Sid Sackson (February 4, 1920 in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

– November 6, 2002) was an American

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a co ...

designer and collector, best known as the creator of the business game ''

Acquire ''Acquire'' is a multi-player mergers and acquisitions themed board game. It is played with tiles representing hotels that are arranged on the board, play money and stock certificates. The object of the game is to earn the most money by developi ...

''.

Career

Sackson's most popular creation is probably the business game ''

''. Other games he designed include '' Can't Stop'' and ''

Focus Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film *''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore * ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...

'' (''Domination''), which won the prestigious German

Spiel des Jahres The Spiel des Jahres (, ''Game of the Year'') is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the purpose of rewarding family-friendly game design, and promoting excellent games in the German market. It is thought that the existence ...

game design award in 1981. Other notable works include his books, especially ''

A Gamut of Games ''A Gamut of Games'' is an innovative book of games written by Sid Sackson and first published in 1969. It contains rules for a large number of paper and pencil, card, and board games. Many of the games in the book had never before been published ...

'' and '' Card Games Around the World''; both titles include a large array of rules for games both new and old, and Sackson himself invented a number of the games covered by these works. For several years in the mid-1970s, Sid Sackson wrote a monthly column for ''

Strategy & Tactics ''Strategy & Tactics'' (''S&T'') is a wargaming magazine now published by Decision Games, notable for publishing a complete new wargame in each issue. Beginnings ''Strategy & Tactics'' was first published in January 1967 under its original edit ...

'' magazine called “Sackson on Games” in which he reviewed games (other than wargames). Sackson's book collection was arranged in groups of five books so he would know if a book was missing and which one it was. Sackson collected games throughout his life; at the time of his death, his collection was estimated at over 18,000 titles. Many of those were unique, sent to him by hopeful game developers who wanted Sackson's advice. At one point in his life, Sackson turned down an offer to bring his collection elsewhere for permanent safekeeping; the games were sold at a series of

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition e ...

s after his death, breaking up the collection. Sackson's personal papers are stored at

The Strong The Strong is an interactive, collections-based educational institution in Rochester, New York, United States, devoted to the study and exploration of play. It carries out this mission through six programmatic arms called "Play Partners": * Na ...

in Rochester, New York.

Honors

Sackson was inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design's Hall of Fame, along with ''Acquire'', in 2011.Origins Awards Hall of Fame for Sackson
/ref> He was honored as a "famous game designer" by being featured as the king of diamonds in

Flying Buffalo Flying Buffalo Inc. (FBI) is a game company with a line of role playing games, card games, and other gaming materials. The company's founder, Rick Loomis, began game publishing with ''Nuclear Destruction'', a play-by-mail game which started the pr ...

's 2011 Famous Game Designers Playing Card Deck.

Games

Some of Sackson's notable games include: *''

'' *'' Bowling Solitaire'' *''

BuyWord :''Throughout this article, the unqualified use of the currency denomination "$" refers to play money in the context of the game.'' ''BuyWord'' is a letter arrangement word game by American designer Sid Sackson. It is published by Face2Face Ga ...

'' *'' Can't Stop'' *''

Fields of Action ''Fields of Action'' is an abstract strategy board game for two players. Description Components *any 8x8 board such as a checkers or chess board. Alternating colors of squares do not have any effect on the game. *24 checkers or counters, 12 eac ...

'' *''

'' *'' Haggle'' *''

I'm the Boss! ''I'm the Boss!'' is a board game by American designer Sid Sackson. It is a negotiation game in which a group of players compete and cooperate to put together profitable business deals. The goal is to make the most money. ''I'm the Boss'' is curr ...

'' *''

Network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematic ...

'' *''

Patterns II Patterns II is a pencil and paper game developed by Sid Sackson Sid Sackson (February 4, 1920 in Chicago – November 6, 2002) was an American board game designer and collector, best known as the creator of the business game ''Acquire''. Career ...

'' *''

Poke Poke may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Poke (''Ender's Game''), a fictional character * Poke (game), a two-player card game * Poke, a fictional bar owner in the television series '' Treme'' * The Poke, a British satirical website Fo ...

Works

* Sackson, Sid, ''Card Games Around the World'', * Sackson, Sid, ''A Gamut of Games'',

References

External links

*
History of the Game of ACQUIRE
Acquisition Games Page
Everything you want to know about the game of ACQUIRE
Acquisition Games Page * "Sid Sackson Game Collection Auction", http://boardgames.about.com/cs/sacksonauction/ * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sackson, Sid 1920 births 2002 deaths Board game designers Card game book writers Tabletop game writers

Career

Honors

Games

Works

References

Further reading

External links