List Of Game Designers
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:''This page primarily is meant to list non-video game designers. Please see list of computer and video game industry people for a list of well-known video game designers.'' A
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 ...
is a person who invents
game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...
s at the conceptual level. Most game designers are "unsung"; for example, no one knows who invented
Chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
or Hearts. However, many public figures in game design, include commercial game developers and game-inventing
mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
s. Some game designers include:


Role-playing game designers

*
Dave Arneson David Lance Arneson (; October 1, 1947 – April 7, 2009) was an American game designer best known for co-developing the first published role-playing game (RPG), ''Dungeons & Dragons'', with Gary Gygax, in the early 1970s. Arneson's fundamental ...
- Co-designer of ''
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 ...
'', an early influential
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 ...
*
Frank Chadwick Frank Chadwick is an American game designer and ''New York Times'' best selling author. He has designed hundreds of games, his most notable being the role-playing games '' En Garde!'', '' Space: 1889'' and '' Twilight 2000'', and the wargame s ...
- Co-founder of
Game Designers' Workshop Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) was a Board wargame, wargame and role-playing game 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. ...
(GDW) and designer of over 50 war and role-playing games, including '' Twilight 2000'' and the ''
Assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...
'' series *
Troy Christensen Troy Christensen (born July 16, 1964) is an American author and game designer. Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, he is an established figure in the role-playing game community. Biography Troy Christensen created the ''Phantasm Adventures'' game, ...
- Designer of '' Phantasm Adventures'', a 1980s
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 ...
published in Japanese and English *
John Horton Conway John Horton Conway (26 December 1937 – 11 April 2020) was an English mathematician. He was active in the theory of finite groups, knot theory, number theory, combinatorial game theory and coding theory. He also made contributions to many b ...
*
Monte Cook Monte Cook (born January 29, 1968) is an American professional tabletop role-playing game designer and writer, best known for his work on ''Dungeons & Dragons''. Role-playing industry career Early years Cook has been a professional game d ...
*
Jim Dunnigan James F. Dunnigan (born August 8, 1943) is an author, military-political analyst, Defense and State Department consultant, and wargame designer currently living in New York City. Career Dunnigan was born in Rockland County, New York. After hi ...
- Founder of SPI Games and designer of over 100 wargames, including the ''PanzerBlitz/Panzer Leader'' system *
James Ernest James Ernest (born October, 1968) is an American game designer and juggler, best known as the owner and lead designer of Cheapass Games. Career Prior to founding Cheapass Games, Ernest worked as a juggler at various venues, including Camlann Me ...
- president and lead game designer for
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 ...
*
Richard Garfield Richard Channing Garfield (born June 26, 1963) is an American mathematician, inventor, and game designer. Garfield created '' Magic: The Gathering'', which is considered to be the first collectible card game (CCG). ''Magic'' debuted in 1993, and ...
-
collectible card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards. The genre was introduced with ''Magic: The G ...
('' Magic: The Gathering'') and
board game A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...
designer *
Andrew Greenberg Andrew Greenberg is a game designer of tabletop role-playing games and role-playing video games. Career Greenberg was one of White Wolf Publishing's original developers on '' Vampire: The Masquerade'' (1991). He was the line editor for ''Vampi ...
*
Ed Greenwood Ed Greenwood (born July 21, 1959) is a Canadian fantasy writer and the creator of the '' Forgotten Realms'' game world. He began writing articles about the Forgotten Realms for ''Dragon'' magazine beginning in 1979, and subsequently sold the rig ...
*
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 ...
- Co-designer of ''
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 ...
'', an early influential
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 ...
* Larry Harris * Stieg Hedlund - Started in pen-and-paper games before moving on to electronic games *
Steve Jackson (UK) Steve Jackson (born 20 May 1951) is a British game designer, writer, game reviewer and co-founder of UK game publisher Games Workshop. History Steve Jackson began his career in games in 1974 as a freelance journalist with ''Games & Puzzles'' m ...
