To request Brenda as a speaker at your event, school or conference, please email info@romero.com. Thank you.

Brenda Romero is the CEO and Co-Founder of Romero Games Ltd., a game studio building a state-of-the-art FPS. This talk discusses how games are crafted from the inside out, first focusing on a core and its core loop, and then expanding upon it with a feature set that makes the core stronger.

Talk Videos

Brenda’s Previous Engagements:

  • 2017 Mar 8 – International Women's Day, Amazon, Dublin, Ireland

  • 2017 Feb 11 – Health Games Design Workshop, National University of Ireland in Galway, Galway, Ireland

  • 2017 Feb 10 – I WISH: Coding & Technology for Girls, Cork Ireland

  • 2017 Feb 9 – Aon's Centre for Innovation and Analytics, Dublin, Ireland

  • 2017 January 14 – Design Doc Workshop, Galway, Ireland

  • 2017 January 28 – Design Doc Workshop II, Galway, Ireland

  • 2016 December – Ireland's Edge, Creativity: Unique Advantages for Ireland, Dingle, Ireland

  • 2016 November — RPG Workshop, Galway Film Center, Galway, Ireland

  • 2016 November — Yorkshire Games Festival, A Lifetime in Games, Yorkshire, England

  • 2016 November — KEYNOTE, Microsoft Codess, Women in Technology, Dublin, Ireland

  • 2016 November — Eirtakon, Breaking into the Game Industry, Dublin, Ireland

  • 2016 November — Eirtakon, Sex & Violence in Video Games, Dublin, Ireland

  • 2016 November — Eirtakon, Struggles of Game Developers, Dublin, Ireland

  • 2016 November – GMIT, Creative Stories, Galway, Ireland

  • 2016 October — Baboró Festival, Making Work for Children, Galway, Ireland

  • 2016 October — KEYNOTE, Milan Games Week, Lifetime in Games, Brenda Romero, Milan, Italy

  • 2016 August — Fidelity, Diversity in Technology, Galway, Ireland

  • 2016 August — Game Developers Conference Europe, A Lifetime in Games, Cologne, Germany

  • 2016 July — SAP, Diversity in Technology, Galway, Ireland

  • 2016 June — InspireFest, Women in Technology: 3 Different View, Dublin, Ireland

  • 2016 June — Northern Ireland Screen, What Black Sabbath Can Teach Us About Teams, Belfast, NI  

  • 2016 June — Northern Ireland Screen, Workshop: Being a Great Lead, Northern Ireland Screen

  • 2016 June — KEYNOTE, Northern Ireland Screen, Importance of Diversity in Technology

  • 2016 June — CoderDojo Coolest Projects, So You Want to be a Game Designer, Dublin, Ireland

  • 2016 May — Atlantec Festival, Women in Tech, Galway, Ireland

  • 2016 May — Electronic Arts, Q&A with John Romero, Galway, Ireland

  • 2016 May — KEYNOTE, Facebook LevelUp, Jiro Dreams of Design, Dublin, Ireland

  • 2016 May — KEYNOTE, Facebook LevelUp Women in Games, Dublin, Ireland

  • 2016 April — Reboot Croatia, Women in Games, Split, Croatia

  • 2016 February — Trinity College Game Conference, Simplicity in Design, Trinity College, Dublin

  • 2016 February — Speaker: TEDx Galway, Games as Art, Galway, Ireland

  • 2016 January – KEYNOTE: Ludicious16, One: The Power of Simplicity, Zurich, Switzerland

  • 2015 November – Limerick Institute of Technology, Clonmel, Ireland

  • 2015 October – Worcester Polytechnic, Jiro Dreams of Game Design, Worcester, MA

  • 2015 October – Fitchburg State University, “Iron Game Designer” workshop, Fitchburg, MA

  • 2015 October – Clarkson University, “World from Nothing” workshop, Potsdam, NY

  • 2015 September – Insomniac Games, “World from Nothing” workshop, Burbank, CA

  • 2015 September – Insomniac Games, That Time I Said “Fuck it”, Burbank, CA

  • 2015 July – Northern Ireland Film & Screen, Belfast, Northern Ireland

  • 2015 July – Games Learning Society, Girl, Woman, Mother: A Life in Games, Madison, WI

