Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) was a

wargame A normal wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for Recreational wargaming, recreation, to train military officers in the art of milit ...

and

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 ...

publisher from 1973 to 1996. Many of their games are now carried by other publishers.

History

Game Designers' Workshop was originally established June 22, 1973. The founding members consisted of Frank Chadwick, Rich Banner, Marc Miller, and Loren Wiseman. GDW acquired the Conflict Games Company from John Hill in the early 1970s. GDW published a new product approximately every twenty-two days for over twenty years. In an effort to bridge the gap between role players, board wargamers and miniature wargamers, the company published RPGs with fantastic settings alongside games with realistic themes including rulesets for 15mm and 20mm miniatures set during the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the modern era; and boardgames involving these eras such as the ''

Air Superiority An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmospher ...

'' series and ''

Harpoon A harpoon is a long, spear-like projectile used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other hunting to shoot, kill, and capture large fish or marine mammals such as seals, sea cows, and whales. It impales the target and secures it with barb or ...

''. The company disbanded February 29, 1996 after suffering financial troubles.

Products

Role-playing games

* '' En Garde!'' (1975): Dueling game set in 17th-century France, often run as a

play-by-mail game A play-by-mail game (also known as a PBM game, PBEM game, turn-based game, turn based distance game, or an interactive strategy game.) is a game played through postal mail, email, or other digital media. Correspondence chess and Go (game), Go wer ...

. * '' Traveller'' (1977): A science fiction game originally intended as a ruleset for generic space adventures. Revised and reissued as ''Megatraveller'' (1987) and with completely different rules and a greatly changed setting as ''Traveller: The New Era'' (1993) * '' Twilight: 2000'' (1984): An

alternate history Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...

game set in a Europe devastated by

nuclear war Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a War, military conflict or prepared Policy, political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are Weapon of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conven ...

, with adventures and supplements also dealing with the U.S. and

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

. * ''Traveller: 2300'' (1987): A

hard science fiction Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell's ''Islands of Space'' in the Novemb ...

roleplaying game, set 300 years after the Twilight War featured in ''Twilight: 2000''. ''Traveller: 2300'' was later renamed to '' 2300 AD'' in (1988) with the release of the second edition. * '' Space: 1889'' (1988): Victorian-era spacefaring game which provided for roleplay opportunities,

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and Applied arts, aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century Industrial Revolution, industrial steam engine, steam-powered machinery. Steampun ...

aerial gunboat engagements and "colonial" miniature warfare with retro-futuristic elements such as Martian brave warbands and odd space creatures. * '' Cadillacs and Dinosaurs'' (1990): Based on the underground comic book '' Xenozoic Tales''. * ''

Dark Conspiracy ''Dark Conspiracy'' is a near-future horror role-playing game (RPG) originally written by Lester W. Smith and published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1991 in games, 1991. Several newer editions have been published. Setting ''Dark Conspi ...

'' (1991): a near-future horror role-playing game (RPG), created by Lester Smith * ''

Dangerous Journeys ''Dangerous Journeys'' was a roleplaying game created by Gary Gygax, the cocreator of the original ''Dungeons & Dragons'' system. The game was originally announced as ''Dangerous Dimensions'' but was changed to ''Dangerous Journeys'' in response ...

'' (1992): Roleplaying game created by

Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering tabletop role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax creat ...

, the co-creator of the original ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

'' system.

Board games

Miniatures rules

* '' Fire & Steel'' (Napoleonic Wars, 1978) * ''Harpoon'' (modern naval combat), later developed into a

computer game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual feedback from a display device, mo ...

* ''

Johnny Reb Johnny Reb is the national personification of the common soldier of the Confederacy. During the American Civil War and afterwards, Johnny Reb and his Union counterpart Billy Yank were used in speech and literature to symbolize the common sol ...

