List of game designers


 * 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 is a person who invents games at the conceptual level. Most game designers are "unsung"; for example, no one knows who invented Chess or Hearts.

However, many public figures in game design, include commercial game developers and game-inventing mathematicians.

Some game designers include:

Role-playing game designers

 * Dave Arneson - Co-designer of Dungeons & Dragons, an early influential role-playing game
 * Frank Chadwick - Co-founder of Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) and designer of over 50 war and role-playing games, including Twilight 2000 and the Assault series
 * Troy Christensen - Designer of Phantasm Adventures, a 1980s role-playing game published in Japanese and English
 * John Horton Conway
 * Monte Cook
 * Jim Dunnigan - Founder of SPI Games and designer of over 100 wargames, including the PanzerBlitz/Panzer Leader system
 * James Ernest - president and lead game designer for Cheapass Games
 * Richard Garfield - collectible card game (Magic: The Gathering) and board game designer
 * Andrew Greenberg
 * Ed Greenwood
 * Gary Gygax - Co-designer of Dungeons & Dragons, an early influential role-playing game
 * Larry Harris
 * Stieg Hedlund - Started in pen-and-paper games before moving on to electronic games
 * Steve Jackson (UK)
 * Jeff Kinney
 * Albert Lamorisse
 * Andrew Looney
 * Marc Miller Co-founder of GDW and designer / writer of Traveller and several board games
 * Mark Rein-Hagen
 * Mike Selinker
 * C.A. Suleiman
 * Jonathan Tweet
 * Michael J. Varhola
 * Mark H. Walker
 * Jordan Weisman
 * Tom Wham
 * Skip Williams

Word game designers

 * Erik Agard
 * Will Shortz, puzzle designer for the New York Times crossword

Board game designers

 * William Attia (Caylus, Caylus Magna Carta)
 * Alfred Butts (Scrabble)
 * Milton Bradley (The Checkered Game of Life), founder of Milton Bradley Company
 * Inka Brand (Rajas of the Ganges, Village, Exit Series)
 * Markus Brand (Rajas of the Ganges, Village, Exit Series)
 * Richard Breese (Aladdin's Dragons, Keythedral, Reef Encounter)
 * Kris Burm (Batik, GIPF, ZÈRTZ, DVONN, TAMSK, YINSH, PÜNCT)
 * Allan B. Calhamer (Diplomacy)
 * Leo Colovini (Clans, Carolus Magnus, Cartagena, Doge, The Bridges of Shangri-La, Magna Grecia, Inkognito)
 * Julian Courtland-Smith (Escape from Atlantis)
 * Franz-Benno Delonge (Big City, Manila, Dos Rios, TransAmerica, Fjords)
 * Rudiger Dorn (The Traders of Genoa, Louis XIV, Goa)
 * Stefan Dorra (For Sale, Pick Picnic, Medina, Tonga Bonga, Linie 1, Turn the Tide, Intrige)
 * Bruno Faidutti (Citadels, Mystery of the Abbey, Terra)
 * Friedemann Friese (Power Grid, Fearsome Floors, Fresh Fish)
 * Mac Gerdts (Imperial, Antike)
 * Paul J. Gruen
 * Elizabeth Hargrave (Wingspan)
 * Dirk Henn (Alhambra, Atlantic Star, Metro, Wallenstein, Timbuktu)
 * Steve Jackson (Ogre, The Fantasy Trip, Car Wars, GURPS, Hacker, Illuminati)
 * Philippe Keyaerts (Evo, Vinci)
 * Michael Kiesling (Azul, Heaven & Ale, Tikal, Vikings)
 * Reiner Knizia (Ra, Modern Art, Tigris and Euphrates, Samurai, Lost Cities, Schotten Totten, Blue Moon, The Lord of the Rings)
 * Wolfgang Kramer (El Grande, Java, Mexica, Tikal, Princes of Florence, Torres)
 * Alan R. Moon (Capitol, Elfenland, Union Pacific, Ticket to Ride)
 * Christian T. Petersen (Twilight Imperium, A Game of Thrones (board game), World of Warcraft (board game))
 * Paul Randles (Pirate's Cove, Key Largo)
 * Alex Randolph (Twixt, Raj, Geister, Enchanted Forest, Inkognito, Ricochet Robots)
 * Ken Rolston, part of the core team at West End Games
 * Charles S. Roberts (Tactics II (first commercial board wargame)), founder of Avalon Hill
 * Uwe Rosenberg (Agricola, Bohnanza)
 * Sid Sackson (Acquire, Can't Stop, Kohle, Kies & Knete)
 * Michael Schacht (Web of Power, Dschunke, Industria, Hansa)
 * Karl-Heinz Schmiel (Attila, Die Macher)
 * Emiliano Sciarra (Bang!)
 * Andreas Seyfarth (Manhattan, Puerto Rico)
 * Daniel Stahl (Pirate's Cove)
 * Vital Lacerda (Vinhos, Kanban EV, CO2: Second Chance, The Gallerist)
 * Gertrude Strohm ("Popping the Question"; "Novel Fortune Telling")
 * Jerry Taylor (Hammer of the Scots, Crusader Rex)
 * Klaus Teuber (The Settlers of Catan, Adel Verpflichtet, Entdecker, Löwenherz)
 * Martin Wallace (Liberte, Age of Steam, Struggle of Empires, Princes of the Renaissance)
 * Klaus-Jürgen Wrede (Carcassonne)