*
Jeff Kinney Jeffrey Patrick Kinney (born February 19, 1971) is an American author and illustrator. He is best known for creating, writing and illustrating the children's book series ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid''. He also created the child-oriented website '' Po ...
*
Albert Lamorisse Albert Lamorisse (; 13 January 1922 – 2 June 1970) was a French filmmaker, film producer, and writer of short films which he began making in the late 1940s. He also invented the strategic board game ''Risk'' in 1957. Life Lamorisse was born ...
*
Andrew Looney Andrew J. Looney (born November 5, 1963) is a game designer and computer programmer. He is also a photographer, a cartoonist, a video-blogger, and a marijuana-legalization advocate. Andrew and Kristin Looney together founded the games company Lo ...
* Marc Miller Co-founder of GDW and designer / writer of Traveller and several board games *
Mark Rein-Hagen Mark Rein-Hagen, stylized as Mark Rein•Hagen (born 1964), is an American role-playing game, role-playing, card game, card, video game, video and board game designer best known as the creator of ''Vampire: The Masquerade'' and its associated '' ...
*
Mike Selinker Mike Selinker ( ) is an American game designer, puzzle maker, and the founder and president of Lone Shark Games. Credits Selinker's design credits include '' Pirates of the Spanish Main'' and '' Fightball'' with James Ernest, ''Axis & Allies Rev ...
* C.A. Suleiman *
Jonathan Tweet Jonathan Tweet (born 1965) is an American game designer who has been involved in the development of the role-playing games ''Ars Magica'', '' Everway'', '' Over the Edge'', ''Talislanta'', the third edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' and '' 13th A ...
*
Michael J. Varhola Michael O. Varhola (born September 24, 1966) is an author, publisher, and lecturer. He has written numerous books, games, and articles, and founded game development company and manufacturer Skirmisher Publishing LLC. He also served as the assista ...
* Mark H. Walker *
Jordan Weisman Jordan Weisman is an American game designer, author, and serial entrepreneur who has founded five game design companies, each in a different game genre and segment of the industry. Biography Weisman graduated from Francis W. Parker High School, ...
*
Tom Wham Tom Wham (born 1944) is a designer of board games who has also produced artwork, including that for his own games. Career Early life and Guidon Games Born in Chester, Illinois, Wham worked a variety of odd jobs during his early adult life. Afte ...
*
Skip Williams Ralph Williams, almost always referred to as Skip Williams, is an American game designer. He is married to Penny Williams, who is also involved with the games industry. He was the co-creator of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' 3rd Edition and the longtime au ...


Word game designers

* Erik Agard *
Will Shortz William F. Shortz (born August 26, 1952) is an American puzzle creator and editor who is the crossword editor for ''The New York Times''. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in the invented field of enigmatology. After starting h ...
, puzzle designer for the
New York Times crossword ''The New York Times'' crossword is a daily American-style crossword, crossword puzzle published in ''The New York Times'', syndicated to more than 300 other newspapers and journals, and released online on the newspaper's website and mobile ap ...


Board game designers

*
William Attia William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...
('' Caylus'', '' Caylus Magna Carta'') *
Alfred Butts Alfred Mosher Butts (April 13, 1899 – April 4, 1993) was an American architect, famous for inventing the board game ''Scrabble'' in 1938. Biography Alfred Mosher Butts was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, on April 13, 1899, to Allison Butts ...
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Scrabble ''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a Board game, game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, re ...
'') *
Milton Bradley Milton Bradley (November 8, 1836 – May 30, 1911) was an American business magnate, game pioneer and publisher, credited by many with launching the board game industry, with Milton Bradley Company, his eponymous enterprise, which was purchased ...
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The Checkered Game of Life ''The Game of Life'', also known simply as ''Life'', is a board game originally created in 1860 by Milton Bradley as ''The Checkered Game of Life'', the first ever board game for his own company, the Milton Bradley Company. The game simulates a ...
''), founder of
Milton Bradley Company Milton Bradley Company or simply Milton Bradley (MB) was an American board game manufacturer established by Milton Bradley (1836-1911) in Springfield, Massachusetts, Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1860. In 1920, it absorbed the game production o ...
