# 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)
* Rob Cramer (Turbo Drift, Grand Carnival, Zebra)