Who we are
We are a games design consultancy, which supports, develops and facilitates bespoke serious games.
Stone Paper Scissors (SPS) is active in designing command and decision games covering issues such as political crises, social media and influence, strategic planning, cyber defence and civil disorder.
The team combines management experience at a senior level in the public and voluntary sectors, with an appreciation of the psychological dimension of game design and facilitation processes, to ensure that Stone Paper Scissors events deliver educational, team building or management development goals.
SPS game designs in the recreational arena have now been played world wide in the USA, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Germany, Austria and New Zealand as well across the UK.
We are supported by a peripatetic team of experts, all experienced professionals in facilitating games as well as subject matter experts in their own right.
The team's subject matter expertise has been drawn from backgrounds including academic history, cyber security, performing arts, computer science, journalism, senior management, military/defence, security, government and the social sciences.
It is the diversity of this interdisciplinary group that has proved very creative in designing and delivering games that both challenge and entertain.
The Team
Jim Wallman
Stones Paper Scissors is headed by its Director, Jim Wallman, a professional game designer and facilitator who has over 30 years experience in the serious game design field.
He has worked extensively with the corporate, public, educational, recreational and voluntary sectors, designing and delivering a wide range of games, such as in support of academic research, on social issues and map wargames & concept development games for the UK Defence community.
Jim's background and training is primarily in the social science, psychology and military history fields, with a particular interest in the practical application of positive psychology to game structures and the development of immersive and emerging gameplay.
Viji Szepel-Golek
Stone Paper Scissors day to day activities are headed by its Operations Manager, Viji Szepel-Golek, an experienced administrator with over 20 years experience in a range of roles, including support to training, finance and administration.
Viji’s background and training is in the positive psychology field with particular interest in the application of positive awareness in organisational development.
Rebecca Salter
Stone paper scissors admin assistant Rebecca Salter, wing lady (right hand woman) to ops manager Viji, enhances organisational efficiently. As an experienced administrative assistant she is dedicated to providing efficient and reliable support.
Rebecca not only handles the administrative tasks efficiently but also brings a creative touch to the role as an artist, specialising in art therapy through her works in painting and sculpture.
Associate Partners
Stone Paper Scissors has a number of experienced Associate Partners who work closely with the Director to develop new projects, lead events, games and workshops. Associate Partners are drawn from a wide area of expertise, and are integral members of the SPS team…
Bruce Walton
Bruce Walton is qualified in history, vocational training and directing and acting for stage and TV. His professional background is in data analysis and ICT training across several sectors, for the last two decades specialising in road safety. He has substantial game facilitation experience and is involved in design, delivery, and development of SPS' professional control training courses.
Guy Selway
Guy commissioned from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst before serving in Cyprus, Germany, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Falklands. An accomplished trainer Guy has run the gamut from a soldier’s basic training, through Battlegroup pre-deployment to theatre level exercises in the South Atlantic islands. In 2023, after a lifetime of recreational gaming, he combined his vocations and hobbies to join the professional wargaming sector.
Fraser Patrick
Fraser is a TAP certified training professional and full member of the Chartered Institute of Information Security, with seven years experience writing and delivering training for intelligence professionals within law enforcement, government, defence, and the intelligence community in over 30 countries.
Fraser has designed and facilitated large scale games, immersive training exercises, and crisis simulations since 2015, and has worked on professional and serious games for both the UK Government and UK Defence community.
John Mizon
John Mizon has been involved in game design and game facilitation since 2015, working for his own company designing and facilitating large-scale games, as well as working as a partner of Stone Paper Scissors. John is a successful and creative game designer with several internationally-recognised megagame designs to his credit.
Nick Drage
Nick Drage is a cyber security strategist with over 25 year's experience within the cyber security field, in both offensive and defensive roles, mainly at a technical level. Nick is also a game designer, with over 15 years experience within the professional wargaming industry. He has wide ranging interests, from strategic choices in limited environments such as a sports, to how doctrines apply analogically across all conflicts, and the use of non-traditional methods in professional wargaming, such as the use of hybrid formats.
Rob Grayston
Rob is an emergency planning and resilience specialist with experience working in multi-agency environments during major incidents and in-depth incident response planning. At present, he works for a national UK service where he focuses on the exercising and testing of response plans at a national level in conjunction with partner agencies including emergency services, utility companies, and major infrastructure.
Prior to his work in resilience, Rob worked in events and marketing where he made good use of the same skills he now deploys in exercise and serious game facilitation. He is also a published recreational game writer.