* Inka Brand (
Rajas of the Ganges ''Rajas'' (Sanskrit: रजस्) is one of the three '' guṇas'' (tendencies, qualities, attributes), a philosophical and psychological concept developed by the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy.James G. Lochtefeld, Rajas, in The Illustrated ...
,
Village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
, Exit Series) * Markus Brand (
Rajas of the Ganges ''Rajas'' (Sanskrit: रजस्) is one of the three '' guṇas'' (tendencies, qualities, attributes), a philosophical and psychological concept developed by the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy.James G. Lochtefeld, Rajas, in The Illustrated ...
,
Village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
, Exit Series) *
Richard Breese Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and ...
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Aladdin's Dragons ''Aladdin's Dragons'' is a 2000 bidding-based board game by Richard Breese. It is a reimplementation of his 1998 game '' Keydom''. Gameplay Each player controls a number of servants. The objective of the game is for each player to obtain as many ...
'', '' Keythedral'', '' Reef Encounter'') *
Kris Burm Kris Burm is a Belgian game designer specializing in abstract board games. He is best known for his award-winning ''GIPF project, GIPF'' series of games. He was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1957 and moved to nearby Schilde in 2005. Ludography ...
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Batik Batik is a dyeing technique using wax Resist dyeing, resist. The term is also used to describe patterned textiles created with that technique. Batik is made by drawing or stamping wax on a cloth to prevent colour absorption during the dyein ...
'', '' GIPF'', ''
ZÈRTZ ''ZÈRTZ'' is the third game in the GIPF project, ''GIPF'' Project of seven abstract strategy, abstract strategy games. The game features a shrinking board and an object that promotes sacrifice combinations. It is impartial game, impartial: sinc ...
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DVONN ''DVONN'' is a two-player strategy board game in which the objective is to accumulate pieces in stacks. It was released in 2001 by Kris Burm as the fourth game in the ''GIPF'' Project. ''DVONN'' won the 2002 International Gamers Award and the ...
'', '' TAMSK'', ''
YINSH ''YINSH'' is an abstract strategy board game by game designer Kris Burm. It is the fifth game to be released in the ''GIPF'' Project. At the time of its release in 2003, Burm stated that he intended it to be considered as the sixth and last ga ...
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PÜNCT ''PÜNCT'' is a two-player strategy board game. It is the sixth release in the GIPF project, ''GIPF'' project of seven abstract strategy games, although it is considered the fifth game in the project. It was released in 2005 in games, 2005. '' ...
'') * Allan B. Calhamer (''
Diplomacy Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of State (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international syste ...
'') * Leo Colovini (''
Clans A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...
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Carolus Magnus Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian Empire from 800, holding these titles until his death in 814. He united mo ...
'', '' Cartagena'', ''
Doge Doge, DoGE or DOGE may refer to: Internet culture * Doge (meme), an Internet meme primarily associated with the Shiba Inu dog breed ** Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency named after the meme ** Kabosu (dog), the dog portrayed in the original Doge image ...
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The Bridges of Shangri-La ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' ...
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Magna Grecia Magna Graecia refers to the Greek-speaking areas of southern Italy, encompassing the modern Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, and Sicily. These regions were extensively settled by Greeks beginning in the 8th century ...
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Inkognito ''Inkognito'' is a board game for 3 to 5 players designed by Alex Randolph and Leo Colovini, first published in 1988 by Milton Bradley Company. It has since been republished several times including by the company Venice Connection established ...
'') * Julian Courtland-Smith (''
Escape from Atlantis ''Escape from Atlantis'' is a board game that portrays the sinking of Atlantis and the attempts by the population to escape the sinking island. It was originally released in the United States under the title of ''Survive!'' and first published i ...
'') * Franz-Benno Delonge ('' Big City'', ''
Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
'', '' Dos Rios'', '' TransAmerica'', ''
Fjords In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the no ...
'') * Rudiger Dorn ('' The Traders of Genoa'', ''
Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
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Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...
