Editing Richard Garfield

{{Short description|American game designer (born 1963)}}
{{for|the nursing professor|Richard Garfield (nursing professor)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Richard Garfield
| image              = Richard Garfield (Spiel 2014 cropped).jpg
| alt                = 
| caption            = Richard Garfield at [[Spiel]] 2014
| birth_name         = Richard Channing Garfield
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1963|06|26}}
| birth_place        = [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| death_date         = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{Death-date and age|death date†|birth date†}}  -->
| death_place        = 
| nationality        = 
| other_names        = 
| occupation         = Mathematician, inventor, game designer
| years_active       = 
| education          = [[University of Pennsylvania]] ([[B. S.|BS]], [[PhD]])
| known_for          = ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'', ''[[Netrunner]]''
| notable_works      = 
| relatives          = [[James A. Garfield]] (great-great-grandfather)
| website            = {{URL|http://www.threedonkeys.com}}
| module             = {{Infobox scientist
| child=yes
| thesis_year = 1993
| thesis_title = On the residue classes of combinatorial families of numbers
| thesis_url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/304078916
| doctoral_advisor = [[Herbert Wilf]]
}}
}}
'''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 its success spawned many imitations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wizards.com/company/downloads/Magic_Fact_Sheet_Aug09.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090824093746/http://www.wizards.com/company/downloads/Magic_Fact_Sheet_Aug09.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 24, 2009 |title=Magic: The Gathering Fact Sheet |year = 2009 | access-date=June 10, 2013 |publisher=Wizards of the Coast}}</ref> 

Garfield oversaw the successful growth of ''Magic'' and followed it with other game designs.<ref name="Varney">[[Allen Varney|Varney, Allen]]. "[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_105/784-Richard-Garfield Richard Garfield] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122081321/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_105/784-Richard-Garfield |date=2014-01-22 }}." The Escapist. 10 JULY 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2013.</ref> Included in these are ''[[Keyforge]]'', ''[[Netrunner]]'', ''[[BattleTech Collectible Card Game|BattleTech(CCG)]]'', ''[[Vampire: The Eternal Struggle]]'', ''[[Star Wars Trading Card Game]]'', ''[[The Great Dalmuti]]'', ''[[Artifact (video game)|Artifact]]'' and the [[board game]] ''[[RoboRally]]''. He also created a variation of the card game [[Hearts (card game)|Hearts]] called [[Complex Hearts]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.math.unl.edu/~rdieter1/Games/ComplexHearts/ |title=Complex Hearts |publisher=Math.unl.edu |access-date=23 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708002429/http://www.math.unl.edu/~rdieter1/Games/ComplexHearts/ |archive-date=8 July 2013 }}</ref> Garfield first became passionate about games when he played the roleplaying game ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'',<ref name="vasel 05" /> so he designed ''Magic'' decks to be customizable like roleplaying characters.<ref name="Garfield Magic" /> Garfield and ''Magic'' are both in the Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame.<ref name="Hall of Fame">[https://web.archive.org/web/20071031072248/http://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/1998/list-of-winners List of Winners], Origins Game Fair. Retrieved 22 June 2013.</ref>

==Early life, family and education==
Garfield was born in [[Philadelphia]] and spent his childhood in many locations throughout the world as a result of his father's work in architecture. His family eventually settled in [[Oregon]] when he was twelve. Garfield is the great-great-grandson of [[U.S. President]] [[James A. Garfield]] and his grand-uncle Samuel Fay invented the [[paper clip]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Varney|first1=Allen|title=Dragon Magazine #242|date=December 1997|page=120|url=http://annarchive.com/files/Drmg242.pdf}}</ref> He is also the nephew of [[Fay Jones (Seattle artist)|Fay Jones]], who, already an established artist, illustrated one ''Magic'' card for him.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rosewater|first1=Mark|title=Blogatog: Stasis|url=http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/18001767848/stasis-has-always-been-one-of-my-favorite-cards-and-i}}</ref>

