From Prototype to Product:
Based in Sunnyvale, California, Brieger Creative is an independent studio of board game developers working with publishers and licenseholders to turn prototypes into great games.
We believe that development should center on understanding the player experience. Our team leverages our deep knowledge on product development processes & design research to get your game rigorously tested with a broad set of players covering your target audience. The insights from those testing programs form the core of our studio's process.
Read more about our team below.
Services & Rates
We offer services in three main areas: Game Development, Game Production, and Commissioned Design.
Game Development
- Game Development (taking a prototype and refining it for publication)
- Solo mode & player count expansion development
- Playtesting & playtest program coordination
- Kickstarter and product consulting
- Rulebook usability testing and game learnability consulting
- Content Design
Production & Project Managment
- Compilation of Game Files for Manufacture
- Art Direction
- Component Selection
- Manufacturer Communication and Quoting Assistance
- Freelancer Coordination across disciplines
Commissioned Design Work
- Contract Game Design (taking a concept and designing a game)
- Expansion & Line Extension Design
- Games based on Intellectual Property or Licenses
- Promotional or Kickstarter Add-on Gameplay content
Games vary widely in scope and services — let's set up some time to talk about yours! Initial consultation is free, so send us an email from our contact page and we'll set up some time to talk.
We work on a flat fee on a project by project basis for most development and production work. Commissioned design work typically involves a flat fee and a low royalty. Quotes upon request.
Our Team
John Brieger — Studio Head and Developer
John Brieger is a board game developer based in Sunnyvale, CA with a background in qualitative research. His recent clients and licensees include Allplay, Pandasaurus Games, Thunderworks Games and many more. You can find him nattering on about timeloops or hanging out with California's shaggiest dog, Poppy.
Chris Solis — Producer and Project Manager
A tabletop games producer with credits including Metal Gear Solid: The Board Game, Exceed Shovel Knight, Exceed Dead Cells, Temporal Odyssey, and more, Chris is a former UX Researcher with 2K Games and game producer with Level 99 Games. In addition to his work with us, he runs the indie game publisher Solis Game Studio. Chris enjoys bringing worlds to life through games.
Velgus (John Velgus) — Developer, Editor, Puzzle Designer
Velgus, also known as "V", is a game designer and developer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Clients include Underdog Games, Everything Epic, Perplext, Indie Boards and Cards, the Game Theatre, and more. While tabletop games are his focus, he works on engaging experiences in many forms including escape room style puzzles, LARP quests, teambuilding events, video games, and activity books. Velgus enjoys all sorts of games and is serious about fun.
Michael Dunsmore — Developer
Michael Dunsmore is a game designer and developer who has worked with Smirk and Dagger Games, Alley Cat Games, Allplay, Crafty Games and more. A former professional ballet dancer, he brings his creativity and knowledge of entertainment to create games that connect people through interesting player interactions. A lifelong miniatures gamer, when not at a game meetup you'll often find Michael at his desk painting new additions to his collection.
Jordan M.A. Johnson — Developer
An admitted card game junkie, Jordan M. A. Johnson (A.K.A.: Jordan) lives for getting reactions out of people. Whether it's cracking a terrible dad joke, cooking for friends and family, or creating games for others to play, he loves seeing what kinds of emotions creative pieces can elicit from people. Jordan has recent credits in both board games and mobile video games including Exceed BlazBlu, Temporal Odyssey 2, Zynga Poker, and Mobile Strike.
Breeze Grigas — Developer
Breeze is a tabletop games designer and developer with a vast, varied knowledge of pop culture IPs. He leverages that in his work to make great games for fans of those properties. In addition to his work with Brieger Creative, Breeze runs Zephyr Workshop, publisher of AEGIS Combining Robots. Previous development clients include IDW, Everything Epic, Perplext, and more.
Quillsilver Studio
Our partnership with Quillsilver Studio expands Brieger Creative's ability to deliver world-class games — they've become integral parts of our creative team on a number of titles for clients including Thunderworks Games, Everything Epic Games, and Nighthawk Interactive.
Brenna Noonan — Developer, Crowdfunding Expert
A lifelong gamer, Brenna Noonan has been developing, producing, and marketing board games since 2017. Her credits include Everdell and its expansions, A War of Whispers, Anomaly, and Archmage: Ascendant, among others. Brenna loves games that have a strong storytelling or narrative element, and that encourage the player to make significant choices. She can often be found poring over RPG books and tweaking her Magic decks.
Dann May — Product Designer, Art Director, & Graphic Designer
Dann's love of imaginative worlds and tabletop games started with a childhood introduction to the "red box" Basic Dungeons & Dragons, and he's still happily adventuring! He's been working professionally in the tabletop games industry for ten years, with a background in visual arts, software development, and creative direction. Dann's work extends from product design, art direction, and graphics, through to game development or additional design on titles including Black Orchestra, Planetarium, Storm Hollow, Everdell, and A War of Whispers.