice president of design for Schell Games. Harley is responsible for mentoring, managing and cultivating the design culture, collaborating with clients and guiding the vision for exciting, pioneering experiences for players and guests.
How did you start your path to getting a job in the video game industry?
I went to University of New Mexico and when I was starting my senior year, I discovered that there were people making video games for a living. I decided thatâs what I wanted to do. Keep in mind that this was over 25 years ago, and there was no such thing as a degree in video game design or anything like that, so I had to make it up as I went along.
You mentioned you had a couple of jobs before college and prior to your start in game design. What kind of jobs did you have?
One summer, I washed dogs for a living, so every day I would come home just soaked, and smelling of dogs.The job is more intense than youâd think. The washer has to find and pick the ticks off the dog, and...things like that. It gave me appreciation for people who take on the less pleasant parts of life.Â
While I was in college, I worked in the library as a shelver. When I was supposed to be shelving books, Iâd find and read books that were interesting to me in a corner somewhere. It was very luxurious and naughty.
Very cool.
Yes! I also worked retail for a long time, mostly as a cashier. I was good at the money aspect of retail, not so much the stacking and the folding.
Out of those experiences, were there any takeaways or lessons learned that still affect you today?
Sure, I can immediately think of two. I am one of the few people I know who can properly bathe a cat. Youâre laughing, but it is a lot harder than it sounds. I can do it in a way that both the cat and the person stay safe. But thatâs not really what you askedâŚ
Event Re-Cap: 2017 Games For Change Festival
Schell Games
We had the pleasure of attending and exhibiting at the 2017 Games for Change (G4C) Festival that was held at the Parsons School of Design in New York City. Game designers, developers, educators, researchers, and more attended this event to see and hear the best practices of developing games that can make the world a better place. Close to one thousand professionals attended the three-day festival.
Speaking Engagements
Schell Games is a proud member of the Games for Change Industry Circle, a group of companies that believe in G4Câs mission and have contributed significantly to the community G4C serves. As a member of the Industry Circle, Schell Gamesâ CEO Jesse Schell was invited to participate in the Industry Circle Town Hall, and a segment called âMeet the Experts,â where attendees were able to schedule meetings with Industry Circle members and talk 1-on-1 with them.
Jesse (far left) with other members of the Industry Circle
DiGRA Wrap-Up
Alexandra To is a PhD Student at the Carnegie Mellon University Human-Computer Interaction Institute currently working as a Design Intern at Schell Games.
This summer, I attended the 10th Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) Conference in Melbourne, Australia. DiGRA is an international, multidisciplinary conference for games research. While there I presented research at two workshops, presented a full paper publication, and volunteered for the conference.
Visit with a Veep- Chris Arnold
Chris Arnold is the general counsel for Schell Games and oversees legal affairs and human resources. He is also responsible for developing relationships with clients, handling dispute resolutions, licensing intellectual property, and managing corporate governance.Â
What brought you to the video game industry?
I really didnât know that people could make games for a living. I played games, I enjoyed games, but working in the video game industry was never a goal of mine or on my radar. My background and education is pretty diverse. My undergraduate degree is in biology.
Is it really?
Yes. I wanted to be a doctor. I found out that it was not in the cards however; becoming a doctor is tough if you donât like being in a lab or seeing blood. But I graduated with a degree in biology because it took me a while to come to that realization, and I quickly found myself looking for other opportunities. In the meantime, I ended up doing a bunch of odd jobs.

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Visit with a Veep- Matt Mahon
Matt Mahon is the vice president of engineering for Schell Games. His responsibilities include managing the project programming teams, establishing workflow process, and overseeing the technical design of the projects.
What was your weirdest job before you started on the path that got you where you are today?
Sure. So, during the summer between my sophomore and junior years of college, I got a job - clearing power lines. Iâd have to get up at ungodly times, like 4:30 a.m., go into the office, and drive to some power lines somewhere. And then weâd strap these enormous devices onto our backs that had tanks filled with herbicides. I donât even know what we were spraying. They had a gas blowers on them, too.
Seriously?
Yes. If youâre driving down the highway and see those power lines that look like they are shooting off into the sunset, I was clearing those kind of lines. So yes, it was by far the weirdest job I ever had.
Wow. From that experience, do you have any takeaways from it? Any lessons learned that you may have adopted?
