J. Hunter Johnson (born January 8, 1969) is a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

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 ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

, and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

. He has translated many game rules and websites from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

for

Mayfair Games Mayfair Games was an American publisher of board game, board, card game, card, and roleplaying games that also licensed German-style board game, Euro-style board games to publish them in English. The company licensed worldwide English-language pub ...

. He has authored or co-authored six books for

Steve Jackson Games Steve Jackson Games (SJGames) is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and (until 2019) the gaming magazine ''Pyramid''. History Founded in 1980, six years after the cr ...

, including ''

GURPS Monsters ''GURPS Monsters'' () is a 128-page soft-bound book compiled by J. Hunter Johnson and published in 2002 by Steve Jackson Games as a supplement for the ''GURPS'' role-playing game system. It contains biographies and gaming statistics for forty-eig ...

'' and ''

GURPS Japan ''GURPS Japan'', full title ''GURPS Japan: Roleplaying in the World of the Shogunate'' (1st edition) or ''GURPS Japan: Beauty, Terror, and Adventure'' (2nd edition), is a sourcebook for ''GURPS'', a role-playing game by Steve Jackson Games. The ...

'' and designed two games for

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. At age ten, he was introduced to ''

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 ...

''. That, combined with an exposure to

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

and John M. Ford at the local library, led to his love of

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

. In 1988, he was introduced to ''

GURPS The ''Generic Universal Role Playing System'', or ''GURPS'', is a tabletop role-playing game system published by Steve Jackson Games. The system is designed to run any genre using the same core mechanics. The core rules were first written by St ...

'' and became an active on

USENET Usenet (), a portmanteau of User's Network, is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose UUCP, Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Elli ...

. While working on a list of ''GURPS'' supplements, he was contacted by

for some corrections. This eventually led to a job as the first coordinator of ''GURPS''

errata An erratum or corrigendum (: errata, corrigenda) (comes from ) is a correction of a published text. Generally, publishers issue an erratum for a production error (i.e., an error introduced during the publishing process) and a corrigendum for an a ...

which he stayed at for five years. During his time at Steve Jackson Games, Johnson authored, co-authored, or contributed to seven books (see ''Bibliography'' below) for the company's ''GURPS'' role-playing game. He also served as development coordinator for the company's ''Knightmare Chess'' 2nd edition card game. After leaving

, Johnson worked for

White Wolf Publishing White Wolf Entertainment AB, formerly White Wolf Publishing, was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant (game publisher), Lion RampantgToons Cartoon Orbit was an Online game, online gaming network created by Turner Broadcasting System, Turner Online for CartoonNetwork.com that launched in November 2000 to promote its shows and partners. Its main attraction was a system of virtual tradi ...

for the programmers at

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

. Prior to the introduction of gToons, the Cartoon Network's website, ''Cartoon Orbit'', had implemented a system of offering collectible digital trading cards (called cToons) and providing a means of trading them with other users of the website. Introduced in October 2002, ''Cartoon Orbit's'' gToons took the digital trading cards concept and made it into a game, using new gToons cards, where website users could play each other head-to-head. In 2013, Johnson had teamed up with a new development and business partner, Sebastian Chedal, and the pair introduced a new online game, called Quizgle.com. The original concept was Chedal's. "He does the interfacing and I have a background in database. He was looking for someone to do the back end of it," said Johnson in a 2013 interview. The game's interface displays results of a simulated web search, and the player tries to guess the search terms used to get the results shown. The game's online legal page describes the game as a tribute to

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

while disclaiming any affiliation with them. The site reads, "Quizgle is a tribute to that daily experience we all share when we pull up our favorite search engine to ask the world a question." In June 2013, Johnson and Chedal were working on improvements in the game. As of August 2014, the game was still in beta, though some of the planned improvements had been implemented.

Reception of Johnson's works

Johnson authored or co-authored several books for Steve Jackson Games. One of these books, ''

'', won a rating of A in a review published in ''

Games Unplugged ''Games Unplugged'' was an American magazine dedicated to the adventure tabletop game, tabletop gaming industry. The bimonthly magazine, headquartered in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, ran for 34 issues, from June 2000 until May 2004. The company also h ...

