Mayfair Games was an American publisher of

board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ...

card Card or The Card may refer to: Common uses * Plastic cards of various types: **Bank card **Credit card **Debit card **Payment card * Playing card, used in games * Printed circuit board, or card * Greeting card, given on special occasions Arts an ...

, and

roleplaying game 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 ...

s that also

license A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

d Euro-style board games to publish them in English. The company licensed worldwide English-language publishing rights to '' The Settlers of Catan'' series between 1996 and 2016. On February 9, 2018 they announced they sold their remaining IP right to Asmodee North America.

History

Mayfair Games was founded in 1981 by

Darwin Bromley Darwin Paul Bromley (October 23, 1950 – January 2, 2019) was an attorney at law, attorney and a game designer who had worked primarily on board games. Career Darwin Bromley was an attorney who enjoyed railroad games, so he started the company ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The company was created to publish ''Empire Builder'', a railroad game designed by Bromley and Bill Fawcett. In 1982, Mayfair Games expanded its focus to include ''

Role Aids ''Role Aids'' is a line of role-playing game supplements published by Mayfair Games starting in 1982 intended for use with ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons''. Publication history As a veteran role-playing gamer, Bill Fawcett (writer), Bill Fawcett de ...

'', a line of

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 ...

supplements. In 1993, Mayfair was sued by

TSR, Inc. TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of '' Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had bee ...

, who argued that ''

'' violated their 1984 trademark agreement, being advertised as compatible with ''

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Several different editions of the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of ''D&D'', Wizards of the Coast, produces new materials only for the most current edition of the ...

''. The court found that some of the line violated the trademark, but the line as a whole did not violate the agreement, and Mayfair continued publishing the line until the rights were bought by TSR. In 1996, Mayfair Games became the publisher of '' The Settlers of Catan'' in the US. The company shut down for financial reasons in 1997 but was subsequently bailed out by

Iron Crown Enterprises Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) is a publishing company that has produced role playing, board, miniature, and collectible card games since 1980. Many of ICE's better-known products were related to J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth, but the ''R ...

(ICE), who purchased most of their assets and restarted operations as Ironwind, Inc. This new company operates publicly under the Mayfair Games trademark. Pete Fenlon became the CEO of Mayfair Games in 2007 to oversee a major reorganization with a refocusing on core brands, most importantly the '' Catan'' family of games. In 2013, Mayfair reported selling more than 750,000 Catan-related products. In January 2016, Mayfair transferred all publishing, commercial, and brand rights for all English-language '' Catan'' products to Catan Studio, a newly created subsidiary of the Asmodee Group. Former CEO Pete Fenlon left Mayfair Games to become the CEO of the new company. Larry Roznai was the last CEO of Mayfair games. He joined the company in 1999 as a board member, president, and

chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

. On February 9, 2018, Mayfair announced it had sold all of its assets to the North American branch of Asmodée Éditions, and would be shutting down. Rights to some Mayfair titles are no longer retained by Asmodée.

Notable games

This list includes games published by Mayfair and games licensed by Mayfair from other publishers. *'' 1830: The Game of Railroads and Robber Barons'' and other 18XX games *''

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 ...

'' *'' Bang!'' *'' The Settlers of Catan'' and other ''Catan'' games *'' Caverna'' *'' Cosmic Encounter'' *'' Discworld: Ankh-Morpork'' *'' Encounters'' *''

Empire Builder The ''Empire Builder'' is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great North ...

'' games *'' I.C.B.M.'' *'' Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King'' *''

Patchwork Patchwork or "pieced work" is a form of needlework that involves sewing together pieces of fabric into a larger design. The larger design is usually based on repeating patterns built up with different fabric shapes (which can be different colors) ...

'' *''

'' *'' Saboteur'' *'' Sim City: The Card Game'' *''

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

'' *'' Tigris and Euphrates'' *'' Underground'' *'' The Worlds of Boris Vallejo''

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.mayfairgames.com
Mayfair Games
listing at

BoardGameGeek BoardGameGeek (BGG) is an online forum for board gaming hobbyists and a game database that holds reviews, images and videos for over 125,600 different tabletop games, including European-style board games, wargames, and card games. In addition t ...

Board game publishing companies Role-playing game publishing companies Companies based in Skokie, Illinois 1981 establishments in Illinois

History

Notable games

See also

References

External links