Nicole Maines

Nicole Maines has a diverse range of work experience in the gaming industry. Nicole started their career as a Deli/Bakery/Cafe Assistant at Ray's Food Place in 2016. Later, they worked as a Programmer and Reader/Tutor/Grader at UC Santa Cruz, where they oversaw and graded student projects and provided tutoring in game design concepts. In 2015, Nicole became the President and Design Lead of Game Design Art Collaboration, where they managed projects, hosted meetings, and organized club events.

In 2017, Nicole joined Paper Crown Interactive as a Designer/Producer, where they contributed to game narrative, level design, and aesthetic development. Nicole also worked at Lunas Insurance as an Office Worker, performing tasks such as taking payments and handling administrative duties while covering for a maternity leave.

In 2019, Nicole worked as a Game Master at Off The Couch Games, overseeing game progress and facilitating team meetings. Nicole then joined Toys For Bob in 2020 as a Quality Assurance Tester, specializing in testing Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time. Their responsibilities included testing builds on multiple consoles, documenting and reporting issues, verifying bug fixes, and executing test plans.

Currently, Nicole is employed at Sledgehammer Games as a QA Analyst. Nicole initially joined as a QA Analyst I in April 2021 and was promoted to QA Analyst II in January 2023.

Nicole Maines pursued their education from 2014 to 2018 at the University of California, Santa Cruz. During this time, they earned a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science with a specialization in Computer Game Design.