Cheryl Platz is an internationally renowned interaction designer, author, and actress best known for her work on cutting-edge games, products and platforms including Amazon's Alexa, the Echo Look, the Sims family of games, the Riot Games platform and 2XKO, Marvel Strike Force, and Microsoft's Azure platform. She is now Creative Director for the Game Studio at The Pokémon Company International, focused on Pokémon TCG Live - past employers include Riot Games, Scopely, Electronic Arts/Maxis, Amaze Entertainment/Griptonite Games, Microsoft, Amazon, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Cheryl is also a repeat adjunct faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University's Masters of Entertainment Industry Management program, teaching the craft of video game design and production.

Cheryl's first book, "Design Beyond Devices: Creating Multimodal, Cross-Device Experiences" (Rosenfeld Media, 2020), is the design manual for technologists who aspire to get a little bit closer to the starship bridge of their dreams – or just build better responsive websites, games, and cross-channel experiences. The content from Design Beyond Devices was honed by Cheryl's experience delivering sought-after talks, keynotes, and workshops on 5 continents and in 12 countries as founder and owner of design education company Ideaplatz, LLC: "the road to great design". Released on December 1, 2020 into the height of the pandemic, the book didn't receive the fanfare many receive, but multiple Fortune 500 companies have reported using it as a guide for their internal research and development efforts.

Cheryl's second book, "The Game Development Strategy Guide: Crafting Video Games that Thrive", was published by Rosenfeld Media on September 16, 2025 and received a "Get It" recommendation from Kirkus Reviews and an indie spotlight in the October 15, 2025 print edition of the magazine. Cheryl also created and launched a companion podcast, "Enduring Play: A Game Development Podcast," and Season 1 highlights the full interviews with 10 of the 14 experts she interviewed as part of the research for the book. Cheryl's self-produced book tour for The Game Development Strategy Guide launched in August 2025 at the Seattle Loves Indie Creators Expo in Seattle's McCaw Hall, and then made its international debut at Design Matters Tokyo 2025. She is accepting inquiries for future events, and is in active negotiations for additional events in Seattle, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles.

A consummate performer, teacher, and educator, Cheryl also brings with her deep experience in front of large live audiences, multicamera studios, and livestreaming environments. Cheryl co-starred in Shadowrun: Corporate SINS on Twitch TV channel Hyper RPG as "Ma1nfram3," a character she created and shaped over the 65-episode live broadcast multi-camera run. Cheryl goes by "FunnyGodmother" on Twitch, where she has run her own weekly Twitch streaming community since 2016, the #MagicMafia - complete with two puppet mascots, Sprinkles and Moe. Cheryl also has over 15 years of professional experience as a performer with companies like Unexpected Productions, Seattle Experimental Theater, NERDprov, Jet City Improv, and a variety of other companies. She has performed twice at Seattle's Bumbershoot festival, and in 2023 had the rare honor of serving as Toastmaster for the Nebula Awards, for which she received a writing credit for self-writing her own monologue and consulting on the full script with celebrated writers Tilly and Susan Bridges. Cheryl is available for keynotes, talks, workshops, and hosting engagements subject to some limitations (must be run by current full-time employer for compliance checks).

“Platz treats the history of gaming with reverence, mentioning deep cuts such as MadMaze alongside indie darlings like Unpacking; this makes the guide feel truly all-encompassing—as expansive as an open-world RPG—in a way that will resonate with industry insiders, newbie developers, and curious players alike.”
– Kirkus Reviews