'' (American Civil War) * '' Striker'' (science fiction, 1983), another ''Traveller'' based game. * '' Command Decision'' (20th century warfare, World War II. 1st and 2nd editions; a 3rd edition was written by Frank Chadwick and published in 1998 by EHQ and Old Glory) * ''Combined Arms'' (Cold War, post-WWII) * ''TacForce'' (20th century warfare) * ''Over the Top'' (20th century, WWI) * ''Star Cruiser'' (23rd century space warfare) a ''2300AD''-based game * ''Sky Galleons of Mars'' (''Space 1889'' aerial warfare, boxed board game with miniatures) * ''Cloudships and Gunboats'' (''Space 1889'' aerial Warfare, boxed board game with miniatures) * ''Soldier's Companion'' (''Space 1889'' land, air and sea warfare) * '' Striker II'' (science fiction, 1994), ''Traveller: The New Era''–based game. * '' Volley & Bayonet'' (big battles in black powder era, 1994)

''Grenadier'' Magazine

'' The Grenadier'' was the house magazine from 1978 to 1990, with 35 issues. It started off as a quarterly magazine, but towards the end was published sporadically. Although it covered games from all companies, it gave most of the magazine space to GDW games.

''Journal of the Travellers Aid Society''

'' Journal of the Travellers Aid Society'' was a magazine dedicated to ''Traveller'' published by GDW between 1979 and 1985.

Challenge

'' Challenge'' was a role-playing game magazine that replaced '' Journal of the Travellers Aid Society''. It covered all of GDW's role playing games, not just ''Traveller''. It was published between 1986 and 1996.

Video games

*'' The Battle of Chickamauga'' *'' Rommel: Battles for Tobruk''

Awards

*''Best Graphics of 1976''

Charles S. Roberts Award The Charles S. Roberts Awards (or CSR Awards) is an annual award for excellence in manual, tabletop games, with a focus on "conflict simulations", which includes simulations of non-military as well as military conflicts. From its founding in 1975 ...

, ''Avalanche'' *''Best Fantasy/Futuristic Game of 1978''

, ''Mayday'' *''Best Miniatures Rules of 1978'' H. G. Wells Award, ''Fire & Steel'' *''Best Historical Figure Series of 1979'' H. G. Wells Award, ''System Seven Napoleonics'' *''Best Miniatures Rules of 1979'' H. G. Wells Award, ''System Seven Napoleonics'' *''Best Roleplaying Adventure of 1979'' H. G. Wells Award, ''Kinunir'' *''Best Magazine Covering Roleplaying of 1979'' H. G. Wells Award, ''Journal of the Travellers Aid Society'' *''Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Boardgame of 1980''

, ''Azhanti High Lightning'' *''Best Miniatures Rules of 1980'' H. G. Wells Award, ''Tacforce'' *''Best Roleplaying Adventure of 1980'' H. G. Wells Award, ''Twilights Peak'' *''Best Professional Magazine Covering Roleplaying of 1980'' H. G. Wells Award, ''Journal of the Travellers Aid Society'' *''Best Pre-20th Century Boardgame of 1981''

, ''House Divided'' *''Best Professional Roleplaying Magazine of 1981'' H. G. Wells Award, ''Journal of the Travellers Aid Society'' *''All Time Best Miniatures Rules for 20th Century Land Battles of 1981'' H. G. Wells Award, ''Tacforce'' *''Best Miniatures Rules of 1982'' H. G. Wells Award, ''Striker'' *''Best Roleplaying Rules of 1984'' H. G. Wells Award, '' Twilight: 2000'' *''Best Miniatures Rules of 1986'' H. G. Wells Award, ''Command Decision'' *''Best Roleplaying Adventure of 1986'' H. G. Wells Award, '' Going Home'' *''Best Boardgame Covering the Period 1900-1946 of 1987''

Origins Award The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the gaming industry. They are presented by the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for games released in the preceding year. For example, t ...

, ''Scorched Earth'' *''Best Boardgame Covering the Period 1947-Modern Day of 1987''

, '' Team Yankee'' *''Best Miniatures Rules of 1987''

, ''Harpoon'' *''Best Miniatures Rules of 1988''

, ''To The Sound of the Guns'' *''Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Boardgame of 1988''

, ''Sky Galleons of Mars'' *''Best Graphic Presentation of a Boardgame of 1988''

, ''Sky Galleons of Mars'' *''Best Pre-World War Two Game of 1989''

, ''House Divided'' (2nd edition) *''Best Roleplaying Rules of 1993''

, ''Traveller: the New Era''

References

{{Authority control Game manufacturers Role-playing game publishing companies Board game publishing companies Wargame companies Entertainment companies established in 1973 Companies disestablished in 1996