Havilah McGinnis grew up in California. Surrounded by sunshine, she was instantly drawn to the comforting dark abyss of her local black box theater. Her passion for the power of collaborative storytelling grew until it was strong enough to take her to NYC, where she spent over a decade working as a director, mostly focusing on new play development. She especially loved finding plays with absurd premises and impossible problems, and developing them into productions that could delight and engage any audience. Her path in life seemed to be set.
Then one day, she innocently attended a lecture on game narrative. Here she found another medium dedicated to collaborative storytelling in darkened rooms, but those darkened rooms could be in several different countries, and the audience's role as a collaborator far more central. Curiosity piqued, she dabbled in game jams, took some classes, and listened to so many more lectures. By the time she was accepted into the Telltale Creative Workshop during GDC 2017, she knew she had found her new path.
These days, she resides in a tiny hippie village in Ohio, and makes games with teammates located all over the world. Her most recent work can be seen in Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit (Google Play Store/Apple Store, free with Netflix subscription.) When she isn’t attached to her keyboard, she can be found at the local pottery studio, playing fetch with her dogs, or knitting. She hopes to someday achieve expertise in both Yarn Spinner and spinning yarn.