Team Members

Krellware

CEO of Krellware

Dale Strickler became fascinated with electronics and computers in the 1970s. He began by writing programs as ones and zeros on piles of graph paper while hand executing the code on 4-bit computer schematics in Popular Electronics magazine. Later, using TI then HP programmable calculators, he wrote many card games, dice games, robotic simulators and board game simulators, all designed to work with very limited displays. It was not long before he was directing software development at a large company as it was taken public.

Over the years, Dale has been designing Weather Zen in his downtime. Though certain characteristics of the game have maintained consistency many parts have changed radically. Now, as a graduate of the Darden Business School’s Global Executive MBA program, Dale is pursuing the dream of fully developing Weather Zen via Stone Soup Management.

Inspiration

The most important members of our team are Iliana (1998 – 2007) and Elschen (1995 – 2007) Strickler, and Dr. Laura Clayton Cavedo (1959-2007 not pictured).  They are always in our hearts and they are Dale’s driving motivation behind Weather Zen and Krellware.

Inspiration

The most important members of our team are Iliana (1998 – 2007) and Elschen (1995 – 2007) Strickler, and Dr. Laura Clayton Cavedo (1959-2007 not pictured).  They are always in our hearts and they are Dale’s driving motivation behind Weather Zen and Krellware.

Game Mechanic

Tom Strickler has an honors engineering degree from Pennsylvania State University in Engineering Science and Mechanics. He has been an avid RPG, Action and Strategy gamer since 1972. In addition to several Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and G.U.R.P.S. adventures for home campaigns he was a writer and play tester for the AD&D Living Greyhawk Campaign, and has designed dozens of new levels and story lines for the board game Hero Quest. He also designed multiple new fields and campaigns for Heroes of Might and Magic (various editions) and multiple new play maps for Warlords (various editions).

 

Weather Zen – Board Game

Executive Assistant

Susan left the world of boardgames in junior high, choosing instead to live inside books for a time. She emerged as a young adult and was seduced into the world of story-based videogames (and the occassional shoot-em-up) on consoles and tablets. Now, she is returning to the world of boardgames with Weather Zen. Susan helps organize Dale’s ideas and provides copying-editing, research, QA and organizes playtests.

Consultant

Karen is the sounding board of the Weather Zen Board Game Team. She consults on planning, business decisions, and artwork. In her free time, Karen plays music in a band, pounds metal into submission as a blacksmith and speaks German. What can’t she do?

Skills

Photography, Painting, Blacksmith, Consultant
Game Mechanic

Tom Strickler has an honors engineering degree from Pennsylvania State University in Engineering Science and Mechanics. He has been an avid RPG, Action and Strategy gamer since 1972. In addition to several Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and G.U.R.P.S. adventures for home campaigns he was a writer and play tester for the AD&D Living Greyhawk Campaign, and has designed dozens of new levels and story lines for the board game Hero Quest. He also designed multiple new fields and campaigns for Heroes of Might and Magic (various editions) and multiple new play maps for Warlords (various editions).

 

The Village Feud

Game Creator

Michael Küsters is a game nerd since the 1980. As a kid, he already started meddling with computer game byte code to create his own mods, but quickly started writing his own games. As a teenager, Michael was the bane of Computer science teachers, because his entire class was busy playing his games rather than paying attention to the lesson. Being a numbers fanatic, Michael is fascinated with the mathematics behind games and spends hours creating simulators to provide a well balanced game experience. Michael’s day job is Agile Coach with a heart for quality. In his spare time, he still plays games to this day and occasionally creates new games for his two daughters.

Michael got the idea for The Village Feud when driving by an oddly named city – and quickly molded it into a card game. Other card games from Michael are “Days of My Life” which never left Beta – or “Trio” – a project still in Alpha.

