Cliff Johnson (born 1953) 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 ...

, best known for the

puzzle video game Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, Sequence, sequence solving, Spatial ability, spatial recognition, ...

s '' The Fool's Errand'' (1987) and '' 3 in Three'' (1990). Both games use visual puzzles and a metapuzzle structure. Both won '' GAMES Magazine''s Best Puzzle Game of the Year.

Biography

Johnson was born August 14, 1953, in

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a New England town, town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university ...

, the only child of Norman and Leatrice Johnson. He attended Bristol Eastern High School in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, where he started making Super 8 movies. In 1972, he had jobs "building monsters" for five different amusement parks. He later attended

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

's film school, where he became a teaching assistant in

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

and created some of the

Monty Python Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...

esque animations for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

series '' Out of Control''. In 1984, using his first computer, a

Macintosh 512K The Macintosh 512K is a personal computer that was designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from September 1984 to April 1986. It is the first update to the original Macintosh 128K. It was virtually identical to the previous Macintos ...

, he learned to program and created the game '' The Fool's Errand'', which in 1987 won "Best Puzzle Game of the Year" from '' GAMES Magazine'' and was declared "Best Retro Game Ever" by British ''

GamesTM ''GamesTM'' (styled as ''gamesTM'') was a British multi-format video games magazine. The first issue was released in December 2002 and the magazine was still being published monthly in English and German up until the last edition was published on ...

'' magazine.) From 1990 to 1995, he directed the ''*FunHouse*'' production group for Philips Media, and from 1996 to 2001, he consulted with

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

and

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

for online puzzles and treasure hunts. In 2002, Johnson designed a $100,000 Challenge for the book '' Mysterious Stranger'' by street magician

David Blaine David Blaine (born David Blaine White; April 4, 1973) is an American magician, mentalist, and Endurance art, endurance performer. Born in New York City, Blaine became interested in magic at a very young age. He gained prominence in 1997, when h ...

. It was solved in 2004.

Authored games

*'' The Fool's Errand'' (1987) — '' GAMES Magazines Best Puzzle Game of the Year (Macintosh & Dos) *'' At the Carnival'' (1989) — ''

Macworld ''Macworld'' is a digital magazine and website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG. History ''Macworld'' was founded by David Bunnell and Cheryl Woodard (publishers) and Andrew Fl ...

'' Game Hall of Fame inductee, Brain Teaser category (Macintosh & DOS) *''Disney's Cartoon Arcade'' (1990) - View-Master Interactive Vision/Walt Disney Home Video(VHS) *'' 3 in Three'' (1990) — ''

MacUser ''MacUser'' was a monthly (formerly biweekly) computer magazine published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. and licensed by Felden in the UK. It ceased publication in 2015. In 1985 Felix Dennis’ Dennis Publishing, the creators of MacUser in the UK, l ...

'''s Best Game of the Year; '' GAMES Magazines Best Puzzle Game of the Year (Macintosh) *''Hanna Barbera's Cartoon Carnival'' (1993) (CD-I) *''Merlin's Apprentice'' (1994) (CD-I) *''Labyrinth of Crete'' (1995) (CD-I) *'' The Fool and His Money'' (2012)

Other contributed works

* Game Design: ''Disney's The Hunt for the Lost Toy'', website contest, 1996 * Game Design: '' Of Light and Darkness: The Prophecy'', 1998 * Treasure Hunt Design:

's '' Mysterious Stranger'' book, 2002

References

External links

*
Johnson's official website
(click on the image at the upper right to see his biography timeline) *''Inside Mac Games'', March 31, 2003
"Cliff Johnson's April Fool's Treasure Hunt"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Cliff 1953 births Living people American video game designers Puzzle designers USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni People from Hanover, New Hampshire People from Bristol, Connecticut