In this edition of Meet The Sandboxer, our post comes from Tyler Gardner, a PR Manager here at Sandbox (and the writer of these blogs)! You can follow him on Twitter here!

What do you do/when did you join Sandbox?

Hey wait a minute – I wrote this question! I joined Sandbox as an intern in the spring of 2021, from there I worked my way up as a part time employee, became a full time PR coordinator in 2022, and this year moved up to a PR Manager. I handle drafting press releases, manage PR campaigns for a number of titles, and run both our LinkedIn page and this very blog.

Favorite experience at Sandbox?

I love getting to travel for work, but I think last year’s Summer Game Fest was a real highlight. It was my first chance to meet so many journalists and creators I’ve emailed hundreds of times, and getting to become a real person to each other was really awesome. People aren’t just emails – crazy!

First video game console/memory?

I think the PlayStation was my first actual console, but the memories that jump to mind first are playing Knights of the Old Republic on the original Xbox with my Mom. I couldn’t even really read most of it yet, so I remember her reading the choices and letting me make them – though I would always play evil. That probably says a lot about me, but true Tyler fans know I’m a die hard Paragon/Light Side/Good boy™ in anything I play now.

What are you playing now?

As someone who works as a PR Manager I try and stay pretty “well read” in games. I just wrapped up both Persona 3 Reload and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, so right now I kind of feel like a spiritual weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

I regularly play Counter-Strike with some friends, and I intend to replay both Knights of the Old Republic 2 and the original Final Fantasy 7 soon. Helldivers 2, Civilization V, Mount & Blade Warband, and The Political Process have all been in the regular rotation as well. I also want to dive into Kenshi and Content Warning, plus I still need to start working on the Final Fantasy 5 pixel remaster. I also just wrapped up Slay the Princess and OneShot. Admittedly though, the next beast of a game I plan to take on is Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance in June. I’ll definitely have time for all of that…right?

Definitely not.

Cold.

What are some of your hobbies outside of games?

I dabble in all sorts of things but playing Magic is a consistent one. I make time to get together with friends and play Commander on the regular. I’m not hyper-competitive, give me a janky combo deck any day (picture below definitely unrelated). I’ve also more recently started getting into Warhammer 40k – it’s been a few months but I need to get back to painting!

Bonus Round – As someone whose film and game opinions are always correct…ah who am I kidding, let’s just tell people about Steins;Gate.

Long have I waited for this blog moment. 

Steins;Gate is a 2009 visual novel and 2011 anime series which follows a group of college students as they accidentally fumble their way into discovering time travel. Which starts as a quirky, modern science-fiction take on slice of life quickly becomes much more serious, poignant and heart-wrenching. 

There’s almost no one I wouldn’t recommend this series to in some capacity – it transcends all of its genres with its storytelling, and is pretty easily my favorite bit of media ever. Play it, watch it, however you can enjoy it – do it.

You can check out our last Meet The Sandboxer post here and follow us on LinkedIn here!