  • 2015 June – Telltale Games, discussion on Train, San Rafael, CA

  • 2015 May – Natives in Game Dev Gathering Conference, Santa Clara, CA 

  • 2015 April – TEDx, Santa Cruz, The Female Tax

  • 2015 April – Voxelles, Q&A with Voxelles Game Group, Chicago, IL

  • 2015 March – CAI Bay Area & Central CA Chapter

  • 2015 March – Games Fleadh, Limerick Institute of Technology, Clonmel, Ireland

  • 2015 March – Game Developers Conference, San Francisco, How a Group of Academics Came Together to Improve Ireland’s Game Industry

  • 2015 March – Game Developers Conference, San Francisco, #1ReasonToBe

  • 2015 February – DICE, Looking in a Different Direction, Las Vegas, NV

  • 2014 November – California Polytechnic, Q&A with John Romero, San Luis Obispo, CA

  • 2014 November – California Polytechnic, Expressive Power of Video Games, San Luis Obispo, CA

  • 2014 September – Ballyfermot College of Further Education, Fulbright Specialist Assignment, 3-Day faculty and student workshop, Dublin, Ireland

  • 2014 September – University of Ulster, CoderDojo, Belfast, Northern Ireland

  • 2014 September – Letterkenney Institute of Technology, Fulbright Specialist Assignment, 3-Day faculty and student workshop, Letterkenney, Ireland

  • 2014 September – Pulse College, Open Q&A with Game Devs, Galway, Ireland

  • 2014 September – University of Limerick, Fulbright Specialist Assignment, 3-Day faculty and student workshop, Limerick, Ireland

  • 2014 September – Institute of Technology Tralee, Fulbright Specialist Assignment, 3-Day faculty and student workshop, Tralee, Ireland

  • 2014 September – Trinity College Science Center, CoderDojo Kids Event, Dublin, Ireland

  • 2014 September – Carlow Institute of Technology, Fulbright Specialist Assignment, 3-Day faculty and student workshop, Dublin, Ireland

  • 2014 September – Dublin Institute of Technology, Fulbright Specialist Assignment, 3-Day faculty and student workshop, Dublin, Ireland

  • 2014 September – Limerick Institute of Technology, Fulbright Specialist Assignment, 3-Day faculty and student workshop, Limerick, Ireland

  • 2014 August – Embassy of the United States, Fulbright Specialist Kickoff Speech, Dublin, Ireland

  • 2014 August – Game Developers Conference Europe, #1ReasonToBe, Cologne, Germany

  • 2014 August – Game Developers Conference Europe, I, Outsider, Cologne, Germany

  • 2014 May – Native American Student and Community Center, Portland State University, The Expressive Power of Games, Portland, Oregon

  • 2014 April – UC Berkeley, Luncheon Speaker, Lecture on Mechanic is the Message, Berkeley, CA

  • 2014 March – Game Developers Conference, #1ReasonToBe panel organizer, San Francisco, CA

  • 2014 March – Microsoft Women in Games Luncheon, featured panelist, San Francisco, CA

  • 2014 March – Game Developers Conference, Rant Apocalypse panel, San Francisco, CA

  • 2014 March – Game Developers Conference, Jiro Dreams of Game Design, San Francisco, CA

  • 2014 March – Game Developers Conference, AAA Academics - Superstar Designers in Academia panel, San Francisco, CA

  • 2014 February – California Polytechnic, Making Games, San Luis Obispo, CA

  • 2014 January – UC Santa Cruz, Video Game Designers and their Analog Designs, Santa Clara, CA

  • 2013 November – Facebook, Game Design Lecture Series, Inaugural Speaker, Palo Alto, CA

  • 2013 November – Cogswell College, Jiro Dreams of Game Design, Cupertino, CA

  • 2013 November – Game Developers Conference LA, Influences, Los Angeles, CA

  • 2013 November – UC Irvine, Jiro Dreams of Game Design, Irvine, CA

  • 2013 October – Future Fridays, Chabot Space & Science Center, Oakland, CA

  • 2013 August – Blizzard Entertainment, Jiro Dreams of Game Design, Irvine, CA

  • 2013 June – International Game Developers Association Chicago Chapter, Q&A with John Romero

  • 2013 June – Rochester Institute of Technology, Q&A with John Romero, Rochester, NY

  • 2013 June – History of Games International Conference, Montreal, QC

  • 2013 June – National Museum of Play at the Strong, Síochán Leat

  • 2013 June – Games for Change, Gaming Thought Leader, New York City, NY

  • 2013 June – University of Iowa at Coralville, EPX Game Club, Iowa City, IA

  • 2013 May – UC Santa Cruz Interactive Storytelling Symposium, Stories from Train