''. John G. Snyder of gamingreport.com rated the book at 4 1/2 stars, saying, "You will be pleasantly surprised and not a little disturbed." Freelance writer Craig Oxbrow says in a 2001 review of the book for rpg.net, "GURPS Monsters is a wealth of ideas and inspiration for monsters as characters," and that it "will see use beyond the GURPS system."

Kenneth Hite Kenneth Hite (born September 15, 1965) is a writer and role-playing game designer. Hite is the author of '' Trail of Cthulhu'' and '' Night's Black Agents'' role-playing games, and lead designer of the 5th edition of '' Vampire: the Masquerade''. ...

from Out of the Box reviewed Johnson's book ''GURPS Japan: beauty, terror, and adventure, 2nd ed.'' in 1999, concluding that "medieval Japan, broadly defined, is suddenly one of the most solidly playable milieux in gaming." Johnson's gToons game proved popular among children, with more than 250,000 registered online users within the first month after the game's launch. The game was introduced in 2002, when the growth of Cartoon Network's website (''Cartoon Orbit'') traffic was far outpacing the Internet in general, yet the website was still lagging behind Nickelodeon. ''Cartoon Orbit'' was the first children's TV website to introduce digital trading cards related to their programming in 2000, but Nickelodeon surpassed them with a similar approach six months later. gToons was intended to help ''Cartoon Orbit'' regain their lead in internet traffic among children. After looking at early usage data for the game, Cartoon Network's Justin Williams commented, "Competition really is just as much of a community-builder as collaboration." Three months after gToons was released, Cartoon Network executives were planning spin-off products and merchandising from the game. At that same time, Nickelodeon announced that it too would also be launching games based on its digital trading cards.

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

professor Henry Jenkins said in an interview with USA Today regarding online card games associated with children's TV networks, "what Cartoon and Nick are doing is just an extension of the Pokémon phenomenon." In a 2013 review of the beta version of Quizgle.com, freelance writer Danielle Coots wrote "With its innovative mind challengers, it is sure to have its visitors stumped at times." She further described the game as "cool, clever, and fun," and also "easy to navigate."

Bibliography

Author

* ''GURPS WWII: Frozen Hell'' * ''

'' * '' GURPS Japan: beauty, terror, and adventure, 2nd ed.'' with

Lee Gold Lee Gold is a member of California science fiction fandom and a writer and editor in the role-playing game and filk music communities. Role-playing games Gold became prominent after 1975 as the editor of ''Alarums and Excursions'', a monthly ...

* '' GURPS Bestiary: monsters, beasts, and companions, 3rd ed.'' with

Steffan O'Sullivan Steffan O'Sullivan is the author of several role-playing game books. Career Steffan O'Sullivan was a writer for '' GURPS'' products including '' GURPS Swashbucklers'' (1990) and '' GURPS Bunnies & Burrows'' (1992). He designed the '' FUDGE'' role ...

* ''GURPS Compendium II: Combat and Campaigns'', Contributor, with Sean Barrett, Walter Milliken, Sean Michael Punch, Brett Slocum * '' GURPS Magic, 3rd ed'', Contributor, with eighteen others * ''GURPS Who's Who 1'', Contributor, with 28 others

Design

* ''Exalted Card Game'',

White Wolf Publishing White Wolf Entertainment AB, formerly White Wolf Publishing, was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant (game publisher), Lion RampantGToons Cartoon Orbit was an Online game, online gaming network created by Turner Broadcasting System, Turner Online for CartoonNetwork.com that launched in November 2000 to promote its shows and partners. Its main attraction was a system of virtual tradi ...

* ''Button Men: Bruno!'' (self-published) with Dan Smith * Quizgle.com with Sebastian Chedal

Magazine articles

* "The Much-Maligned Will", ''

Pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...

'', Issue #9 * "Up Front", ''

Fire & Movement ''Fire & Movement: The Forum of Conflict Simulation'' was a magazine devoted to wargames, both traditional board wargames and computer wargames. It was founded by Rodger MacGowan in 1975, and began publication the following year. In February 1 ...