Event Recap: Augmented World Expo 2017
Schell Games
We sent a team to the 8th annual Augmented World Expo (AWE 2017) last week in Santa Clara, CA. AWE 2017 is widely recognized as the largest augmented reality (AR) conference in the world. The team was excited to attend! Not only was CEO Jesse Schell speaking, but we were exhibiting three of our experiences; one of which was nominated for an award!
Jesseâs Talk
Jesse spoke a few days into AWE about the growth and adoption of AR technology. His talk was called, âUpdates From The Future.â You can see it below. Click here to access his slides.
Jesse sees the potential of AR, but his talk highlighted how the adoption of it will be slower than many people had anticipated.Â
Getting Started With Happy Atoms
Schell Games
Happy Atoms is our physical and digital chemistry modeling set that has the goal to make learning chemistry fun and engaging. The project is a brainchild of Schell Games CEO, Jesse Schell.
If you are an educator, a parent, or a student and want to learn how to use Happy Atoms, we have several resources for you.
So, You Want to Codesign?
by Elaine Fath, game designer
Hey, game devâs! How do these phrases strike you?
âI just couldnât grok that part.â âThe playtest is next Wednesday.â âThe rigging on that partâs really messed up.â âThe FTUE is really coming along nicely.â âThat level is totally unbalanced right now.â
How about these? âWe need to set up a way to measure the proximal outcomes.â âIâm really concerned about what kind of far transfer this experience will have.â âWeâre wondering about the overall journey map of this experience.â
Chances are, if youâre involved in game development, there was at least one phrase in the first set you were familiar with. That second set? Maybe not so much, depending on your field. These are actual quotes from actual teammates whose field of expertise is something other than making games. Those examples alone are taken from the past three months of collaboration on a health app with experts in Smoking Cessation and Weight Management. If you felt lost and confused, join the club: we were all speaking English, but none of us spoke the same language!
Adopting Virtual Reality for English Langauge Arts (ELA)
Schell Games
We had the opportunity to attend the âVirtual Reality for English Language Arts (ELA)â workshop this May. The event was hosted by the TransformED arm of the Allegheny Intermediate Unit (aiu3).We were there with education consultants, technology coaches and directors, and middle school/high school English teachers from across Allegheny County.
The event began with everyone introducing themselves, what organization they were representing, and most importantly, what concerns these educators had when it came to virtual reality (VR).
The most common reasons for attending the session were:
Researching VR in their classroom
Recently got VR in their school and wanted use it effectively
Curiosity about how VR could help special populations within their school
Curiosity about if VR could help dyslexic readers
Wanting to understand what virtual reality was capable of
Brand new to VR, and want to learn more about it
Fear that educators would be wasting money on this new technology if they were not well-trained in using it

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Visit with a Veep- Reagan Heller
Reagan Heller is the vice president of art for Schell Games. Reagan manages and oversees the Art team as well as assists with general studio staffing.
To start things off, I like to begin well before your current leadership position. What is the weirdest job youâve had?
One experience that sticks out is when I worked at a dollar movie theater. Â It wasnât necessarily a weird âjobâ more so than a weird âplace.â Odd things would happen. Instead of focusing on selling popcorn and tickets, I would be given a broom [by management] to chase people out of the theater who were trying to sleep in it. They also would try and sleep in the photo booth. Another time we found illicit drugs in the theater and had to dispose of them. Overall, it was a very weird and interesting place to work.
Wow. What type of lessons did you take away from having that experience?
I certainly learned how to deal with interesting situations. I mean, if you are chasing a person out from trying to sleep in the theater, you learn how to be tactful. I wasnât going to chase the person out by hitting them with the broom. Instead, I would try sweeping around them and approach them like, âhey, the movie is over and itâs time to leave, you canât sleep here.â
Thatâs quite the experience! So from there, how did you end up in the video game industry?
My path was a little unusual. I didnât know that you could have a job as an artist or a graphic designer in the video game industry. I went to Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) for graphic design with the intention of going into the advertising industry. I knew I wanted to do something digital and use art to communicate and sell products and ideas to people. That sounded awesome to me, so I aspired to be an advertising designer.
The Definitive Guide to Playtest Questions
By Shawn Patton, Senior Designer
The goal of post-playtest questions is to get unadulterated feelings from the person. You do not want to lead them in any way, but you want to find out what they thought. Try these questions:Â
What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldnât?
If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be?
What were you doing in the experience?
How would you describe this game to your friends and family?
The easy to remember (though ridiculous) mnemonic is ffwwdd:Â
Frustrating Favorite Wanted Wand Doing Describe
Schell Games: Not Your Typical Games Studio
We are happy to announce and release our new studio video-Â âSchell Games: Not Your Typical Games Studio.â
Watch it below.
