Heavy Thought Studios

The indie games scene in Chicago is all about making life work during the day and doubling down on a passion project at night. Talented people come together, and everywhere becomes an office. Talking at a meet up in a common space. Workshopping themes in a recording studio. Typing up dialogue on a laptop on the L train. Brainstorming at a bar. A writing session before D&D. We work together to turn an idea into something people are excited to see. We improve it until it's better than we thought it could be. We take the time to build it up, break it down, and then build it up stronger than before.

Jack Guffey - Lead Designer, Writer, UI Artist, Voice Acting Director

Jack is a game systems designer, voice acting director, author, and former member of the Chicago comedy improv Second City Training Center. They lead the team in its creative direction, as well as take on the roles of overseeing the art direction, voice acting casting, game mechanics design, main storyline writing, and editing. In their spare time, Jack enjoys cooking, hiking, writing stories, and making a fool of themselves on the internet.

Dan Maday - Writer/Producer

Dan Maday is a Chicago-based writer and IO psychologist (he/him/his). Dan writes training plans, assessments, poetry (haiku), and various creative projects. He also dabbles in podcasting, video games, tarot reading, and simulates the United Nations for fun. Feel free to contact/follow him on the following social platforms:
https://twitter.com/SirBearHands
https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-maday-23a2b068/
https://www.instagram.com/maday65/

Liv Reynolds - Concept Artist, Supplementary Artist, Writer

Liv is a freelance illustrator, storyteller, and artist overseeing the team's concept art. They help to prepare and test early ideas and art direction decisions, from character references to early user interface assets. In addition, they assist the team as a content writer. Liv enjoys drawing, creating stories, playing video games, and being the president of space.

Shanen Pae/Epsee - Character Artist

Shanen, known on the internet as Epsee, is a freelance illustrator and contract character artist in the Greater Los Angeles area. Leading the charge on the team's character art, her skill brings life and polish to the subjects she draws. With thousands of pieces of artwork, Shanen's previous work includes creating variants of cover art for Boom! Studios' comic book Fence, drawing the characters for the dating sim Dream Daddy, creating multiple pieces related to internet personalities, games, and pop culture, and working for clients such as Hasbro, One Pixel Brush, Reel FX, and WayForward. She enjoys animals, playing Dungeons & Dragons, and well-balanced meals.
http://epsee.tumblr.com/

Elliot Callighan - Music Composer

Elliot is a classically trained violinist and pianist, metal guitarist, and electronic music enthusiast with degrees in Music Composition and Sound Design for Cinema. Currently, Elliot is an independent composer and sound designer, a Soundpost Co-Chair for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Overture Council, as well as adjunct faculty in the Film & Game programs at DePaul University. His work has been featured in campaigns for United Airlines, The Chicago Advertising Federation, GMC, The Godrej Group, Chevrolet Motors, The Goodman Theatre, as well as many independent films and games. In addition, he is an Officer and Platoon Leader in the Illinois Army National Guard.
http://ramovamusic.com/

Amber Kofman - Lead Editor, Writer

Amber Kofman is a Chicago-based writer and editor. As a writer, she has a collection of poetry that is less than half bad, a handful of quirky erotica that is more than half good, and a passion for writing neuro- and gender-diversity into her work. As an editor, she rules with an iron machete and a merciless heart. Amber is always looking for another side gig to finance her dream of living in the forest, so please reach out to her with writing and editing opportunities at PensAndTheProletariat@gmail.com.

Monisa Ahmed - Writer, Character Designer

Monisa is a Chicago-based exhibition developer at the Field Museum, writing labels about all things natural history and anthropology by day. At night, she dons her "Creative Writer" hat, opening half-filled Google docs of stories, screenplays, and game writing on one monitor and yet another episode of Avatar: the Last Airbender on the other. BIPOCQ representation in media is her passion and drive, and she aspires to tell stories that uplift under-represented communities through anything she can get her writer-fingers in, be it games, books, films, or TV shows.  In her spare time, she is drinking too much coffee, squeezing her cat Mango (much to his chagrin), and playing Animal Crossing to stave off existential crises.

Jason Larock - Writer, Character Designer

Jason is a writer, voice actor, and cinematographer based out of New York City, and is an advocate for transgender representation in both the film and gaming industries. In his spare time, he can be found gaming on consoles and playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Clara Rounsley - Writer

Clara (they/she) is a Chicago-based writer and editor. In addition to their work on the game, Clara is a creative assistant at a contemporary art gallery in Chicago. Outside of work, you can find them tweaking their fantasy manuscript, lurking in museums, or stuck eyeballs deep in a good gothic novel.

