The team currently consists of young, talented, and driven individuals from around the world. We’re a fully remote team, with team members based in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, and more!
Julian Rice
Founder & CEO
Julian Rice is the Director, Producer, Designer, and Engineer of Shujinkou, bringing a multidisciplinary background at the intersection of technology, language, and game design. A UCLA graduate with double Bachelor’s degrees in Linguistics & Computer Science and Japanese, along with a specialization in Entrepreneurship, he began his career in software engineering at Panasonic and BizReach Inc., and served as a Campus Ambassador for Microsoft before founding Rice Games in late 2018. Julian’s work on Shujinkou has been featured at events including the 2019 and 2020 Tokyo Game Show.
He has pursued Japanese language and culture since childhood and aims to revolutionize how players engage with Japanese role-playing games. Outside of development, Julian enjoys basketball, composing music, and playing violin.
Top 10 Games: Paper Mario: TTYD, Etrian Odyssey IV, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Persona 4 Golden, Shin Megami Tensei IV, Pokémon Black 2, NieR: Automata, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, NFS: Most Wanted (2005), Project Gotham Racing 2
Art Team
Rachel Liu
Rachel is a character artist and illustrator with many years of experience in the games industry, experienced in mobile, PC, TCGs, and is now a Junior Art Manager at Alkaid Games. She loves story-driven games like The Legend of Zelda and NieR: Automata, and is currently on the Valorant grind.
Jonas Müller
Jonas is an artist focusing on enemy and environment design. Based in Germany with a degree in Game Design from Designakademie Rostock, he won #1 Best Concept in Vaatividya’s Fake Elden Ring Bosses Art Contest. His favorite games are the Soulsborne series and Hollow Knight.
Samantha Galan
Samantha is an artist based in Germany specializing in environment illustrations and enemy design with a Game Design degree from Designakademie Rostock. She enjoys role-playing games, with her favorites including Persona 5, Pokémon, NieR: Automata, and Skyrim.
Catthy Trinh
Catthy is a character artist with a B.A. in Illustration and Visual Development from Ringling College of Art & Design. She has worked on TTRPGs like Fabula Ultima and Kradia: Wild Hunt Festival. Her favorite series include Final Fantasy, Bravely Default, Fire Emblem, and Pokémon.
Charline Stynka
Charly is an artist with a degree in Game Art, specializing in character and enemy design. Charly has experience creating personal and commercial commissions for companies and clubs, and is currently working on TCG artwork. Their favorite games include Persona 5 and Ace Attorney.
Anna Wahrmann
Anna is an artist specializing in visual effects, 3D modeling, items, illustrations, SPINE animations, and cartoony art. She holds a Game Design degree from Designakademie Rostock. Anna loves story-driven indie games, especially Undertale, Deltarune, and Deponia.
Writing Team
Chloe Nakano
Chloe is a narrative writer specializing in the Kouryuu and Youkyuu system, with a B.A. in Creative Writing for Entertainment. Based in Maui, she enjoys piano, acoustic guitar, and ukulele. Her favorite games include League of Legends, Stardew Valley, and Genshin Impact.
Emma Jones
Emma is a narrative writer based in Massachusetts with a B.A. in Literature & Philosophy. A poet, composer, and published film critic, she has also written speeches for congressional campaigns. Her favorite games include Final Fantasy VIII, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, and Disco Elysium.
Caitlin Baker
Caitlin is a narrative writer with a double B.A in Creative Writing & German Studies and an A.A in Game Design. She worked as an archivist for the University of Arizona’s Learning Games Initiative Research Archive. Her favorite games include Paper Mario: TTYD, Overwatch, and Castlevania.
Chelsea Boylan
Chelsea is a narrative writer focused on Youkyuu’s quest dialogue system, with a B.A. in Game Design. She was a narrative design intern at Space Dwarves Entertainment and a game writer on Junket. Her favorite games include Paper Mario: TTYD, Persona 4/5/Q, and Pokémon.
Sarah Vulpio
Sarah is a narrative writer specializing in comedic dialogue and short exchanges, with a B.A. in Creative Writing. A current stand-up comedian, she has written for Cosmopolitan, Fitz Games, and HMÉTÉ. Her favorite games include God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Uncharted.
Music Team
Brian LaGuardia
Brian is a seasoned composer with credits in Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, Marvel’s Agent Carter, Hades, and the Grammy-nominated Stray Gods. His music has been performed worldwide by ensembles like the London Symphony and BBC Proms. Passionate about storytelling, he brings narratives to life through his compositions.
Robert Mullis
Robert is a composer with a B.A. in Philosophy from UC Davis and experience writing soundtracks for visual novels, indie games, and more. A fan of game scoring since hearing Nobuo Uematsu’s Final Fantasy VII soundtrack, he enjoys playing horror games like Silent Hill and is also a big fan of Persona 5.
Frank Tedesco
Frank is a composer, sound designer, and streamer with a B.Mus. in Composition from The Hartt School of Music and a certificate from Kansai Gaidai University. He was named Pianote’s “2024 YouTube Pianist of the Year” and once performed for the President of Rwanda. Frank loves the Smash Bros. and Mario series.
Ryo Noguchi
Ryo Noguchi is a guitarist and composer who has contributed to artists like Crystal Kay, Skoop On Somebody, and ET-KING, as well as TV and commercial recordings for brands including Suntory, JR East, and NTT West. He released his solo album Christmas at Yours in 2020 and has composed music for Konami’s Power Pros games and USEN broadcast channels.
Masaki Takao
Masaki Takao is a composer specializing in film and TV scores, known for creating distinctive soundtracks. His credits include music for the TV Tokyo drama Kemutai Ane to Zurui Imouto, multiple films such as Anoko wa Shiranai and Makka na Hoshi, and games like Shanghai Refresh on the Nintendo Switch. He also runs the soundtrack project Popolon Saga.
Quality Assurance Team
Isaac Stuart
Isaac is a tester focused on gameplay aspects of Shujinkou. He holds degrees in Welding and Computer Programming from Montana State University and has worked in the Army National Guard, software engineering, and QA. His favorite games include Majora’s Mask, Halo, Elden Ring, and Dark Souls 3.
Michio Ueda
Michio is a tester focused on Shujinkou’s Japanese content and level design. He holds a B.A. in Communications with a minor in Art from Temple University and teaches intermediate Japanese. His favorite franchises include Mario, The Legend of Zelda, F-Zero, Fire Emblem, and Mystery Dungeon.
Bryan Bonadurer
Bryan is a tester focused on the game flow of Shujinkou, with a B.A. in Communications and a minor in Marketing from Saginaw Valley State University. He has worked as a content moderator at Google and enjoys D&D and video editing. His favorite series include MGS, Command & Conquer, Fallout, and Pokémon.
Frederick Choi
Frederick is a tester focused on Shujinkou’s technical and narrative consistency, with a B.S. in Computer Science and minor in Music from MIT. He has worked in R&D at Raytheon, holds a patent in speech translation error handling, and teaches in London. He loves Fire Emblem and Nintendo games.