'') *
Stefan Dorra Stefan may refer to: * Stefan (given name) * Stefan (surname) * Ștefan, a Romanian given name and a surname * Štefan, a Slavic given name and surname * Stefan (footballer) (born 1988), Brazilian footballer * Stefan Heym, pseudonym of German writ ...
('' For Sale'', '' Pick Picnic'', ''
Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...
'', '' Tonga Bonga'', ''
Linie 1 ''Linie 1'' is the second-most successful German musical after Bertolt Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera, Threepenny Opera. The title refers to U1 (Berlin U-Bahn), Berlin's subway line U1. The musical was first performed by the ensemble of the Grips ...
'', '' Turn the Tide'', '' Intrige'') *
Bruno Faidutti Bruno Faidutti (born 23 October 1961) is a historian and sociologist, living in France, who is best known as a board game designer. Early life and education Bruno Faidutti studied law, economics, and sociology, eventually earning a doctorate in h ...
('' Citadels'', ''
Mystery of the Abbey ''Mystery of the Abbey'' is a board game designed by Bruno Faidutti, illustrated by Julien Delval, Emanuel Roudier and Cyrille Daujean as graphic designer. Originally published in French by MultiSim in 1998 under the name ''Meurtre à l'Abb ...
'', ''
Terra Terra may often refer to: * Terra (mythology), primeval Roman goddess * An alternate name for planet Earth, as well as the Latin name for the planet Terra may also refer to: Geography Astronomy * Terra (satellite), a multi-national NASA scient ...
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Friedemann Friese Friedemann Friese (born June 5, 1970) is a German board game designer, currently residing and working in Bremen. His trademarks are his green-colored hair and games whose titles begin with the letter "F". The majority of his games, self-publish ...
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Power Grid ''Power Grid'' is the English-language version of the second edition of the multiplayer German-style board game ''Funkenschlag'', designed by Friedemann Friese and first released in 2004. ''Power Grid'' was released by Rio Grande Games. I ...
'', '' Fearsome Floors'', '' Fresh Fish'') * Mac Gerdts ('' Imperial'', '' Antike'') * Paul J. Gruen *
Elizabeth Hargrave Elizabeth Hargrave is an American game designer. She has designed several games, including ''Wingspan'', which won the 2019 Kennerspiel des Jahres for best connoisseur game of the year, ''Tussie-Mussie'' and ''Mariposas''. Early life, educati ...
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Wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...
) *
Dirk Henn The Alhambra (, ; ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Islamic world. Additionally, the palace contain ...
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Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Muslim world, Islamic world. Additionally, the ...
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Atlantic Star The Atlantic Star is a military campaign medal, instituted by the United Kingdom in May 1945 for award to Commonwealth of Nations, British Commonwealth forces who took part in the Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous campaign of the ...
'', ''
Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...
'', ''
Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland (; 24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein (), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Thirty Years' War (1618–16 ...
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Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; ; Koyra Chiini: ; ) is an ancient city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 32,460 in the 2018 census. ...
'') * Steve Jackson (''
Ogre An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world ...
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The Fantasy Trip ''The Fantasy Trip'' (''TFT'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game designed by Steve Jackson and published in segments by Metagaming Concepts starting in 1977 and culminating in 1980. In 2019, Steve Jackson Games republished it as ''The Fan ...
'', ''
Car Wars ''Car Wars'' is a vehicle combat simulation game developed by Steve Jackson Games. It was first published in 1980 in games, 1980. Players control armed vehicles in a post-apocalyptic future. Game play In ''Car Wars'', players assume control of ...
'', ''
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 ...
'', ''
Hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who achieves goals and solves problems by non-standard means. The term has become associated in popular culture with a security hackersomeone with knowledge of bug (computing), bugs or exp ...
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Illuminati The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on 1 ...
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Philippe Keyaerts Philippe Keyaerts is a Belgian designer of German-style board games. His two first published games are '' Vinci'' and '' Evo''. Those two games use the mechanism of allowing the players to spend victory points to improve the characteristics of th ...
