ABOUT
BRACE
YOURSELF
GAMES
Brace Yourself Games was founded by veteran indie developer Ryan Clark in 2013. It’s only appropriate that our Vancouver-based independent game studio was named for a programmer pun that could only come from his shiny, bald head: {YOURSELF}
At Brace Yourself Games, we take pride in being the “indie katamari”, “rolling up” some of the best talent in the industry. From our first game, Crypt of the NecroDancer, which was released in 2015, we’ve relied on our incredibly skilled team to make the magic happen. Since then, we’ve expanded our repertoire to include Cadence of Hyrule, Industries of Titan, and Phantom Brigade – games with distinctive styles and designs, but developed with the same philosophy and heart.
Our goal is to make standout games. We try new things, hold ourselves to a high standard, and make improvements when we make mistakes. What’s important is that you can always count on us to deliver in the end.
Values
SERIOUS ABOUT FUN
We are serious about having fun, because if we're not having fun making games, what's the point? This means we still have to make tough decisions and put in the hard work, but we always keep the team's best interests in mind.
OPEN MINDED, OPEN HEARTED
We approach all facets of our work with genuine intention to learn and be kind. We are not afraid to admit when we're wrong and take steps to improve.
EXCELLENCE WITHOUT EGO
We are confident in our ability to produce excellent results, but we also know that there is always more we can learn. Feedback is a crucial part of the process.
COMMITTED TO GROWTH
We cultivate an environment of learning and growth within our company. Brace Yourself Games should be a place where people can achieve their career and life goals, so we encourage our team to try new things.
BETTER TOGETHER
We want to have a beneficial impact on the games industry as a whole, both within our company and out. We believe that games are better when we raise one another up, respect each other, and invest in diversity.
HYPER-TRANSPARENT
Transparency embodies honesty and open communication, which we believe is the foundation of trust. The more transparent we are about our path forward, the easier it is to get to where we're going!
The BYG Team
(Presented in randomized order.)
Pavel Efimov
(HE/HIM)
3D Artist, Technical Artist
Pavel is a 3D artist / generalist who enjoys making game art the most when it’s a combination of popping 3D graphics and some tech behind it that makes it alive. Loves establishing content pipelines, enjoys vivid-colored art (does it look weird? even better) and is passionate about car culture.
Dakota Bosman-Kennedy
QA Tester
Dakota’s love-affair with game design and programming began at an early age with the versatility of the Starcraft Campaign Editor. After exploring a variety of career paths he found his passion in the game industry’s creative and collaborative work environment. In his free time, Dakota enjoys learning about the world, breaking strategy games, and bouldering.
Kimberly Voll
(SHE/HER)
CEO
Specialising in AI, game design, and human behaviour, Kim has been making, playing, and thinking about games for as long as she can remember. She’s had the honour of working on some great games big and small, including League of Legends, Fantastic Contraption, and VALORANT, and is extremely passionate about how we can make games and gaming spaces more inclusive by design.
Hanna Hildebrandt
(SHE/HER)
Technical Artist
Hanna is a technical artist, writer, and award-winning animation director who has worked on more than 40 different video games, movies, and TV shows. She has a background in interactive fiction, UI design, film production, programming, VFX, theatre, and journalism, which is both strangely confluent and difficult to fit in a bio.
Alain Carter
(HE/HIM)
Senior Programmer
With experience in AAA, mobile, and social games, Alain worked for years on game side projects and game jams before making the transition to professional independent development.
Lilly Lee
(SHE/HER)
Financial Controller
While working as a bookkeeper to pay for her accounting degree, Lilly spent mornings on the WoW auction house buying and trading items to amass a horde of gold. Now, with over 15 years of work experience in finance, she uses her skills as the financial controller of Brace Yourself Games.
Ryan Clark
(HE/HIM)
Founder
A veteran independent game developer, Ryan has been creating award winning games since 2004, including Crypt of the NecroDancer, IncrediBots, Professor Fizzwizzle, and many more.
Logan Woo
Junior System Administrator
Logan is the IT guy of the company and a future ethical hacker. When he isn’t working, he is hanging out with cousins/friends, working on his many hobbies, or he is drowning in his backlog of shows to watch and games to play.
