Chris Bennett Email & Phone Number

Alameda, Ca, Us

Combining the science of game design + behavior design + neuroscience to increase engagement and retention that drive key business goals.Some highlights include:• Co-designed an unannounced mobile game with NaturalMotion before their acquisition by Zynga for $900M.• Core design work on several social games for Playdom before and during their acquisition by Disney for $563M. • Motivation and gamification design for education company Quizlet, where 50 million students ask over 1 billion questions each week and more than 400 million virtual study guides have been created.• Gamified the offerings of Grockit, a social learning company that captured 25% of the GMAT prep audience in India before being acquired by Kaplan.• System design work on Rollercoaster Tycoon, one of Atari's biggest entertainment properties.• Design and art direction on two #1 hit social and casual games for iWin, the world's leading casual gaming subscription service.• Concept design and creative IP vision for an unannounced casual mobile game in the climate change market.• Design iteration and strategic visioning for the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society.• Education.com: speaking engagement to drive increased retention rates for a complex digital learning ecosystem of over 23 million users, leading up to their acquisition by IXL Learning.• American Heart Association: concept and system design for gamified elements of the successful 'Healthy for Good' and 'Go Red for Women' platforms which have engaged more than 2 million women.• AARP: design and creative work on an emerging blended platform for their national network of over 38 million members.• Executive training and mentoring with C-level international executives at Fortune 100 and Global 500 companies including Toyota, Microsoft, and Santander Bank.

Stanford, Ca, Us

As an affiliate at Stanford University Graduate School of Education, I co-teach, lecture, and act as a project judge in graduate courses on digital learning and work with students in the Learning, Design, and Technology Masters program. I also conduct translational research on how Game Design Thinking can enhance learning outcomes and motivation for learners of all ages.Some classes include:EDUC 229C: LDT SeminarEDUC 254: Digital Learning Design ChallengeEDUC 281: Technology For LearnersEDUC 391: Engineering Education and Online LearningEDUC 475: Entrepreneurship for Education

Strategic guidance and gamified learning design for this edtech company that is changing the way we approach education and screen time by leveraging the power of kid-favorite platforms such as Roblox to help kids learn and grow through fun and engaging content. Kinjo has raised $6.5M in a seed round.Assessed 100+ top Roblox games and helped build an incentive-based reward system and a 21st-century skills rubric that continues to substantially increase DAU and decrease cost-of-user-acquisition month-to-month.

Palo Alto, California, Us

Design and engagement work on the Global Innovation Race that gathers hundreds of high students from around the world to meet at locations including Silicon Valley, New York and Kigali to become world class innovators and build a better future for themselves and others using generative AI and other innovative tools.Designing and developing the Global Youth Innovation Forum, a premium global online platform for students 13-17 to work in peer groups on sustainability and other pressing issues. Launching Fall 2024.Hosting a monthly speaker series on issues important to K-12 STEAM with guests including luminaries at Stanford University and edtech industry thought leaders. Digital Media Academy is an education company which offers a comprehensive K12 curriculum for 1,100+ schools and 500,000+ students internationally.

Stanford, Ca, Us

Using my game design and engagement experience to help drive various initiatives that explore how and Game Design Thinking and persuasive technologies can help change society for the better. Some of the projects and activities I have been involved in include:• Adjunct Lecturer (per course) for Spring 2019 quarter to co-teach CS 377G (Designing Serious Games) in the Computer Science department of Stanford University School of Engineering.• Co-teaching a course on building trust at Stanford d.school.• Hosting a visit by the Prime Minister of The Netherlands to discuss peace innovation.• Speaking at a roundtable with the White House Office of Public Engagement.• Acting as a game design ‘Spark’ for Design School X pop-up high school in Oakland.• Speaking to students at University of California Berkeley, Bradley University and Castilleja School.• Leading Stanford students in designing tabletop games to teach collective action principles.• Partnering with Castilleja School, Girls Inc., and the California Academy of Sciences to playtest student tabletop games.• Co-designing the ‘Core Loop of Hate Crimes’ which was published in a research paper.

Sunnyvale, Ca, Us

SocialxDesign was a strategy consulting company that bridged the gap between online engagement and offline experience. We worked with clients such as the White House, Morehouse College, and Coca-Cola Germany.Some projects I worked on with SxD: • Core engagement design for a major initiative at one of the world's largest non-profits.• Engagement design and gamification for a social mapping mobile app.

PlayFirst is a casual gaming company which raised $37M in venture capital and had several hit games before being acquired by GLU Mobile and then by Electronic Arts.Instrumental in growing Diner Dash into a $40+ million franchise with over 1 billion downloads to date, making it one of the most popular and recognizable casual gaming franchises of all time.Shipped the ground-breaking Diner Dash: Hometown Hero online experience, which was one of the first F2P and downloadable content games in North America and helped PlayFirst to secure $16.5MM of funding.Lead Designer of the hit franchise-extending Diner Dash: Flo on the Go. The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Flo on the Go for "Downloadable Game of the Year" at the 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.Drove free-to-paid conversion rate increases of 150-250% from industry standards.Strongly involved in defining the creative vision of the Internal Studio.

Designed and prototyped several innovative social and mobile games and helped define creative vision of studio during its rapid expansion, leading to $13MM of funding.

San Francisco, Ca, Us

Consulted with Executive Producer and external development partners to launch the pilot version of a groundbreaking health games title, Re-Mission.Delivered design and game play feedback.Study results published in the medical journal Pediatrics showed that playing Re-Mission significantly improved key behavioral and psychological factors associated with successful cancer treatment.

Worked closely with cross-functional partners on the ground-breaking casual MMO, The Sims Online. This game was featured on the cover of Newsweek magazine and was based on The Sims franchise, which is a top 10 video game franchise of all time and has generated over $5 billion in revenue.Collaborated with creative team to help design new features and content.The Sims Online was awarded:• E3 2002 Game Critics Awards: Best Simulation Game• IAA 2002: Best Massively Multiplayer• Game Industry News: Best Online Game of the Year

Redwood City, Ca, Us

Shipped the successful franchise product Jane’s USAF, which was:• Runner-up for Computer Gaming World's 1999 "Simulation of the Year" award. • Finalist for Computer Games Strategy Plus's 1999 "Simulation Game of the Year" award.Instrumental in building some of Electronic Art's first online gaming products.Campaign and Mission Designer for World War 2 Fighters, which was:• Featured on the cover of Computer Games World magazine. • Runner-up for several Simulation of the Year awards.Shipped the successful EA Sports franchise product Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001.• Design and pre-production for next-generation EA Sports golf products.• Launched and obtained licensor approvals for a new Pebble Beach Golf Links course disc for PGA Tour Golf.• Coordinated two successful live PGA Tour golf events for the ground-breaking Play With The Pros online golf system.