Lauren Elliott
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Lauren Elliott is an American
video game designer Video game design is the process of designing the rules and content of video games in the Video game development#Pre-production, pre-production stage and designing the gameplay, environment, storyline and characters in the Video game development ...
, internet entrepreneur, publisher and inventor. He is recognized as one of the pioneers in the
edutainment Educational entertainment, also referred to by the portmanteau edutainment, is media designed to education, educate through entertainment. The term has been used as early as 1933. Most often it includes content intended to teach but has inciden ...
video game industry. Elliott's greatest success to date came as the original co-designer for the
Carmen Sandiego ''Carmen Sandiego'' (sometimes referred to as ''Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?'') is a media franchise based on a Carmen Sandiego (video game series), series of computer video games created by the American software company Broderbund. Whi ...
game series which remains the best-selling edutainment game in history.


Biography

Lauren Elliott is the grandson of Hall Roosevelt, brother of
Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...
.


Education

After graduating from the Millbrook School for Boys, Elliott attended
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
, transferring three years later to the
University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...
, where he received his degree in architecture. Becoming interested in environmental design, he then studied briefly at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
under
Ian McHarg Ian L. McHarg (20 November 1920 – 5 March 2001) was a Scottish landscape architect and writer on regional planning using natural systems. McHarg was one of the most influential persons in the environmental movement who brought environmental co ...
, followed by two years of graduate work in ecology at the
University of California at Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institution was ...
.


Career in game design

In 1983, Elliott walked into
Broderbund Software Broderbund Software, Inc. (stylized as Brøderbund) was an American maker of video games, educational software, and productivity tools. Broderbund is best known for the 8-bit video game hits '' Choplifter'', '' Lode Runner'', '' Karateka'', and ...
in San Rafael, California, with a sketchpad full of game designs and was hired on the provision that he could convince a programmer to take on one of his designs. Over the next 13-year period he authored and worked on more than 23 titles. He now has over 30 million copies of his work in circulation and is a winner of over 50 awards in originality and lifetime sales categories. While at Broderbund, Elliott and Gene Portwood were Will Wright's project managers on his first video game, Raid on Bungeling Bay, in 1984. In 1996, Elliott left to form Elliott Portwood Productions with his partner Gene Portwood. During the next four years, they produced titles for
The Learning Company The Learning Company (TLC) was an American educational software company founded in 1980 in Palo Alto, California and headquartered in Fremont, California. The company produced a grade-based line of learning software, edutainment games, and ...
, Maxis Software, Virgin Software, and
The Software Toolworks The Software Toolworks, Inc. (commonly abbreviated as Toolworks), was an American software and video game developer based in Novato, California. The company was founded by Walt Bilofsky in 1980 out of his Sherman Oaks garage, which he converted ...
. In 2002, Elliott formed Dream Zero, an internet gaming company, later acquired by The Big Network. In 2005, Elliott published a book – ''With Love, Aunt Eleanor'' – written by his mother, who is the niece of
Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...
. Elliott is currently the Executive Producer of Proxi.


Games designed by Elliott

*'' Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?'' *'' Where in the U.S.A. Is Carmen Sandiego?'' *'' Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?'' *''
Where in Europe Is Carmen Sandiego? ''Where in Europe Is Carmen Sandiego?'' is a 1988 European geography-based educational computer game in the ''Carmen Sandiego'' detective mystery franchise. It was originally published by Broderbund in 1988 for Apple II, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS, ...
'' *'' Where in America's Past Is Carmen Sandiego?'' *'' Where in Space Is Carmen Sandiego?'' *''
Where in North Dakota Is Carmen Sandiego? ''Where in North Dakota Is Carmen Sandiego?'' is a 1989 educational video game. It is the fourth game in the Carmen Sandiego video game series after ''Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? (1985), World'' (1985), ''Where in the U.S.A. Is Carme ...
'' *'' Widget Workshop'' *''Marty in Where’s Morgan'' *''Marty and the Trouble with Cheese'' *''
Reader Rabbit's Ready for Letters ''Reader Rabbit's Ready for Letters'' is a 1992 video game and the fifth game of the ''Reader Rabbit ''Reader Rabbit'' is an educational video game franchise created in 1984 by The Learning Company. The series is aimed at children from inf ...
'' *'' Time Riders in American History'' *'' Mario is Missing'' *''
Mario's Time Machine ''Mario's Time Machine'' is an educational game, educational video game originally released for MS-DOS and then for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES video game console, consoles. The Software To ...
'' *''Science Toolkit Master Module'' *''Science Toolkit Speed and Motion'' *''Science Toolkit Body Module'' *''Science Toolkit Earthquake Lab'' *'' Whistler's Brother'' *'' Captain Goodnight and the Islands of Fear'' *'' Galleons of Glory: The Secret Voyage of Magellan'' *''VCR Companion'' *'' Shufflepuck Café''


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Lauren Carmen Sandiego American video game designers Living people American video game businesspeople University of Colorado Boulder alumni Cornell University alumni University of California, Davis alumni Roosevelt family Year of birth missing (living people)