('' Evo'', '' Vinci'') *
Michael Kiesling Michael Kiesling (born 1957) is a German board game designer. Many of his games have been nominated for or have won the Spiel des Jahres, a German games award. Kiesling began working as a full time game designer in 1989. In 1988, he was one of th ...
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Azul Azul, meaning "blue" in Spanish and Portuguese, may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Azul'' (Los Piojos album), 1998 * ''Azul'' (Cristian Castro album), 2001 ** "Azul" (song), the title song * Azul Azul, a Bolivian pop-dance music group * " ...
, '' Heaven & Ale,
Tikal Tikal (; ''Tik'al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the Pre-Col ...
'',
Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9 ...
) *
Reiner Knizia Reiner Knizia () is a prolific German-style board game designer. He was born in West Germany in 1957 and earned a doctorate in Mathematics from the University of Ulm before designing games full time. He is frequently included on lists of the gre ...
('' Ra,
Modern Art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradit ...
,
Tigris and Euphrates ''Tigris and Euphrates'' () is a tabletop eurogame designed by Reiner Knizia and first published in 1997 by Hans im Glück. Before its publication, it was highly anticipated by German gamers hearing rumors of a "gamer's game" designed by K ...
,
Samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...
,
Lost Cities ''Lost Cities'' is a 60-card card game, designed in 1999 by game designer Reiner Knizia and published by several publishers. The objective of the game is to mount profitable expeditions to one or more of the five lost cities (the Himalayas, th ...
, Schotten Totten,
Blue Moon A blue moon refers either to the presence of a second full moon in a calendar month, to the third full moon in a season containing four, or to a moon that appears blue due to atmospheric effects. The calendrical meaning of "blue moon" is unc ...
,
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...
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Wolfgang Kramer Wolfgang Kramer (born 29 June 1942 in Stuttgart) is a German board game designer. Early life As a young child, Wolfgang Kramer used to play games with his grandmother, and said he developed a positive attitude about games because "she always use ...
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El Grande ''El Grande'' is a German-style board game for 2-5 players, designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich, and published in 1995 by Hans im Glück in German, by Rio Grande Games in English, and by 999 Games in Dutch. The game board repres ...
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Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
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Mexica The Mexica (Nahuatl: ; singular ) are a Nahuatl-speaking people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of the Triple Alliance, more commonly referred to as the Aztec Empire. The Mexica established Tenochtitlan, a settlement on an island ...
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Tikal Tikal (; ''Tik'al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the Pre-Col ...
'', ''
Princes of Florence ''The Princes of Florence'' is a German-style board game, German board game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich published in 2000 in games, 2000 by Alea (game publisher), Alea in German language, German and by Rio Grande Games in Engl ...
'', ''
Torres Torres may refer to: People *Torres (surname), a Spanish and Portuguese surname * Torres (musician), singer-songwriter Mackenzie Scott ** ''Torres'' (album), 2013 self-titled album by Torres Places Americas * Torres, Colorado, an unincorporated ...
'') * Alan R. Moon (''
Capitol Capitol, capitols or The Capitol may refer to: Places and buildings Legislative building * United States Capitol, in Washington, D.C. * National Capitol of Colombia, in Bogotá * Palacio Federal Legislativo, in Caracas, Venezuela * National Ca ...
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Elfenland ''Elfenland'' is a German-style board game designed by Alan R. Moon and published by Amigo Spiele in German and Rio Grande Games in English in 1998. ''Elfenland'' won the Spiel des Jahres award in 1998. Background The game was originally ba ...
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Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...
'', ''
Ticket to Ride Ticket to Ride may refer to: Games * ''Ticket to Ride'' (board game), a rail-themed Eurogame by Alan R. Moon ** ''Ticket to Ride'' (video game), its digital adaptation ** '' Ticket to Ride: The Card Game'', a simplified spin-off Music * ''Tick ...
'') * Christian T. Petersen (''
Twilight Imperium ''Twilight Imperium'' is a strategy board game produced by Fantasy Flight Games and Asmodee in the genre of science fiction and space opera. It was designed by Christian T. Petersen and was first released in 1997. It is now in its fourth edition ...