Marlon Wiebe
(HE/HIM)
Lead Designer
Marlon is a videographer, editor, and motion graphics animator who has made many indie video game trailers and cinematics over the years. Along with Crypt of the NecroDancer and Industries of Titan, he’s worked on other prominent games such as Darkest Dungeon, FTL, Into the Breach, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime and many more.
Stephen Kiazyk
Programmer
Stephen joined the game industry after toying with hobbyist game development for many years prior. With industry experience ranging from visual effects, web front and back-end, virtual reality, and computational geometry, he lives an eternal commitment to becoming a Jack-of-too-many trades.
Artyom Zuev
Technical Artist
A generalist with deep passion for technical art, equally excited to work on flashy visuals and the logic powering them.
David Nguyen
(He/Him)
Junior Game Designer
David is a programmer graduate turned designer that’s worked on stuff including the Playdate console, TTRPGs, and now other cool indie projects! An avid rhythm gamer who enjoys dabbing to his coworkers’ chagrin.
Madeleine Gray
(SHE/HER)
Director of Communications
Madeleine (also responds to Maddie) began her career developing communities on the esports side of the industry, building up fans of the Vancouver Titans and Seattle Surge in the Overwatch League and Call of Duty League. She believes games are more fun when you have people to share them with.
Andrew Stewart
(He/Him)
Principal Animator
Andrew is a born and raised Vancouverite who has been fortunate enough to animate on such projects as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Luigi’s Mansion 3, and the Gears of War franchise. Throughout his life, he has maintained a passion for video games, art, and anything that allows him to express himself creatively. He is laser-focused on growing his craft and sharing his knowledge with others. He also enjoys any sort of athletic or food-related activity.
Jaymee Mak
(SHE/HER)
Senior Producer
Jaymee is an award-winning filmmaker and actor, who also happens to be a hyper organized game producer who’s passionate about psychological safety. Over the last decade, Jaymee has dipped her marathon-running toes into game design, UX design, community management, marketing and directing. Jaymee loves ending meetings earl-
Nick Gunn
(HE/HIM)
Art Director
Nick is a versatile artist with expertise in 3D art and character creation and has a passion for distinctive art in games. Starting in 2005, his professional journey has consisted of contributions to many social, mobile, and indie game projects.
Alexa Schiess
(SHE/HER)
QA Manager
Passionate about documented and efficient problem solving, Alexa worked as a printing press operator for several years before finally making the jump to games (although still a big nerd for print technology). In her spare time, she likes lifting heavy weights and putting them down again.
Danny Baranowsky
Composer, Designer
Danny Baranowsky is a composer, musician and larger-than-life personality living in Vancouver, Canada by way of Mesa, Arizona. Over the past decade, Danny has risen to the top of his field, composing the music for best-selling games Canabalt, Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac, Desktop Dungeons, Crypt of the Necrodancer, and more. Danny’s music immediately demands attention with soaring melodies and complex harmonies and has garnered him critical acclaim from publications such as Kotaku, PCGamer and Destructoid.
Kyle Engelmann
Programmer
Kyle joined the games industry in 2019 and has experience as a programmer and a technical designer on small and large projects alike. His favorite games are ones with a strong focus on discovery, such as Hollow Knight, Outer Wilds, and Baba is You. In his free time, he enjoys forcing his affection onto his cat, ordering chicken nuggets off the kids’ menu, and trying to learn entirely too many musical instruments at once.
Aaron Gordon
(He/Him)
Game Design Director
Aaron knows a thing or two about design and leadership. He’s worked on a variety of titles from limb-flailing motion games, epic space sims and established AAA fan favorites. With a passion for design frameworks, methodologies and collaborative design, Aaron is a force multiplier for our teams! When he’s not grinding on Destiny, binging One Piece or running D&D you’ll probably find him hurtling down a mountain somewhere or trapped under his cats.
This is the BYG Vancouver team, but we also collaborate with other amazing contractors and consultants from around the globe!
Presenting our partners 