  • 2013 March – Game Developers Conference, Free to Play: The Morning After

  • 2013 March – Game Developers Conference, #1ReasonToBe

  • 2013 March – Game Developers Conference, Experimental Gameplay Workshop

  • 2013 March – SXSW, Interactive Keynote, Jiro Dreams of Game Design

  • 2012 October – Centro Estatal de las Artes Ensenada, Open Q&A with John Romero

  • 2012 October – Congres Internacional en Ciencias Computacionales, Keynote, Ensenada, Baja CA, Mexico

  • 2012 September – Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), Panel on Social Games, Seattle, WA

  • 2012 May – Girls in Tech Panel, San Francisco, CA

  • 2012 March – Game Developers Conference, Panel, “Breaking into Game Development: Ask the Pros”, San Francisco, CA

  • 2012 March – Game Developers Conference, IGDA Women’s SIG Roundtable, San Francisco, CA

  • 2012 February – Inside Social Apps, “Trends in Social Game Product Development”, San Francisco, CA

  • 2012 January – Global Game Jam Keynote with John Romero

  • 2011 November – TEDx Phoenix, Games for a Change, Phoenix, AZ

  • 2011 October – IGDA Silicon Valley, Open Q&A with John Romero, San Jose, CA

  • 2011 October – International Game Developers Association Leadership Conference, Keynote with John Romero, “Gordon”, Los Angeles, CA

  • 2011 October – IndieCade, “Big Games: Ethics and Organization”, panel, Culver City, CA

  • 2011 October – IndieCade. “Do Art Games Matter?”, panel, Culver City, CA, October 2011

  • 2011 April – TEDx ASU West, Train

  • 2011 March – Game Developers Conference, “The Prototyping of Tragedy: One Falls for Each of Us”, San Francisco, CA

  • 2011 March – Game Developers Conference, “Social Game Developers Rant” panel, San Francisco, CA

  • 2011 March – Game Developers Conference, “Game Education Rant” panel, San Francisco, CA

  • 2011 March – Game Developers Conference, “Microtalks” panel, San Francisco, CA

  • 2011 March – Game Developers Conference, “Intuition vs. Metrics: The Evolution of Social Games” with Laralyn McWilliams, San Francisco, CA

  • 2011 February – San Francisco Game Developers Workshop, “Developing Ravenwood Fair” with John Romero, San Francisco, CA

  • 2011 February – IGDA San Francisco, “Developing Ravenwood Fair” with John Romero, San Francisco, CA

  • 2011 February – Euphrat Museum, “Games Like Photographs”, Cupertino, CA

  • 2010 November – DevLearn, “Using Game Design for Educational Engagement”, San Francisco, CA

  • 2010 October – IndieCade, “Prototyping of Tragedy”, Culver City, CA

  • 2010 October – University of Southern California, “Train”, Los Angeles, CA

  • 2010 August – Lolapps, “Multi-linear Narratives: Letting the Player Direct Play”, San Francisco, CA

  • 2010 July – Gamesauce, “Women in Games panel”, Seattle, WA

  • 2010 July – Casual Connect, “Train: How I Dumped Electricity and Learned to Love Design”, Seattle, WA

  • 2010 May – LOGIN, “Leave your polygons at the door: Transitioning from AAA to Social Games”, Seattle, WA

  • 2010 June – Strong Museum of Play, “Train”, Rochester, NY

  • 2010 June – Innovations in e-Learning Conference (workshop), George Mason University, “Game Design Improv”, Fairfax, VA

  • 2010 June – Foundations of Digital Entertainment, “Social Games Panel”, Monterey, CA

  • 2010 March – Game Developers Conference, “Train”, San Francisco, CA

  • 2010 March – Game Developers Conference, “Why Gaming Veterans are Flocking to Social Gaming”, San Francisco, CA

  • 2010 February – Art History of Games, “One Falls for Each of Us: The Prototyping of Tragedy”, Atlanta, GA

  • 2009 November – Montreal Game Summit, “How I Dumped Electricity and Learned to Love Design”, Montreal, Canada

  • 2009 November – Geekend, “How I Dumped Electricity and Learned to Love Design”, Savannah, GA

  • 2009 October – Innovative Professor Conference (Keynote), Austin Peay State University “Game Design and Game Theory Applied to the Classroom”, Clarksville, TN

  • 2009 October – IndieCade, “Emotionally Challenging Games”, panel, Culver City, CA

  • 2009 August – Austin Game Developers Conference, “How I dumped electricity and learned to love design.”, September, Austin, TX

  • 2009 August – Full Sail University, “How I dumped electricity and learned to love design.”, Winter Park, FL

