Gabe Pappalardo

Gabe spent early parts of his childhood with a pencil and paper turning household objects into Mega Man Robot Masters and cardboard boxes into tabletop versions of Donkey Kong Country. He then did a hard-right turn through a PhD program in I/O Psychology and landed in the world of corporate HR. Oops. The following existential crisis led him to burn out and crash-land in a yoga ashram where he discovered the profound power of meditation and first explored the concept that would become The Fog of Maya, a game that would reveal meditations benefits to its players. Several years, a yoga teacher certification, and a stint in tech entrepreneurship later, Gabe founded Six Wing Studios and received the Guinness World Record for "Most Roundabout Career Path to Game Design".

Gabe leads the team with the creative vision for The Fog of Maya series. He fever-dream-rambles about the many characters inside his head, the worlds they live in, level design, game mechanics, and the psychological experiences he wants to produce for gamers. He is eternally grateful to the team of talented people around him who manifest these dreams into tangible reality. He leads the business and manages production, and has to date led the team to execute two crowdfund campaigns, deliver merchandise to hundreds of fans in a dozen countries, and develop Amaru: The Self-care Virtual Pet from an adorable idea to a product enjoyed by tens of thousands of players.