Lily Haley - Writer

Lily is a Chicago-based writer and film scholar who writes screenplays and film analysis essays. Lily is a transgender woman and uses she/her/hers pronouns. She aspires to create films and television series that educate audiences about LGBTQ issues. In her spare time, Lily can be found enjoying movies or playing video games.
https://twitter.com/LilyRHaley

Jacob Taylor - Writer

Jacob is a Chicago-based writer, video editor, and animator currently working at the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America as a graphic designer. He aspires to publish his own novels and work in the film industry as a video editor. In his spare time, Jacob can be found in his natural habitat - in front of a computer screen doing Savage and Ultimate raids in Final Fantasy XIV.

Stephanie Stine - Writer

Stephanie is a Chicago-based actor/voiceover artist, although improv will always have her full heart. Her training includes a BFA from the University of Minnesota Duluth, Guthrie National theater, Second City Conservatory, Annoyance Theater, and countless others. When she isn't on stage, you can find her on a patio enjoying a nice beer.

Elena Chamorro - Writer

Elena Chamorro is an aspiring film director, studying Film & Television at DePaul University in Chicago. Currently, she is working on a novel, a set of shorts films,  and furthering her skills in cinematography and screenwriting. Elena is an activist at heart, and on any given day you'd find her deep in a book with a cup of hot cocoa in hand.

Ajhée Nolen - Writer

Ajhée is an actress, screenwriter, and content creator currently based in the Midwest. Her dream is to create and play parts that showcase all versions of Black women in America and produce stories that matter. She enjoys watching soaps, writing fanfiction, taking naps, and giving unwanted opinions on her Twilight podcast.

Schyler Cunningham - Writer

Schyler, she/her, demigod, cursed, wannabe Supernatural extra.

Identifies most with the paper shredder. #yolo

Prince Lowell - Lead Background Artist

Prince is an international freelance 2D artist who lives and works from Sweden. His heart lies in RPGs and visual novels and he loves anything creative. Beyond 2D art, he also sings, writes, and acts, and is an aspiring VTuber/streamer. He takes pride in being an autistic trans creator, and dreams of making content that people can relate to or find joy in.

Alex Ilukhin - Gameplay Programmer

Alex is a C++ and C# programmer who loves the engineering challenges of game development. His main areas of focus include gameplay and engine programming. Some of Alex's favorite games are World of Warcraft, Halo, Runescape, and Apex Legends.

Ben Wesley - Gameplay Programmer

Ben is a C++ and C# focused programmer and game developer that loves creating philosophically charged and comedically driven pieces of digital media. When not pressing buttons on a keyboard for hours on end, you can probably find him looking at monkeys, making weird art, or gazing into the abyss.

Torrance Rodriguez
Story Consultant

Jacob Mooney
Story Consultant

Marcus Cross
Story Consultant

Tahirah Hasan
Supplementary Writer

Bianca Klehr
Background Concept Artist

Kaitlynne Heyworth
Supplementary Artist

Jarrett Crnkovich
Supplementary Writer

Asha Leroy
Supplementary Writer

Mike Villalobos/LobosJr - Cyril

Lobos is a professional livestream entertainer on Twitch, creating a community around fans of Dark Souls, other RPGs, roguelikes, and generally-challenging games. He was previously a QA analyst working at BioWare/EA. He lends his voice to the charcoal pencil character, Cyril.
http://www.twitch.tv/lobosjr

Sarah Szeszol - Sylvia

Sarah is an opera singer, freelance artist, and voice actor in Chicago. She lends her voice to the number two pencil character, Sylvia.

Neo Cihi - Syl

Neo Cihi (they/them) is a non-binary actor who grew up in Tokyo and is now based in NYC. With a BFA from NYU Tisch, they have worked on theatre and film, but their passion grows in voice over. They are the English dub voice for Hau in the animated Pokemon: Sun and Moon series, and have narrated for audiobooks A Dark and Hollow Star and The First Sister. They have also worked in podcasting as Parker the Potholder from America's Test Kitchen Kids Podcast and as Pan the Pirate in Girl Tales. When they are not acting, Neo is an illustrator, tabletop enthusiast, and avid enjoyer of animated media. They lend their voice to the mechanical pencil character, Syl.
IG: @neoasneo

Alex Wasily - Benjamin

Alex is a talented freelance musician, performing with bands such as Dumpstaphunk, Pocket Radio, J-Livi & The Party, The Larry King Orchestra, and his own band, HipTrip. He lends his voice to the ballpoint pen character, Benjamin.
www.alexwasily.com

Kayla Mulliniks - Penelope

Kayla is a Chicago comedian, journalist, and comedy improviser through Second City and the iO Theater. She regularly performs with her comedy troupes, Cool Aunt, The Roommates, and Lisa, Frankly. She lends her voice to the brush pen character, Penelope.
 

