Riley Wilkinson

Product Developer + Creative Director

Let's pretend we're working. (But I've actually been doing this professionally for three decades.) Hi, I'm Riley Wilkinson. I create delightful distractions for clever grown-ups, families, and anyone who's ever stared longingly at a fresh pack of file folders. I blend toy expertise with humor and a refusal to take beige adulthood too seriously.

My Career

For 30+ years I've designed award-winning toys, games, activities, and brain-bending fun. My professional roles include Toy and Game Designer, Creative Director, Art Director, Product Developer, and YouTube game streamer — focused on puzzles, humor, and chaos with purpose. I currently teach toy and game illustration through Character Play at Make Art That Sells.

Clients + Companies

I have designed for industry leaders, including:

Mattel Creations

AARP

Auzou Editions

Skillmatics

Educational Insights

MGA Entertainment

Learning Resources

Maker Media

Lakeshore Learning

McGraww-Hill Educational Publishing

Design + Invention

Inventor of The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Game: a preschool classic that has sold over two million copies, garnered 10,000+ five-star reviews, and launched a whole franchise of games and board books. A Toy Industry Association Toy of the Year nominee.

Creator of Mon Puzzle Collaboratif for French publisher Auzou — bringing collaborative puzzle design to an international audience.

Holder of two U.S. design patents for the Elapsed Time Clock and SpinZone Classroom Spinners.

Co-Creator of the My Toy Pitch course with Make Art That Sells, helping artists develop pitch-ready prototypes.

Brain Game Theater

After a traumatic brain injury, I turned to analog puzzles and brain teasers — Kanoodle, IQ Puzzler Pro, IQ Love — to rebuild focus, memory, and cognitive function from scratch. What started as personal recovery became something I couldn't stop doing on camera.

Brain Game Theater is part performance art, part logic marathon, part weekly public meltdown where the audience yells at the screen and I keep going anyway. Livestream sessions have reached over 500,000 views. The chat does not stay calm.

My approach is grounded in spatial reasoning, mental rotation, and deductive logic methodology — developed across three decades of professional game design and one very hard personal comeback story. Brain training doesn't have to be boring. It can be competitive, collaborative, and genuinely chaotic.

Brain Game Theater streams live every Sunday and Wednesday on YouTube.

Press + Awards

My work has been featured in Uppercase Magazine, Good Housekeeping, USA Today, Redbook, and Communication Arts. Product awards include Toy of the Year finalist, Parents' Choice silver and gold, a NAPPA award, Dr. Toy's 100 Best winner, the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio gold seal, and Creative Child Magazine's Creative Child Award.