While Garfield always had an interest in puzzles and games, his passion was kick-started when he was introduced to ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''.<ref name="vasel 05">{{cite web | url = http://www.thedicetower.com/interviews/int049.htm | title = Interviews by an Optimist # 49 - Richard Garfield | author = Vasel, Tom | date = 2005-06-19 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070814065856/http://www.thedicetower.com/interviews/int049.htm | archive-date = 2007-08-14 }}</ref> Garfield designed his first game when he was 13.<ref name="polkonline">{{cite web | url = http://www.newschief.com/article/19981227/ARTICLES/311309066 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090715205631/http://www.newschief.com/article/19981227/ARTICLES/311309066 | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2009-07-15 | title = Just like magic | work = PolkOnline | author = Zurcher, Christopher | date = 1998-12-27 }}</ref>

In 1985,<ref>26.5248</ref> Garfield received a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in [[computational mathematics]]. After college, he joined [[Bell Laboratories]], but soon after decided to continue his education and attended the [[University of Pennsylvania]], studying [[combinatorial mathematics]] for his PhD.<ref name="vasel 05" /> Garfield studied under [[Herbert Wilf]] and earned a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in combinatorial mathematics from Penn in 1993. His thesis was ''On the Residue Classes of Combinatorial Families of Numbers''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.genealogy.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/id.php?id=23159|title=Richard Garfield - the Mathematics Genealogy Project}}</ref> Shortly thereafter, he became a [[Professors in the United States|Visiting Professor]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://whitmanwire.com/arts/2012/11/26/magic-the-gathering-a-games-origins-and-influence-at-whitman-college/|title = Magic: The Gathering––A Game's Origins and Influence at Whitman College}}</ref> of mathematics at [[Whitman College]] in [[Walla Walla, Washington]].<ref name="HG">{{Cite book | contribution=[[Dungeons & Dragons]] | title=[[Hobby Games: The 100 Best]] | last=Garfield | first=Richard | editor-last=Lowder | editor-first=James | editor-link=James Lowder | publisher=[[Green Ronin Publishing]] | year=2007 | pages=86–89 | isbn=978-1-932442-96-0}}</ref>

==Game design career==
===Precursors and development of ''Magic: the Gathering''===
While searching for a publisher for ''[[RoboRally]]'', which he designed in 1985,<ref name="vasel 05" /> [[Wizards of the Coast]] began talking to Garfield through Mike Davis, but Wizards was still a new company and felt the game would be too expensive to produce.<ref name="designers">{{Cite book|author=Shannon Appelcline|title=Designers & Dragons|publisher=Mongoose Publishing|year=2011| isbn= 978-1-907702-58-7}}</ref>{{rp|278}} [[Peter Adkison]] of Wizards of the Coast expressed interest in a fast-playing game with minimal equipment, something that would be popular at a game convention.<ref name = "Garfield Magic">{{cite web |url= https://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/238b|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130314232528/http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/238b|url-status= dead|archive-date= March 14, 2013|title= The Creation of Magic: the Gathering|last1= Garfield|first1= Richard|date= March 12, 2013 |publisher= Wizards of the Coast|access-date=22 June 2013}}</ref> Adkison asked if Garfield could develop a game with lower production costs than ''RoboRally'', with the idea of making such a game more portable and easy to bring to conventions; Garfield thought of an idea that came from combining a card game with collecting baseball cards and spent a week creating a full game from that rough idea.<ref name="designers"/>{{rp|278}}

Garfield had been creating card games since at least 1982, starting with a card game called ''Five Magics'' that was inspired by ''[[Cosmic Encounter]]'', and his work with this new card game built on his existing older prototypes.<ref name="designers"/>{{rp|278}} Garfield thus combined ideas from two previous games to invent the first trading card game, ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]''.<ref name = "Garfield Magic"/> At first, Garfield and Adkison called the game ''Manaclash'' and worked on it in secret during a lawsuit filed by [[Palladium Games]] against Wizards. They were able to protect the game's [[intellectual property]] by using the [[shell company]] Garfield Games.<ref name="designers"/>{{rp|278}} Garfield began designing ''Magic'' as a Penn [[graduate student]].  Garfield's [[playtester]]s were mostly fellow Penn students.<ref name="elias 02">{{cite web | url = https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/rb10 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20020614062453/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/rb10 | url-status = dead | archive-date = June 14, 2002 | title = Legendary Difficulties | work = Latest Developments | author = Elias, Skaff | date = 2002-03-08 }}</ref>

