STORYTIME KEYNOTE
Each PAX begins with our traditional opening ceremony, Storytime from an industry luminary. Leaders in gaming; be they developers, influencers, artists, designers, or other related expertise in this space, have regaled PAX attendees with the story of their lives and how they cemented their place in the annals of game culture.
OUR 2026 STORYTIME SPEAKER IS MATT LEACOCK
Matt Leacock has been designing board games since he was very young and full time since 2014. He is best known as a designer of cooperative games, including Pandemic, Pandemic Legacy, Forbidden Island, Daybreak, and The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship. Pandemic, first published in 2008, has sold over 5 million copies worldwide and is available in over 30 languages while Pandemic Legacy spent two years as the highest rated game of all time on BoardGameGeek. His games have won and been nominated for the Spiel des Jahres, Diana Jones, Games for Change, and Golden Geek awards.
Prior to game design, Matt was a user experience designer for early internet companies and has used his previous experience in that field directly in his work on boardgames. When he’s not designing games, he enjoys hiking in California, traveling the world with his partner, Donna, and getting his hands real dirty with some acrylics, illustration board, and a laser cutter.
PREVIOUS STORYTIME SPEAKERS
Isaac Childres
Elizabeth Hargrave
Matthew Mercer
McElroy Brothers
Aabria Iyengar
Eric Lang