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A Game of Thrones (board game) ''A Game of Thrones'' is a strategy board game created by Christian T. Petersen and published by Fantasy Flight Games in 2003. The game is based on the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' series of high fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin. It was f ...
'', '' World of Warcraft (board game)'') * Paul Randles (''
Pirate's Cove ''Pirate's Cove'' (German: ''Piratenbucht'') is a board game designed by Paul Randles and Daniel Stahl (game designer), Daniel Stahl, originally published in Germany in 2002 by Amigo Spiele, illustrated by Markus Wagner and Swen Papenbrock. I ...
'', ''
Key Largo Key Largo () is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the keys, at long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the keys connected by U.S. Highway ...
'') *
Alex Randolph Alexander Randolph (4 May 1922 – 27 April 2004) was an American designer of board games and writer. Alex Randolph's game creations include ''TwixT'', '' Breakthru'', '' Hol's der Geier'', '' Inkognito'' (with Leo Colovini), ''Raj'', '' Ric ...
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Twixt TwixT is a two-player Abstract strategy game, strategy board game, an early entrant in the 1960s 3M bookshelf game series. It became one of the most popular and enduring games in the series. It is a connection game where players alternate tu ...
'', '' Raj'', '' Geister'', ''
Enchanted Forest In folklore and fantasy, an enchanted forest is a forest under, or containing, magic (fantasy), enchantments. Such forests are described in the oldest folklore from regions where forests are common and occur throughout the centuries to modern wor ...
'', ''
Inkognito ''Inkognito'' is a board game for 3 to 5 players designed by Alex Randolph and Leo Colovini, first published in 1988 by Milton Bradley Company. It has since been republished several times including by the company Venice Connection established ...
'', '' Ricochet Robots'') *
Ken Rolston Ken Rolston is an American computer game and role-playing game designer best known for his work with West End Games and on the computer game series ''The Elder Scrolls''. Tabletop role-playing games Ken Rolston began working as a professional g ...
, part of the core team at
West End Games West End Games (WEG) was a company that made board, role-playing, and war games. It was founded by Daniel Scott Palter in 1974 in New York City, but later moved to Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Its product lines included ''Star Wars'', ''Paranoia' ...
* Charles S. Roberts (''
Tactics II 240px, Tactics II ''Tactics II'' is a wargame designed by Charles S. Roberts and published by the Avalon Hill game company in 1958 and then re-released again in 1961 and 1972. This was the second game produced by Roberts following the success ...
'' (first commercial board wargame)), founder of
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 ...
*
Uwe Rosenberg Uwe Rosenberg (born 27 March 1970) is a German game designer and the co-founder of Lookout Games. He initially became known for his card game '' Bohnanza'', which was successful both in Germany and internationally. He is now renowned for deve ...
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Agricola Agricola, the Latin word for farmer, may also refer to: People Cognomen or given name :''In chronological order'' * Gnaeus Julius Agricola (40–93), Roman governor of Britannia (AD 77–85) * Sextus Calpurnius Agricola, Roman governor of the m ...
'', '' Bohnanza'') *
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 Sackson's most popular creation is probably the business game '' ...
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Acquire ''Acquire'' is a board game published by 3M in 1964 that involves multi-player mergers and acquisitions. It was one of the most popular games in the 3M Bookshelf games series published in the 1960s, and the only one still published in the Uni ...
'', '' Can't Stop'', '' Kohle, Kies & Knete'') *
Michael Schacht Michael Schacht (born 1964 in Wiesbaden) is a German game designer, graphician and owner of the small publishing company ''Spiele aus Timbuktu''. Life and work Schacht studied graphic design at the FH Darmstadt. About 15 years he worked as Art D ...
('' Web of Power'', '' Dschunke'', '' Industria'', '' Hansa'') * Karl-Heinz Schmiel (''
Attila Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...