===Wizards of the Coast===
''Magic: The Gathering'' launched in 1993. Playtesters began independently developing [[expansion pack]]s, which were then passed to Garfield for his final edit.<ref name="elias 02" /> In June 1994, Garfield left academia to join Wizards of the Coast as a full-time game designer.<ref name="vasel 05" /> Garfield managed the hit game wisely, balancing player experience with business needs and allowing other designers to contribute creatively to the game.<ref name = "Varney"/> With his direction, Wizards established a robust tournament system for ''Magic'', something that was new to hobby gaming.<ref name = "Varney"/>

Wizards finally released Garfield's ''RoboRally'' in 1994.<ref name="designers"/>{{rp|292}} Wizards published Garfield's ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]''-based CCG ''Jyhad'' in 1994, but changed the name to ''[[Vampire: The Eternal Struggle]]'' in 1995 to avoid offense to Muslims.<ref name="designers"/>{{rp|219, 279}} ''[[Netrunner]]'' (1996) was Garfield's CCG based on ''[[Cyberpunk 2020]]'', where he included an element that made it an asymmetrical game, so that the two players each had entirely different cards, abilities, and goals.<ref name="designers"/>{{rp|211, 281}} Wizards published the ''[[BattleTech Collectible Card Game]]'' in 1996, based on a design by Garfield.<ref name="designers"/>{{rp|126}} Peter Adkison was developing a ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' MMORPG based on a design from Garfield and [[Skaff Elias]], but left Wizards in December 2000 after Hasbro sold the ''D&D'' computer rights and cancelled the project.<ref name="designers"/>{{rp|290}}

In 1999, Garfield was inducted into the Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame alongside ''Magic''.<ref name="Hall of Fame"/> He was a primary play tester for the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' 3rd edition bookset, released by Wizards in 2000. He eventually left Wizards to become an independent game designer.<ref name="vasel 05" />

===As an independent designer=== 
He still sporadically contributes to ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]''.<ref name="ravnica">{{cite web | url = https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/mr192 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060104153607/http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/mr192 | url-status = dead | archive-date = January 4, 2006 | title = City Planning, Part I | work = Making Magic | author = Rosewater, Mark | author-link = Mark Rosewater | date = 2005-09-05 | access-date = 2007-04-27}}</ref><ref name="innistrad">{{cite web | url = https://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/mm/159 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110925012914/http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/mm/159 | url-status = dead | archive-date = September 25, 2011 | title = C'mon Innistrad, Part I | work = Making Magic | author = Rosewater, Mark | author-link = Mark Rosewater | date = 2011-09-05 | access-date = 2011-12-16}}</ref> More recently, he has created the board games ''Pecking Order'' (2006)<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/22347 | title = Pecking Order | work = BoardGameGeek | access-date = 2007-05-06}}</ref> and ''Rocketville'' (2006). The latter was published by [[Avalon Hill]], a subsidiary of Wizards of the Coast.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.hasbro.com/media/default.cfm?page=release&release=423 | title = AVALON HILL WELCOMES BACK RICHARD GARFIELD; Rocketville Set to Blast-Off on March 10 | date = 2006-02-07 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071107020507/http://www.hasbro.com/media/default.cfm?page=release&release=423 | archive-date = 2007-11-07 }}</ref> He has shifted more of his attention to [[video game]]s, having worked on the design and development of ''[[Schizoid (video game)|Schizoid]]'' and ''[[Spectromancer]]'' as part of Three Donkeys LLC.<ref name="vasel 05" /> He has been a game designer and consultant for companies including [[Electronic Arts]] and [[Microsoft]].<ref name="HG"/>