Jamie Greene - Benny

Jamie Greene is a voice actor and filmmaker studying film and acting at Columbia College Chicago. Passionate about acting both on screen and on stage, they hope to be part of a new era of LGBT+ actors and filmmakers in the industry, creating media by the LGBT+ community, for the LGBT+ community. You can find them hanging out at conventions, drinking excessive amounts of green tea, playing hours of video games at a time, and scouring eBay for a good deal on Neon Genesis Evangelion merchandise. They lend their voice to the fountain pen character, Benny.

Siddhartha Minhas - Calvin

Siddhartha is a British Columbia-based actor, voice actor, singer, musician, and martial artist. He always seeks to broaden his horizons and to become the best artist that he can be. That artist being, what he believes, full of limitless possibilities. He has many goals and dreams for the future and knows that they will become reality with hard work and determination, along with the miracles he's ready to induce. He lends his voice to the solar calculator character, Calvin.
www.imdb.com/name/nm9428755/

Katie Otten - Callista

Katie Otten has her Master of Arts in Theatre Performance from the University of Nebraska, Omaha. She has been acting onstage for most of her life, and began voice acting in the past few years. She has narrated several audio books, animations, and educational projects, but as a gamer herself, she always enjoys being able to give a voice to a video game character! She lends her voice to the printing calculator character, Callista.
www.katieotten.com

Sebastian Yue - Cal

As a Toronto-based model and fledgeling voice-actor, Sebastian spends their time shooting commercials, cultivating an extensive wardrobe, and listening to the sound of their own voice. A self-identified nerd, Sebastian loves going to conventions and hanging out with people who are as enthusiastic about anime and movies as they are. Sebastian’s current voice projects are Don't Wake The Night, a 2D point-and-click game about witches, and In The Garden Of The Sun, a Star Wars fan comic dub. When they are not working, Sebastian can be found facilitating workshops on queer and trans issues, making a new cosplay, or savoring a delicious meal. They lend their voice to the graphing calculator character, Cal.
twitter.com/sebastianyue
Photo credit: Angel Szafranko

John Aprigliano - Antonio

John, also known as Tehsmarty, is a YouTube personality, Twitch streamer, and a founding member of The Derp Crew. He creates comedy gameplay videos and works within the wrestling community in his spare time. He lends his voice to the cyan toner cartridge character, Antonio.
www.youtube.com/channel/UCNa1RhfGat2xFji4DLiWt5w

Anairis Quinones - Antonella

Anairis Q is a voice actress, writer, and singer based in Central Florida. She can be heard as Mirko from My Hero Academia, Mai from Asagao Academy, Sutra from Crush Crush, and Caty Velasquez in Within the Wires. You can also hear her on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in The Journey Down, Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs, and Ghost Song. If she's not voice acting, she's developing her RPG Ghost, performing as Disney characters for events, or collaborating with musicians to release song covers. She lends her voice to the yellow toner cartridge character, Antonella.
www.anairisq.com
www.twitter.com/anairis_q

Amber "AJ" Cartier-Page - Toni

AJ works in multiple fields near Ottawa, Canada. When not voice acting, they spend their time writing, reading, cooking, and playing video games. AJ has also written book reviews on the CanQueer podcast, a Canadian broadcast on queer media. They lend their voice to the magenta toner cartridge character, Toni.

Gabriel Hicks - Trey

Gabe is a freelance game designer on the east coast, having published his own tabletop RPG, S0urce C0de. He leads a team of designers as they finish up their final handbook and spends the rest of his time streaming on Twitch, working on a podcast, playing game sessions, or trying to keep up his with wild dog. He lends his voice to the briefcase binder character, Trey.
www.gabrielhicks.com
www.S0urceC0de.com

Nina Sumter - Teresa

Nina is a transgender woman and a formally trained theatre actor from the New Jersey School of Dramatics Arts in New Jersey, but lately often finds herself in New York City. Having been a freelance voiceover talent for about seven years, she has voiced a number of audiobooks, as well as various creative media and independent video game titles. In her spare time, she is a fighting game competitor and Team Management Admin, both under the banner of Frame Advantage Gaming. She also recently became a Twitch streamer under the alias DestraPlays, providing game analysis and beginner tips for Street Fighter V and explains the fantastic lore in Final Fantasy XIV Online while adventuring. She has her eye on Texas or California to one day escape her long-time nemesis, Winter. She lends her voice to the easel binder character, Teresa.
ninasumter.com / twitter.com/ninasumter
instagram.com/itsamailife / instagram.com/destraplays
youtube.com/itsamailife / twitch.tv/destraplays
facebook.com/NinaRhizeSumter
Photo Credit: Nick Wolf Photography