Highlights:
1)  Jesse speaks about how Schell Games is the largest entertainment and education game development company in the United States.
2) The video shows the awesome partners weâve worked with like Osmo, PBSKids, Google and Legendary.
3) Jesse mentions all the different technologies the studio has been creating for: location-based, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mobile VR/AR, and more.
Visit our games page to learn more about what weâre doing.
Visit with a Veep- Ed Saxton
Ed Saxton is the vice president of production for Schell Games. His responsibilities include supervising the production team and setting the tone for the production style for the company.
Iâd like to know how your road got started, before reaching this leadership position. Whatâs been your weirdest job?
I grew up in the theme park industry, so I have had all types of weird jobs and responsibilities. One job that sticks out is when I worked for a theme park that had a big-top circus and was responsible for helping to choose the acts for the circus.
No way?
Yes. I received VHS tapes and DVDs of circus acts, saw trapeze artists, âwheel of doomâ acts, jugglers and more. During that job, I learned more about hula-hoop acts than I thought Iâd ever know. I saw a bunch of weird acts.
After a while, I actually came to enjoy it. There are a lot of crazy talented performers out there.
Building a Transformational Game
Sabrina, our principal designer at Schell Games, shared some valuable content about the Transformational Game Framework our studio uses to make sure they stay on track, and create the right kind of experience.
Here is the webinar Sabrina did as part of Games for Changeâs Industry Circle series.
Along with the video, Sabrina shared some great content about the Transformational Framework; including several documents that will be part of a future publication about this type of game design.
Transformational Framework
The Transformational Framework, as the document and video above highlights, is the eight-step process the team goes through to make sure the project is truly a transformational experience.
As one looks through the framework, itâs clear that roles have to be created and defined in order for the frameworkâs process to run smoothly. For example, Sabrina and the team broke down the âSubject Matter Expertâ (SME) title into several roles, with those roles ranging from limited to significant responsibility:
Did you like the video and the content presented? Sign up to be on the mailing list to be the first to know about updates on the upcoming book about transformational games.

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Schell Games and Unity
This is a re-post of a case study Schell Games and Unity did in May 2016.
A Transformational experience
A 10-year-old boy appears to be on a seemingly ordinary school trip to a museum. Actually though, heâs on a secret mission. The child touches his wrist to a drab grey set of pipes in the corner of the museum, and suddenly, the pipes light up in an intricate pattern. In order to move on to the next stage of his mission, the boy must solve a puzzle using his interactive wristlet to manipulate the lights in a certain way. This is no ordinary school trip. It is a project developed by Schell Games for the Childrenâs Museum of Houston using the Unity game engine. It is a transformational experience.
Most of what Schell Games produces fits into the transformational category, a term theyâve coined to refer to games or experiences that inspire change. This covers everything from educational experiences used in museums and school curriculums to entertaining and challenging VR titles, like their latest success, I Expect You To Die, a fun spy game, which requires plenty of brainpower to navigate.
The challenge: No one said it was going to be easy
Five Things to Know About Getting Into the Video Game Industry
by Max Golden, Game Engineer
One of the first video game experiences I can remember playing was Chex Quest with a neighbor on a very advanced computer running Windows 98. For those of you not familiar Chex Quest, it was a reskin of the old Doom game featuring cereals and fruits battling against green slimes to save breakfast. My neighbor would handle moving with the arrow keys, I would shoot with the space bar, and together we made it all the way through the game to defeat the Flemoids and the Icon of Slime.
From that point forward, video games have been a large part of my life. I kept playing games and I grew increasingly certain that I wanted to make video games for a living. But my road into the industry was not a straight line, and there are a lot of things that people donât tell you unless you ask. Except for me. Iâll tell you them, right here, right now. Because I care.
Having ideas for games is not the same thing as making games
This is gonna sting a bit, but itâs best to rip this band-aid off now: Nobody has ever gotten a job in the video game industry based on the strength of their ideas alone. Making video games is fun, but itâs also a lot of work, and you need to show you are willing and able to take that work on.
Itâs one thing to say âI want to make a game like PokĂŠmon in space with MOBA-like gameplay,â but itâs a different thing entirely to write out a game design document outlining major systems, mechanics, and aesthetics for the project. And thatâs less work still than turning that document into a working prototype. Which is not the same thing as working on a project for a year, iterating on design, tech, and art along the way to deliver a polished project.