Garfield taught a class titled "The Characteristics of Games" at the [[University of Washington]].<ref name="HG"/> It is now taught as part of the University of Washington's Certificate in Game Design.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urEa3QpLGBc | title = Richard Garfield's Net Worth | website = www.youtube.com | access-date = 2023-02-24}}</ref>

==Games designed==
[[File:Spiel 2015 Essen - Der Freitag - Treasure Hunter (21879288099).jpg|thumb|right|A game of Treasure Hunter in progress]]

A partial list of games designed by Garfield:

'''Card games:'''
* ''Turbo Hearts'' (1989)
* ''[[The Great Dalmuti]]'' (1995)
* ''[[Dilbert#Merchandise|Dilbert: Corporate Shuffle]]'' (1997)
* ''Twitch'' (1998)
* ''Ghooost!'' (2013)
* ''SpyNet'' (2016)
* ''Mindbug'' (2021)
* Creature Feature (2022)

'''Collectible card games:'''
* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' (1993)
* ''[[Vampire: The Eternal Struggle]]'' (1994)
* ''[[Netrunner]]'' (1996)
* ''[[BattleTech Collectible Card Game|BattleTech]]'' (1996)
* ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' (1998)
* ''Xena: Warrior Princess'' (1998)
* ''C-23'' (1998)
* ''[[Star Wars Trading Card Game]]'' (2002)
'''Board games:'''

* ''[[RoboRally]]'' (1994)
* ''[[Filthy Rich (board game)|Filthy Rich]]'' (1998)
* ''[[Pecking Order (game)|Pecking Order]]'' (2006)
* ''Rocketville'' (2006)
* ''[[Stonehenge (game)|Stonehenge]]'' (2007)
* ''[[King of Tokyo]]'' (2011) and spinoffs:
** ''King of New York'' (2014)
** ''King of Monster Island'' (2022)
* ''Treasure Hunter'' (2015)
* ''Bunny Kingdom'' (2017)
* ''The Hunger'' (2021)
* ''Founders of Reyvick'' (2024)

'''Other games:'''
* ''[[Spectromancer]]'' (2008), online card game
* ''[[Schizoid (video game)|Schizoid]]'' (2008), console action game
* ''[[Kard Combat]]'' (2011), iOS Game
* ''[[SolForge]]'' (2012), online digital card game
* ''[[Artifact (video game)|Artifact]]'' (2018), digital trading card game
* ''[[KeyForge]]'' (2018), unique deck game
* ''Half Truth'' (2019), trivia board game co-created with [[Ken Jennings]]
* ''[https://www.amigo.games/game/com Carnival of Monsters]'' (2019), [[Kickstarter|Kickstarted]] (failed) and eventually released through [[Amigo Spiele|AMIGO Games]]
* ''[[Roguebook]]'' (2021), roguelike deck-building game
* ''Dungeons, Dice & Danger'' (2022), roll-and-write game

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite magazine|magazine=[[InQuest Gamer|Inquest]]|title=A look at the man who made Magic|last=Reid|first=Zachary|page=12-16|date=April 1995}}
*{{Cite web |first=Nick |last=Zarzycki |date=2024-05-13 |title=The Creator Of 'Magic: The Gathering' Knows Exactly Where It All Went Wrong |url=https://defector.com/the-creator-of-magic-the-gathering-knows-exactly-where-it-all-went-wrong |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=[[Defector Media]] |language=en}}

==External links==
{{Scholia}}
*{{Bgg designer|14}}
*{{MathGenealogy |id=23159}}
*{{cite web | url = http://www.amigo-spiele.de/upload/magic_pressemappe_2004_1200.pdf | title = Immer für eine Überraschung gut: Richard Garfield: Der Mann hinter Magic  | language = de | work = [[Amigo Spiele]] | date = 2004-01-30}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Garfield, Richard}}
[[Category:1963 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American mathematicians]]
[[Category:American board game designers]]
[[Category:Collectible card games]]
[[Category:Garfield family|Richard]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Magic: The Gathering]]
[[Category:Mathematicians from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:People from Oregon]]
[[Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni]]
[[Category:University of Washington faculty]]
[[Category:Whitman College faculty]]
[[Category:21st-century American inventors]]