Skills

Quality Management, Statistics, Agile Development, Game Production
Executive Assistant

Susan left the world of boardgames in junior high, choosing instead to live inside books for a time. She emerged as a young adult and was seduced into the world of story-based videogames (and the occassional shoot-em-up) on consoles and tablets. Now, she is returning to the world of boardgames with Weather Zen. Susan helps organize Dale’s ideas and provides copying-editing, research, QA and organizes playtests.

Weather Zen – Mobile Game

Concept Artist
Katie (The Short One), began as a 3D animator working for small studios on the East Coast for several years before settling in Virginia and finding work with clients like Rosetta Stone, Discovery, Hype Inc. and Krellware. Nowadays, she struggles feverishly towards the purpose of completing her Master’s in Educational Technology at James Madison University with a focus on games and their role in education. She is also struggling feverishly with her old copy of Oblivion trying to cure her character of vampirism which is very very difficult. Her interest in games comes from a long history of being forced to participate in her older brother’s D&D campaigns. She now returns the favor by crushing him in Battlefront. Katie also feverishly follows roller derby when she can, competes with her two amazing rescue hounds in agility trials, attempts to train her mom to use technology and wishes there were more Kurosawa/Mifune movies to watch. She is currently contemplating the idea of a second Master program in game design and would like to further explore ways of incorporating games in everyday learning for everyone. Her work can be found here.

Skills

interactive designing, 3d animating, art direction, illustrating
Artist

David Brzozowski began his career in design at Accuweather in the late 1980s, when computer graphics were in their infancy. He moved to California in the early 90s, and by 1997 had started a creative agency named BlueSpark studios. Since then BlueSpark has been heavily involved in the video game industry, working with heavyweights such as Sierra, Valve, Microsoft, Square Enix and Disney. Having been primarily involved in game packaging, branding and marketing in the past, in 2012, BlueSpark began including content in its repertoire with the release of its first app, VinylizeMe. A photo app that transforms photos into vintage record covers. Today, BlueSpark is uniquely qualified to bring value to Weather Zen’s creative direction, from game art direction and and GUI design, to branding and marketing communications design.

Game Mechanic

Tom Strickler has an honors engineering degree from Pennsylvania State University in Engineering Science and Mechanics. He has been an avid RPG, Action and Strategy gamer since 1972. In addition to several Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and G.U.R.P.S. adventures for home campaigns he was a writer and play tester for the AD&D Living Greyhawk Campaign, and has designed dozens of new levels and story lines for the board game Hero Quest. He also designed multiple new fields and campaigns for Heroes of Might and Magic (various editions) and multiple new play maps for Warlords (various editions).

Developer

Aaron Kishbaugh is a game designer, writer, and project manager based in Virginia. Formerly the content lead at Rosetta Stone, he has over 15 years experience in the content development and software design business. From in-car navigation, to educational games, and language learning his work has helped millions of people get from point A to point B, sometimes literally. In addition to his software and content development background he also has worked as a professional large-group facilitator, security consultant, community organizer, website designer, and occasionally as a professor. He enjoys hanging out with his boys and seeing what cool things can be made from these small plastic blocks they are so fascinated with. See more here.

Skills

Musician/Composer

Heath Carlisle is a Bay Area musician, inventor and programmer. He studied electrical engineering and manufacturing, and spent most of the 90′s in the printing industry. As publishing moved online, Heath turned to web programming and founded Brown Barn Application Studios in 2004. He holds several patents for web based product visualization. A self-confessed frameworks fanatic, he is always looking for that perfect interface between human and synthetic. As musician and songwriter, Heath has traveled internationally, playing music in several bands throughout the years. He currently enjoys being a dad, restoring an old house and sparing the occasional tangerine it’s inevitable demise.

Skills

 

Additional Weather Zen – Mobile Game Team Members from Teravision Games:

Producer: Cyndi Ordoñez
Tech Lead: Wilson Ariza
Lead Programmer: Jenny Valdez
Lead 2D/Ui Artist: Paul Pereda
Lead Animator / Tech artist: Daniel Lezama
QA Lead: María Teresa Muñoz