At Stonemaier Games,  our staff and contributors now include a total of my 6 full-time coworkers, 1 part-time coworker and cofounder, a number of key independent contractors and creatives (designers and artists), and another 100+ paid volunteers (proofreaders and playtesters). I am so lucky to work with such talented, passionate, and kind people every day.

I’m in the incredibly fortunate position of running a company I love. I try to value my coworkers (in both words and actions) as I’d hope someone would value me if I were in their shoes. I’m a proponent of slow, deliberate, and sustainable growth: If I make the rare decision to hire someone, it’s a commitment to support them long term through the good times and the bad.

Today also happens to be the exact day I said goodbye to my treasured cat companion, Biddy. As I’ve reflected on the 16 years he was in my life, I realized how grateful I am to have had a career at Stonemaier Games that allowed me to work from home. That is such a huge gift of time I could share with Biddy, who would often nap on my chair or desk while I worked.

Here are our updates for 2026:

• Company Retreat: The 8 of us gathered in Phoenix for a few days of playtesting, discussion, and invaluable idle time together. Several of our games–including Wingspan Pocket–are significantly better as a result of the collective feedback, and it was helpful to see the value of simply being in the same space as each other. We’re getting together again for a low-key evening before Design Day in a few weeks.
• Sales Team Meetings: A few times this year the Stonemaier sales team (different facets covered by Susannah, Alex, Erica, Dave, and me) has convened for a 1-hour call without any specific objective–we’ve just made space to talk about anything related to the present and future of our products so we can do a better job of serving our varied types of customers (retailers, localization partners, distributors, online stores, convention attendees, and webstore users).
• No Generative AI: This has been a tough year for many talented people, with companies using AI as a justification for layoffs. My heart goes out to everyone who lost their jobs. Stonemaier Games does not use, has not used, and does not plan to knowingly use generative AI for creative work (text, art, videos, etc). If we’re creating something, we want it built from the ground up by talented people from different backgrounds, perspectives, and cultures. We believe that the process is integral to our output, and it allows human creativity to shine. Whenever AI tries to poke its tendrils into our company, we instead ask the question: Why don’t we pay a person to do this?

What are you reflecting on this Labor Day?

• Labor Day 2025: What’s New This Year
• Extreme Ownership and MrBeast
• Labor Day 2024: What’s New This Year
• How I Value My Coworkers
• Wages, Inflation, and Labor Day
• The Bear and Professional Development
• A Short Note About Wages on Labor Day
• Labor Day: Fair Wages, Volunteer Compensation, and a Job Application Update
• Perks and Principles for My Coworkers at Stonemaier Games
• Why I Prioritize Paying Freelancers
• Flatter Your Way into a New Industry
• Hiring in a World of Volunteers
• Designer Advances
• Gameosity Game Industry Job Board

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