A new kind of adventure.
Our flagship game takes players on a journey to worlds both new and familiar, where they are free to explore and push the boundaries of what is possible, and where their actions directly change the course of the story.
We are deeply inspired by our experiences playing collaborative games, and in particular our discovery of unforgettable moments shared with friends and strangers alike.
It is those moments that have us wanting to play again and again.
Our Culture
We know that culture is not set by a few bullet points on a website, but rather established by the way folks work with each other day in and day out.
With that said, we are happy to share our values as well as how we work, and are excited to meet folks interested in joining, contributing to, and growing our culture as a team.
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We approach our work with curiosity, always seeking to learn and grow even in areas where we have deep experience and confidence. We regularly question our assumptions and assertions, and are dedicated to improvement through implementation and experimentation, all in pursuit of crafting the best player experience.
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We prioritize trust-building through open and clear communication. We make high integrity commitments with each other and with our players. This is captured by our unofficial motto: “build trust; take action.”
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We make building communities a habitual and deep part of our work, fostering strong social connections among ourselves as well as our players. We proactively work to craft inviting, welcoming environments, and seek to constantly learn more about how to make our spaces more inclusive and bring more voices to the industry.
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We dedicate ourselves to building tools and work habits that invest back into our own community. Mentoring and knowledge sharing is an essential part of our work, not a nicety or luxury. This extends to investing back into the industry, elevating others through sharing our work and process.
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We strive to delight, engage, and genuinely support our players by delivering genre-defining experiences, elevating their creations, listening to and participating in their communities, and fostering a culture of earned trust.
The Team
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Samantha Bong
Sam Bong serves as Chief Operating Officer at Jam & Tea. A lifelong “nerdherder,” Sam leverages her organizational skills to build inclusive, healthy environments where people can do inspired, creative work. Her experience includes key roles at Blizzard Entertainment, Riot Games, GitHub, Twitch, Tinder, and Phoenix Labs.
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Jacob Mott
Jake Mott is our Principal Designer at Jam & Tea. He specializes in combat, systems, and technical design, emphasizing multiplayer games with emergent gameplay. Past work includes leading live service and R&D game teams at Epic Games, Psyonix, and Carbine Studios.
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Max Shawabkeh
Max Shawbabkeh is our Gameplay Engineer at Jam & Tea. A jack of all trades, Max got his start in games as a modder before spending time at Google, Singularity Six, Riot Games, and on a variety of indie games and projects, including Alekon, a photography game.
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Temarius Walker
Temarius is our Art Lead at Jam & Tea. He is also an instructor at Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and has worked at BlockCoLabs on Fusionara and 2K on the upcoming Bioshock title.
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Yudi Xue
Yudi Xue is our Machine Learning Engineer at Jam & Tea. Yudi is focused on accelerating development and improving player experience with massive scale AI-powered simulation and infrastructure. Past experiences include Phoenix Labs and Kabam.
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J Aaron Farr
Aaron is cofounder and Chief Technical Officer at Jam & Tea. He got his start in open source and has led engineering teams for Singularity Six, Riot Games, and more. He’s passionate about emergent technologies, building new and better tools for designers, and managing his ever growing collection of board games and tabletop RPGs.
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M Yichao
Yichao is cofounder and Chief Creative Officer at Jam & Tea. Best known for his narrative work and creative leadership at Phoenix Labs, Riot Games, Wizards of the Coast, ArenaNet, and beyond, Yichao also enjoys writing and performing for theater, film, and animation. When not working, he can be found hanging out with his partner and their dog, Nyx.
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T Carl Kwoh
Carl is cofounder and Chief Executive Officer at Jam & Tea. Carl cares deeply about social design in games, building great teams, and elevating new voices within games. He oversaw the creation of spectator mode at the dawn of League of Legends esports, and his career has taken him from Games Workshop to Popcap to Phoenix Labs and beyond.
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Lauren Carlton
Lauren Carlton is our resident Game Playtester. She divides her focus between finding bugs and ensuring the game is fun to play. Outside work, she can often be found running around her neighborhood, reading her latest library find, and drinking a lot of tea. Unusually for Jam & Tea, she has not worked at Phoenix Labs or Riot Games.