Marcus Rothenberg - Ty

Marcus is an Illinois-based biracial voice actor and audiobook narrator. They have lent their voice to multiple projects ranging from commercials, character roles, commissioned Dungeons and Dragons character voices, to full-length audiobooks. When they are not in the booth recording, they enjoy painting, D&D, kayaking, reading, and video games. They lend their voice to the spreadsheet binder character, Ty.

Aleks Le - Conrad

Aleks is a Los Angeles-based voice actor known for voicing Zenitsu in the popular anime Demon Slayer and Caiman in Dorohedoro. He can also be heard in Astral Chain, SMITE, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Heroes of Newerth, Wartide, and many more to be projects yet to be announced. He lends his voice to the ergonomic mousepad character, Conrad.

Kenkoy - Madelyn

Kenkoy is a Chinese-Filipino American voice actress based in South Texas. She can be heard as Danny & Mrs.Albertine from The Mysteries of Krüger Mansion, Lill from Disventure Camp, as well as Victoria & Monica in the upcoming web series Reality Resort. You can also hear her in Burning Requiem: Clash of Fates, Vignette, and other video games/visual novels to come! Outside of voice acting, she enjoys Martial Arts, baking, getting bullied by her cat Willow, and making people smile! She lends her voice to the cloth mousepad character, Madelyn.
https://linktr.ee/Kenkoy

Rachel S. - Addie

Rachel is a southern California-based Twitch streamer and content creator. When not streaming online as an anime girl (it's not weird, I promise) or playing video games, they spend their free time writing creative fiction. They lend their voice to the metal mousepad character, Addie.
twitch.tv/embersescape

Jason Larock - Keith

Jason is a voice actor operating out of the East Coast, known mostly for his voice work as Damien Bloodmarch in the dating sim Dream Daddy. He lends his voice to the ergonomic keyboard character, Keith.

Daisy Guevara - Beatrice

Daisy is a stage and voice actress originally from and located in the heart of New York City. She has performed in plays and musicals at theaters throughout the tri-state area, as well as throughout the U.S. for 20+ years. When Daisy's not performing on stage, she's voice acting in anime, video games, animations, and audiobooks. In her spare time, besides belting Disney or Broadway tunes, Daisy is really into board gaming. She lends her voice to the modern keyboard character, Beatrice.
www.daisyguevara.com

Zitlaly Garcia-Rivera - Bee

Zitlaly is an aspiring screenwriter and current student at Tribeca Flashpoint in Chicago. When not working, she's playing video games (console or mobile), listening to music, or drawing up and creating characters to use in her writing. Zitlaly is also an amateur YouTuber who hasn't updated her channel in a while (oops). She lends her voice to the office keyboard character, Bee.

Miguel Moran - Mohsen

Miguel Moran is a New York City-based voice actor, video game journalist, and 3D artist. He's been pursuing voice acting since 2010. You can hear him in PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC releases like Super Daryl Deluxe, Project Nimbus, The Journey Down: Chapter Three, and Serafina's Crown. When he isn't flexing those golden vocal chords, Miguel works as a social media manager and dabbles with writing scripts for comic books and television. He also does 3D modeling, texturing, and animation work, often for video games or student animations. Miguel loves anime, video games, television, and the Taco Bell Cheesy Gordita Crunch. He lends his voice to the desktop stapler character, Mohsen.
twitter.com/Mohranner / instagram.com/draginite
youtube.com/user/Draginite

Chaimae Ahram - Mahab

Chaimae, also known as Chromaura, is a business development and marketing specialist by day and gaming enthusiast by night. She occasionally creates content around video games on her YouTube channel and Instagram to develop the indie games culture in her country, Morocco. When not working as a business growth consultant, she can be found raging over her 100th death in Dark Souls. She lends her voice to the heavy-duty stapler character, Mahab.
youtube.com/Chromaura / instagram.com/chromauraa
twitter.com/Chromauraa / facebook.com/chromaura

Alex Abou Karam - Hura

Alex A.K. (they/them) is a non-binary artist, speaker, and game designer from Lebanon. They model on the side and yell on Twitter a lot. You can find them, their selfies, and their antics on Twitter. They lend their voice to the electric stapler character, Hura.
twitter.com/dirtbagboyfren