  • 2009 June – Game Education Summit, Carnegie Mellon Entertainment Technology Center, “The Making of a Gallery Game : A Post Mortem in Progress” and “Industry and Academia, In Search of Love”, Pittsburg, PA

  • 2009 June – Games for Health, ”A Design Review of Sexual Content, Sexually Mature Themes in Games, and Games About Sex”, Boston, MA

  • 2009 June – MIT Gambit Lab, ”How I dumped electricity and learned to love design”, Cambridge, MA

  • 2009 June – Innovations in e-Learning Symposium, George Mason University, “How to Do Game Design Workshop & Game Jam, Fairfax, VA

  • 2009 May – Games for Change, Parsons, Workshop 101, NYC, NY

  • 2009 April – Triangle Game Summit, “How I dumped electricity and learned to love design”, San Francisco

  • 2009 March – Game Developers Conference, “100 Questions”, San Francisco

  • 2008 November – Video Game Expo, “Breaking In to the Industry”, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2008 October – SiegeCon, Keynote, “Good and Bad about Games”, Atlanta, GA

  • 2008 September – Austin Game Developers Conference, 100 Questions, Austin, TX

  • 2008 June – China Joy (via telecast w/interpreter), Bejing, “Question and Answer”, China

  • 2008 June – Digital Game Expo, “100 Questions”, Raleigh, NC

  • 2008 May – Digital Downtown Arts Festival, “Game Design Improv”, Columbus, OH

  • 2008 April – Game Developers eXchange, “100 Questions”, Atlanta

  • 2008 February – Game Developers Conference, “IGDA Education SIG Case Study Blast”, “Sex in Games Roundtable”, San Francisco

  • 2008 January – The Telfair Museum, Jepson Center for the Arts, “The Magic of Video Games”

  • 2007 December – IGDA Orlando Chapter, “Murder, Sex and Censorship”, Full Sail

  • 2007 November – Georgia Technology Student Association, “Game Design 101″, “The World of Game Development”

  • 2007 October – SiegeCON Atlanta, “Censorship in Games”

  • 2007 September – Women in Games International – Austin, “She Got Game”

  • 2007 August – Women in Film and Television Atlanta, “Future Technology”

  • 2007 June – Idea City, “Web 3.0,” Toronto, Ontario

  • 2007 April – Game Developers Exchange, “Sex in Games”, Savannah, GA

  • 2007 April – Women in Games International, “The Ultimate Challenge: Balancing Work and Personal Life”, Redwood Shores, CA

  • 2007 March – Women in Games International, Electronic Arts, “The Balancing Act,” roundtable, Redwood Shores, CA

  • 2007 March – Game Developers Conference 2007, “Sex in Games: Design Issues” roundtable, “Sex in Games: The Business End”, roundtable, “Accessibility Idol Design Challenge,” panel lecture, “IGDA International Case Blasts”, panel lecture, “The Importance of Social Networking to Casual Games” (sponsored session), lecture

  • 2006 December – Tomball College, “Murder, Sex and Censorship” lecture

  • 2006 November – Montreal Games Conference, “Sex in Games” lecture

  • 2006 September – DragonCon, “Sex in Games” and “Murder, Sex and Censorship”

  • 2006 June – Sex in Video Games Conference, Opening Keynote & Conference Chair

  • 2006 May – GDX Atlanta, “Murder, Sex and Censorship” lecture

  • 2006 March – Game Developers Conference 2006, “Sex in Games: Hardcore” roundtable, “Sex in Games” lecture, “Murder, Sex and Censorship” panel moderator

  • 2006 February – Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “Sex in Games” lecture

  • 2005 October – Women’ Games Conference, “Sex in Games” lecture

  • 2005 October – The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University, “Issues in the Video Game Industry”, lecture

  • 2005 October – Savannah College of Art & Design, “Issues in the Video Game Industry”, lecture

  • 2005 October – Future Play Conference, “You Want Me To Make a Game About What?” IP Workshop, “Sex in Games” panel member

  • 2005 September – Albany IGDA Group, “Murder, Sex and Censorship: Why You Should Care”

  • 2005 September – Clarkson University, “Game Designers – Breaking into the Industry”

  • 2005 August – Boston Post Mortem, “Murder, Sex and Censorship: Why You Should Care”

  • 2005 May – Montgomery College, “Game Designers – Breaking into the Industry”

  • 2005 March – Game Developers Conference 2005, “Sexuality in Games: When is it Appropriate?” roundtable

Brenda at TEDx in Phoenix, AZ (2012)