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ANNIE VANDERMEER : Designer / Writer / Narrative

(a.k.a. Murderblonde)

Biography

Annie VanderMeer has been doing narrative, writing, and design work for games since joining the industry in 2004, working on both AAA and indie projects across multiple genres and styles.

She has also worked in the tabletop space, assisting in the design of Fantasy Flight's "Legacy of Dragonholt," and contributed multiple short stories to the Legend of the Nine Rings, Twilight Imperium, and Arkham Horror franchises.

Most recently, she and developers Wren Brier and Tim Dawson won the 2022 BAFTA in Narrative for their work on Unpacking, a game about uncovering the story of a main character while helping them unpack their belongings throughout their life.

In 2019, she founded the Tiamat Collective, a company dedicated to supporting fellow creatives in finding compelling work and creating exciting experiences, and released their first game, The Passenger, in January 2020.

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Annie has been a frequent participant and coordinator of panels and talks on various areas of game development at PAX West and LudoNarraCon, and has been interviewed on various podcasts, streams, and YouTube shows. In March 2023 she started the show FrieNDA with friend and fellow game designer Mike Stout: a podcast-not-podcast on YouTube "where two game developer people talk to another guest game developer person about game development stuff."

 

She is passionate about engaging in mentorship opportunities or assisting with academic studies, and is downright voracious when it comes to contributing to an interesting project.

 

She currently lives in Seattle, where her hobbies include gardening, cooking, boozecraft, herding cats, and slowly becoming a Pacific Northwest forest gremlin.

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Panels & Talks

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  • Annie VanderMeer on VolpeCreates

  • "Trials of Narrative Gameplay Design" LudoNarraCon 2022, panelist

  • "Good Stories Must Die" LudoNarraCon 2021, panelist

  • "I See What You Did There: Environmental Storytelling GO!" PAX West 2018, panelist & coordinator*

  • "Real Feels: Crafting Meaningful Relationships in Games" PAX West 2017, panelist & coordinator*

  • "That's It, That's the Joke: Humor, Games, and Humorous Games" PAX West 2017, moderator & coordinator*

  • "Choose Your Own Adventure: Women in Video Game Writing" PAX West 2016, panelist*

  • "CLASSIC RPGs FOREVER!" PAX Prime 2015, panelist & coordinator*

  • "Surviving Success: How to Handle a Winning Kickstarter" PAX Prime 2015, panelist & coordinator*

  • "Early Hurlyburly" PAX Dev 2015, coordinator

  • "Shambling Into the Light: Dead State Postmortem" PAX Dev 2015, presenter/panelist/coordinator*

  • "Be So Good They Can't Ignore You: Tales of Successful Indies" PAX Prime 2014, panelist & coordinator*

  • "From Tabletop to Digital: Crafting Stronger Interactive Narratives" PAX Prime 2013, panelist*

  • "Tricks of the Trade: Writing in Guild Wars 2" Geek Girl Con 2012, workshop/panelist*

  • "The Harridan's Guide to the Game Industry" PAX Prime 2011, moderator & coordinator*

  • "The Agony and Ecstasy of RPG Writing" PAX Prime 2011, panelist & coordinator*

  • "Beyond Pen & Paper: RPGs, Videogames, and the Mainstream" PAX Prime 2010, panelist & coordinator*

  • "Making Stories Worth Playing" PAX Prime 2010, panelist**

  • "Going Indie" PAX Prime 2010, coordinator

  • "The Growing Role of Women in the Industry" PAX Prime, 2008**

  • "Beginning and Ending in Game Design" PAX Prime, 2008**

* as Annie VanderMeer Mitsoda

** as Annie Carlson

Videos & Podcasts

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