Bio
Lisa Brunette's many years of experience includes nearly two decades in games, with credits in hundreds of titles, and a decade-plus as a journalist, with bylines in national publications. She has designed and written narratives for multiple chart-topping titles played by worldwide audiences, including Choices: Veil of Secrets, Fiona's Farm, and Merge Mansion. Her games have been featured in the App Store and on Google Play and consistently rank in the top 100 in multiple categories.
Her boutique narrative studio, Brunette Games, was a finalist for Best Service Provider in the 2023 PocketGamer Awards, and Wild Things—a title she designed and wrote for client Jam City—was a finalist for Game of the Year. She has written, designed, and consulted on hundreds of games across her career and is widely considered a game-industry influencer.
Education
MFA, Creative Writing: Fiction, University of Miami, 2002
BA, English, Saint Louis University, 1994
BA, American Studies, Saint Louis University, 1994
Certificate in Creative and Professional Writing, Saint Louis University, 1994
Game credits (representative sample of hundreds):
(2025) Viola’s Quest, for Two Desperados
(2025) Nono Crossing, for Two Desperados
(2025) Cooking Tour, for Ghost Studio
(2024) Fiona's Farm, for Ace Games
(2024) Farmhouse Stories, for Explore Games
(2023) Mood Bloom, for Hedonia
(2023) Wild Things: Animal Adventures, for Jam City and Netflix - Finalist for Game of the Year in the 2023 PocketGamer Awards
(2022) Puzzle Villa, for ZiMAD
(2022) Mergeland: Alice’s Adventure, for NewBornTown
(2022) M&M'S Adventure, for Gear/Tilting Point
(2022) Merge Mansion, for Metacore and Supercell
(2021) Cooking Confidential, for Archosaur
(2020) Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, for Jam City and Fox
(2020) Ava's Manor: A Solitaire Story, for Uken Games and Mighty Kingdom
(2020) Disney Frozen Adventures, for Jam City and Disney
(2019) Lily's Garden, for Tactile Entertainment
(2020) RollerCoaster Tycoon Story, for Atari and Graphite Lab
(2019) Sweet Escapes, for Redemption Games
(2018) Bingo Bash, for GSN
(2017) Choices: Veil of Secrets, for Pixelberry Studios
(2017) Matchington Mansion, for Magic Tavern
(2017) Sender Unknown: The Woods, for Daily Magic Productions
Lisa has credits in hundreds of games designed and written for Big Fish Games, Cat Daddy Games, and Nintendo. Her IMDb listing. Moby's game credits list.
All three books in her bestselling Dreamslippers Series have won indieBRAG medallions, and the second book was a finalist for the Nancy Pearl Book Award and nominated for a RONE Award. Additionally, she has a long list of bylines as a journalist, her work appearing in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle Woman, Poets & Writers, and elsewhere.
Her creative leadership experience includes guiding the Brunette Games team (5.5 FTEs at its peak in 2021-22) as well as heading prior creative teams at Crosscut.com and Big Fish Games. She was visiting professor of game design at Webster University for the 2017-18 school year and is a volunteer speaker at industry conferences as well as schools, non-profits, and libraries.
A born entrepreneur, she is the founder and sole owner of Brunette Games, and she also founded and owns a popular newsletter, Brunette Gardens. Additionally, she owned and operated a solo freelance business, Modern*Scribe, for twenty years.
She was also a tenured professor of English at Pierce College-Fort Steilacoom, a Mitchener Fellow at University of Miami, and an instructor at St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley. Over more than a decade of academic tenure, she has taught everything from Shakespeare to game writing.
The secret to a great game is a powerful story that is well-integrated with the puzzle and play.
- Lisa Brunette