'' #133 * "Chrome Berets in the One-and-Twenty" in ''Pyramid'' #15 * "Terra Incognita: Cambiare (Tempest I)" in ''Pyramid Online'', December 31, 1999 * "Banestorming Infinity Unlimited" in ''Pyramid Online'', June 19, 1998 * "New World War" variant in ''Pyramid Online'', January 29, 1999 * "Fudgers of Catan" variant in ''Pyramid Online'', July 30, 1999

Magazine reviews

* Review of ''Tenjo'' by WhySpire? Games, ''Fire & Movement'' #130. * Review of ''Samurai & Katana'' by

Clash of Arms Clash of Arms Games is a wargaming company best known for a high level of graphics quality and moderately to highly complex games, often focusing on the Napoleonic era, but with offerings in most eras of military history. Besides boardgames, such a ...

, ''Fire & Movement'' #130. * Review of ''U.S. Patent No. 1'' by

Cheapass Games Cheapass Games is a game company founded and run by game designer James Ernest, based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. Cheapass Games operates on the philosophy that most game owners have plenty of dice, counters, play money, and othe ...

, ''Fire & Movement'' #131. * Review of ''The Deep'' by Mystic Eye Games, Pyramid Online 8/20/04. * Review of ''Doge'' by Rio Grande Games, ''Moves'' #108. * Review of ''Zero!'' by GMT Games, ''Fire & Movement'' #126. * Review of ''Chrononauts'' by Looney Labs, ''Moves'' #107. * Review of ''The Cities & Knights of Catan'' by

, ''Moves'' #107. * Review of ''Knights Brave and Bold'' by Eurogames Descartes, ''Moves'' #107. * Review of ''Dragon's Gold'' by Eurogames Descartes, ''Moves'' #107. * Review of ''Advanced Squad Leader, Second Edition'' by Multi-Man Publishing, ''Fire & Movement'' #125. * Review of ''The Ashes of Empire'' by Udo Grebe Gamedesign, ''Moves'' #106. * ''The Apprentice'' (Clash of Arms) review in ''Moves'' #105 * ''Thieves of Bagdad'' (Clash of Arms) review in ''Moves'' #104. * ''Tales of Ulysse'' (Clash of Arms) review in ''Moves'' #104 * ''The Great Brain Robbery'' (Cheapass Games) review in ''Moves'' #104 * ''Button Men: Fantasy'' (Cheapass Games) review in ''Moves'' #104 * ''Wizard Kings'' (Columbia Games) review in ''Moves'' #103 * ''Lord of the Fries De-Lux'' (Cheapass Games) review in ''Moves'' #103 * ''Battle Line'' (GMT Games) review in ''Moves'' #102 * ''Through the Desert'' (

Fantasy Flight Games Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) is a game developer based in Roseville, Minnesota, United States, that creates and publishes role-playing game, role-playing, board game, board, card game, card, and dice game, dice games. As of 2014, it is a division of ...

) review in ''Moves'' #102 * ''King of the Elves'' (Rio Grande Games) review in ''Moves'' #102 * ''Dry Gulch'' (Hangman Games) review in Pyramid Online 8/13/99 * ''Monsters Ravage America'' (

Avalon Hill Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the compan ...

) review in Pyramid Online 7/17/98 * ''A Magical Medley'' (

Grey Ghost Press Grey Ghost Press was founded in 1994 by Ann Dupuis after spending time working on the '' Fudge RPG'' system by Steffan O'Sullivan. She initially created the company as Wild Mule Games in 1994, incorporated her company the following year as Ghost ...

) contributor, review in ''Pyramid'' #28

Translations

* ''Anno 1503'', Mayfair Games * ''Barbarossa'', Catan LLC * ''Catan Online'', Castle Hill Studios * ''Encycolopedia Catanica, Part 1'', Catan LLC * ''Farb Flitzer'', Piatnik * ''Starship Catan, Mission 3: The Diplomatic Station'', Mayfair Games * ''The Kids of Catan'', Mayfair Games. * ''The Settlers of Catan Card Game'', Mayfair Games * ''The Settlers of Catan Travel Edition'', Mayfair Games * ''Domaine'', Mayfair Games. * ''The Settlers of the Stone Age'', Mayfair Games * ''Nautilus'', Mayfair Games * ''Die Siedler von Catan: Das Buch zum Spielen'', Kosmos * ''Gold Rausch'' (Hans im Glück)

References

External links

Personal Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, J. Hunter 1969 births GURPS writers Living people American role-playing designers