Carnival Island

"I don't think I've ever seen a designer who could go from idea to playable as quickly as Steve. And then his ability to iterate on game designs, to brainstorm new ways of using existing game mechanics, and his passion for doing so -- he's a credit to the industry. Some designers are great with concepts, some are great with implementation, Steve can do both, and with both speed and quality. I'd work with him again without hesitation." - Alex Beckers

"I've had the privilege to work closely with Steve for the past 3+ years at Magic Pixel. Steve is a true professional and just a great person to be around. A detail-oriented technical designer, he doggedly strives to master whatever tools he can to get the job done, and seeks out creative and effective solutions to existing problems, generating deep and compelling design content. Always level-headed in the heat of battle, he's an invaluable contributor and true team player. Without his skill, determination, and sensibilities, we would not have been able to ship products on time, and with the high quality standards that we all sought." - Bill Farquhar

"Stephen was a core contributor to our successes at Magic Pixel Games. He's a dedicated technical designer with a high level of dedication and focus for getting things done. As often happens in game development Stephen was often tasked to work with suboptimal tools to get his tasks done. However, Mr. Riesenberger's a veteran and muscled through, and was able to create all sorts of magic. Stephen's strengths show through when he's presented with a toolbox of interesting toys to assemble into new and novel ways. "Let's try it!" often reveals some really interesting ideas - sure, they're not all shippable, but they'll often lead somewhere novel and refreshing. He's a good designer and valuable team-member." - Mark Tsai

"Steve is one of the most talented designer I've had the pleasure of working with. It's been amazing to watch him come up with endless game-design ideas; when something doesn't quite feel right, he has a suggestion. Given the editors and gameplay logic pieces, Steve would always come up with something inspiring and unique. It's been a pleasure to work with him, and I hope that we'll get to work together again in the future." - Mikiko Matsunaga

"Stephen is one of the most thorough designers I've ever worked with. He is tireless, eager to step in and help whenever and however it is needed, and has the technical skill to fill in on many different aspects of his job. In my time at MPG, Stephen worked on everything from level and gameplay design to leading the R&D for Havok Physics. Besides his professional skills and competence, Stephen is also an upbeat, positive presence in the company. He is always the first to rally the troops and cheerlead on a project. I'm glad for the time I had working with him at MPG and Highmoon, and would not hesitate to work with him again." - Aaron Habibipour