Eric Goldberg is an American

game designer Game design is the process of creating and shaping the mechanics, systems, rules, and gameplay of a game. Game design processes apply to board games, card games, dice games, casino games, role-playing games, sports, Wargame (video games), war ga ...

who has worked primarily on

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

Career

Eric Goldberg designed ''

Commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...

'', a man-to-man game of tactical combat which also included systems for character creation and skills, published by Simulations Publications, Incorporated (SPI). Goldberg also designed ''

DragonQuest ''Dragonquest'' is a science fantasy novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey. It is the sequel to '' Dragonflight'', set seven years later and the second book in the ''Dragonriders of Pern'' series. ''Dragonquest'' was first published ...

'' (1980), the largest role-playing game from SPI. Goldberg also contributed to '' Thieves' World'' (1981) from

Chaosium Chaosium Inc. ( ) is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford (game designer), Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include ''Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game), Call of Cthulhu'', based on the horror fic ...

. Goldberg had been friends with Greg Costikyan for years and also worked at SPI with him, and they talked to

Dan Gelber Daniel Saul Gelber (born November 26, 1960) is an American politician and former prosecutor. He served in the Florida Legislature from 2000 to 2010 and was the Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Florida in 2010. From 2017 to 2023, he ...

about making a professional game out of the role-playing game design that Gelber called "Paranoia" and ran for his local game group. Gelber gave Goldberg and Costikyan his notes and they developed those ideas into a full manuscript for an RPG. During his time working at SPI, Goldberg also designed '' Eric Goldberg's KURSK'' which was subsequently published in 1980; this project was the 2nd Edition of SPI's original ''KURSK'' game (1971). Goldberg started working for

West End Games West End Games (WEG) was a company that made board, role-playing, and war games. It was founded by Daniel Scott Palter in 1974 in New York City, but later moved to Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Its product lines included ''Star Wars'', ''Paranoia' ...

in 1983 as its new Vice President of Research & Development. Gelber, Costikyan, and Goldberg were therefore able to license their ''

Paranoia Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety, suspicion, or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of co ...

'' game to West End Games, and

Ken Rolston Ken Rolston is an American computer game and role-playing game designer best known for his work with West End Games and on the computer game series ''The Elder Scrolls''. Tabletop role-playing games Ken Rolston began working as a professional g ...

helped rewrite the rules before it was published in 1984. Goldberg designed '' Tales of the Arabian Nights'' (1985) for West End, a storytelling board game based on written paragraphs. Costikyan and Goldberg left

in January 1987, forming the short-lived game company Goldberg Associates. West End Games declared bankruptcy in 1998, so Costikyan and Goldberg tried to recover the rights to ''Paranoia'' but West End Games founder Scott Palter resisted, and a judge gave the rights back to the creators in 2000. Costikyan and Goldberg licensed ''Paranoia'' to

Mongoose Publishing Mongoose Publishing is a British manufacturer of role-playing games, miniatures, and card games, publishing material since 2001. Its licenses include products based on the science fiction properties '' Traveller'', ''Judge Dredd'', and ''Parano ...

, which began producing new books for the game in 2004. In writing the new edition called ''Paranoia XP'', Varney, Goldberg and Costikyan reached out to and actively collaborated with ''Paranoias online fan community through an official blog and through Paranoia-Live.net. In 2019, Goldberg and

Raph Koster Raphael "Raph" Koster (born September 7, 1971) is an American entrepreneur, computer game designer, game designer, and author of ''A Theory of Fun for Game Design''. Koster is widely recognized for his work as the lead designer of ''Ultima Onlin ...

founded a new company, Playable Worlds, and are currently developing the MMO Stars Reach.

References

External links

Eric Goldberg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldberg, Eric American role-playing designers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Wargame designers Year of birth missing (living people)