JT//BENCH Jeff Tunnell Making games since 1984
Chassis 01 // Maker profile Rev-2026 Est. 1984
Games that let people build things

Jeff
Tunnell
Game maker.

I co-founded Dynamix in 1984 and created The Incredible Machine. Since then I've started GarageGames, PushButton Labs, Spotkin and Monster Ideas, and shipped Contraption Maker. Millions of kids have played those games. Today I'm building PlayWorlds.

▶ See PlayWorlds ⚙ Read the build log
Studios founded: 6 First game: Arcticfox, 1986 Patent: Sid & Al's Incredible Toons
Build log // In order 1984 → now

The build log

Forty years, one idea
  1. 1984

    Dynamix Co-founder

    Co-founded with Damon Slye in Eugene, Oregon. Early games included Arcticfox, Skyfox II and A-10 Tank Killer. Dynamix became part of Sierra On-Line.

  2. 1990

    Jeff Tunnell Productions Founder

    Created The Incredible Machine, Sid & Al's Incredible Toons (which earned a patent), Trophy Bass and the 3-D Ultra Pinball series, some of Dynamix's most successful titles.

  3. 1995

    Back to Dynamix Leadership

    Returned to Dynamix in a leadership role, through the years of Starsiege: Tribes and Return of the Incredible Machine: Contraptions.

  4. 2001

    GarageGames Co-founder

    An independent publisher and engine company. We licensed the Torque engine to indie developers for $100 and built a community around it that shipped games like Marble Blast Ultra. Acquired by IAC in 2007.

  5. 2009

    PushButton Labs Founder

    Led development of Playdom's Social City, one of 2010's biggest social games at more than 10 million monthly players, plus Grunts: Skirmish and The Incredible Machine: Mobile.

  6. 2012

    Spotkin Founder

    Made Contraption Maker (2014), a modern successor to The Incredible Machine that puts the level editor in players' hands.

  7. 2020

    Monster Ideas Founder

    Came back to game development to explore games built by and for their communities, starting with the Builders & Warriors universe.

  8. Now

    PlayWorlds Building

    A physics sandbox and maker suite with an AI companion. Everything I've learned about contraptions, tools and communities, in one place.

Parts bin // Selected games

Selected games

Of 40+ shipped
The Incredible Machine1993 · Sierra
Sid & Al's Incredible Toons1993 · Sierra
Red Baron1990 · Sierra
Rise of the Dragon1990 · Sierra
The Adventures of Willy Beamish1991 · Sierra
Betrayal at Krondor1993 · Sierra
3-D Ultra Pinball seriesSierra
Starsiege: Tribes1998 · Sierra
Marble Blast Ultra2006 · GarageGames
Social City2010 · PushButton Labs / Playdom
Contraption Maker2014 · Spotkin
PlayWorldsIn development
Through-line

The idea

The games I'm proudest of don't hand you a solution. They hand you parts. The Incredible Machine, Contraption Maker and now PlayWorlds all ask the same thing: what can you build with this?

The other lesson came from GarageGames. The engine got people in the door, but the community of makers is what made it matter. PlayWorlds is built on both ideas.

Connectors // Elsewhere

Elsewhere