'', ''
Die Macher ''Die Macher'' is a strategy board game published by Hans im Glück in 1986 that simulates a German general election. Publication history ''Die Macher'' ("The Maker") was designed by Karl-Heinz Schmiel of Germany, and published by Hans im Glü ...
'') *
Emiliano Sciarra Emiliano Sciarra (born December 6, 1971, in Civitavecchia, Rome, Italy) is a game designer of board games, card games and videogames. He is the author of '' Bang!'', a Wild West themed card game published by daVinci Editrice. Biography He has b ...
('' Bang!'') *
Andreas Seyfarth Andreas Seyfarth (born 6 November 1962) is a German-style board game designer, who is most famous for creating ''Puerto Rico'', which is highly ranked on BoardGameGeek. In 2002, the game was awarded first place for the prestigious Deutscher Spie ...
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Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
'', ''
Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
'') * Daniel Stahl (''
Pirate's Cove ''Pirate's Cove'' (German: ''Piratenbucht'') is a board game designed by Paul Randles and Daniel Stahl (game designer), Daniel Stahl, originally published in Germany in 2002 by Amigo Spiele, illustrated by Markus Wagner and Swen Papenbrock. I ...
'') * Vital Lacerda ('' Vinhos'', '' Kanban EV'', '' CO2: Second Chance'', '' The Gallerist'') *
Gertrude Strohm Gertrude Strohm (July 14, 1843 – November 4, 1927) was an American author, compiler, and game designer of Dayton, Ohio. Between 1875 and 1892, she engaged in various types of compilations including cookbooks, social fireside games, and calendar ...
("Popping the Question"; "Novel Fortune Telling") *
Jerry Taylor Jerome Cogburn Taylor (born August 2, 1963) is an American environmental activist, policy analyst, and game designer. Taylor cofounded the Niskanen Center, a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that, among other things, advocates for market envir ...
('' Hammer of the Scots, Crusader Rex'') *
Klaus Teuber Klaus Wilhelm Heinrich Teuber (25 June 1952 – 1 April 2023) was a German board game designer best known as the creator of ''Catan''. Originally working as a dental technician, he began designing games first as a hobby then as a full-time care ...
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The Settlers of Catan ''Catan'', previously known as ''The Settlers of Catan'' or simply ''Settlers'', is a multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber. It was first published in 1995 in Germany by Franckh-Kosmos Verlag (Kosmos) as ''Die Siedler von Catan'' (). ...
'', '' Adel Verpflichtet'', ''
Entdecker ''Entdecker'' (, German language, German for "Discoverer") is a German-style board game designed by Klaus Teuber and published in 1996 in games, 1996 by Goldsieber in German language, German. Although the game won 2nd prize in the Deutscher Spiel ...
'', ''
Löwenherz ''Löwenherz'' (; ) is a German-style board game designed by Klaus Teuber and published in 1997 by Goldsieber in German and by Rio Grande Games in English. A revised edition, titled ''Löwenherz: Der König kehrt zurück'' (''Lionheart: The Kin ...
'') * Martin Wallace ('' Liberte'', '' Age of Steam'', ''
Struggle of Empires Struggle may refer to: Film and TV * ''Struggle'' (2003 film), an Austrian film * Struggle (2013 film) * ''Struggle'' (TV series), 2007 Chinese TV series Music * ''Struggle'' (Nonpoint album), 1999 release * Struggle (Woody Guthrie album), 199 ...
'', '' Princes of the Renaissance'') *
Klaus-Jürgen Wrede Klaus-Jürgen Wrede (born 1963 in Meschede, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German board game creator, the creator of the best-selling ''Carcassonne (board game), Carcassonne'' and ''Downfall of Pompeii''. Early life Born to music-teacher parents in ...
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Carcassonne Carcassonne is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the department. ...
'') * Rob Cramer (Turbo Drift, Grand Carnival, Zebra)


See also

*
List of video game designers This is a list of notable video game designers, past and present, in alphabetical order. The people in this list already have Wikipedia entries, and as such did significant design for notable computer games, console games, or arcade games. It doe ...
Game designers 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, war games, or simulation ga ...
*


References

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