Howard Thompson (wargame designer)

Last updated
Howard Thompson
Born
United States
Nationality American
Occupation Game designer

Howard M. Thompson is an American wargame designer and founder of Metagaming Concepts. His first game was Stellar Conquest , a popular and well-designed simulation of interstellar warfare.

Contents

Thompson is most famous for his idea to publish small, low-cost games in what came to be known as the MicroGame format. For a while, Metagaming dominated this niche wargaming market.

Career

Howard Thompson founded Metagaming Concepts in 1975 to publish his game Stellar Conquest when no one was interested in publishing the game. [1] : 78  Thompson, as the first editor of The Space Gamer magazine, stated "The magazine had been planned for after our third or fourth game but circumstances demand we do it now." [2] In 1976, Thompson published Godsfire , designed by Lynn Willis and developed by Steve Jackson. [1] : 78  In 1977, Thompson pioneered the concept of the MicroGame, the first of which was Ogre . [1] : 78–79 

In the early 1980s, some speculate that the company started to run into financial trouble, partially because of the generally poor economic situation at that time, and because of the split with one of his main game designers, Steve Jackson.[ citation needed ] Thompson was not satisfied with the work done on The Fantasy Trip by Jackson, stating that it was too complex and had taken too long. [3] Thompson decided that packaging the game in a box would be too expensive, so he split The Fantasy Trip into four books, publishing them individually in 1980 as Advanced Melee, Advanced Wizard, In the Labyrinth , and Tollenkar's Lair ; while the game was getting prepared, Thompson altered his production methods and thus Jackson was now unable to see the final proofs like he had on earlier releases. Because of these actions, Jackson left Metagaming and founded Steve Jackson Games that same year. [1] : 79–80  Jackson purchased The Space Gamer from Metagaming, and agreed with Thompson to sell the rights to The Fantasy Trip to Metagaming. However, Thompson sought legal action against SJG for the rights to a short wargame called One-Page Bulge, and the lawsuit was settled with an agreement reached on November 26, 1981 giving Jackson full rights to One-Page Bulge, and to Ogre and G.E.V. (whose ownership was questioned during the legal proceedings). [1] : 80  In the first SJG issue of The Space Gamer, Thompson wrote a report on Metagaming and stated "Metagaming's staff won't miss the effort. After the change in ownership Metagaming feels comfortable with the decision; it was the right thing to do." [4]

Thompson wrote MicroQuest #3 Treasure of the Silver Dragon (1980) and MicroQuest #6 Treasure of Unicorn Gold (1981) for The Fantasy Trip and marketed each of them linked to a real treasure hunt where readers could search the books for clues to receive a prize of $10,000 from Metagaming. [1] : 80  Wanting to publish more products for groups of players for The Fantasy Trip, Thompson signed an agreement in 1982 with publisher Gamelords to design a campaign world for the game, but only two campaign books were published before Thompson ended the agreement. [1] : 80 

On 1 January 1982, Thompson created Games Research Group, Inc., which was initially part of Metagaming. [5] Thompson let his two remaining wargame designers go on April 16, 1982, allowing them to work as freelancers for Games Research Group instead of working as employees. [1] : 81  Metagaming ended its operations in April 1983 and Thompson left the games industry; Steve Jackson sought to purchase The Fantasy Trip from Thompson, but Jackson declined the offered price of $250,000. [1] : 81  Thompson promised to come back to the field one day to publish computer games, but by 1984 he stopped returning phone calls and thereafter disappeared completely from the gaming community. [1] : 81 

Games designed

Illustrations

Thompson also provided illustrations for two of his company's games, Helltank and Monsters! Monsters!

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Jackson Games</span> American game publishing company

Steve Jackson Games (SJGames) is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and the gaming magazine Pyramid.

<i>The Fantasy Trip</i> Fantasy tabletop role-playing game

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 Fantasy Trip Legacy Edition.

<i>Titan</i> (board game) Fantasy board game

Titan is a fantasy board game for two to six players, designed by Jason B. McAllister and David A. Trampier. Each player controls an army of mythological creatures such as gargoyles, unicorns, and griffons, led by a single titan. The titan is analogous to the king in chess in that the death of a titan eliminates that player and his entire army from the game. The player controlling the last remaining titan wins the game. The game was first published in 1980 by Gorgonstar; the rights were later licensed to Avalon Hill and Valley Games. Upon its release, the game received positive reviews.

<i>Ogre</i> (board game) Board game designed by Steve Jackson

OGRE is a science fiction board wargame designed by the American game designer Steve Jackson and published by Metagaming Concepts in 1977 as the first microgame in its MicroGame line. When Steve Jackson left Metagaming to form his own company, he took the rights to OGRE with him, and all subsequent editions have been produced by Steve Jackson Games (SJG).

<i>G.E.V.</i> (board game) Board wargame published in 1977

G.E.V. is a science fiction board wargame that simulates combat in the near future between supertanks and other futuristic weaponry. The game was designed by American game designer Steve Jackson as a sequel to his Ogre board game when he was working for Metagaming Concepts. When Jackson left Metagaming to form his own company, he took the rights to both G.E.V. and Ogre with him, and all subsequent editions have been produced by Steve Jackson Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Jackson (American game designer)</span> American game designer (born 1953)

Steve Jackson is an American game designer whose creations include the role-playing game GURPS and the card game Munchkin.

<i>Ares</i> (magazine) Science fiction wargame magazine

Ares was an American science fiction wargame magazine published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI), and then TSR, Inc., between 1980 and 1984. In addition to the articles, each issue contained a small science-fiction-themed board wargame.

<i>The Space Gamer</i> Science fiction and fantasy games magazine

The Space Gamer was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s. The magazine is no longer published, but the rights holders maintain a web presence using its final title Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer.

Metagaming Concepts, later known simply as Metagaming, was a company that published board games from 1974 to 1983. It was founded and owned by Howard Thompson, who designed the company's first game, Stellar Conquest. The company also invented Microgames and published Steve Jackson's first designs, including Ogre, G.E.V. and The Fantasy Trip.

<i>Melee</i> (game) Board game

Melee is a board wargame designed by Steve Jackson, and released in 1977 by Metagaming Concepts. In 2019, Melee was revived and re-released by Steve Jackson Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wizard (board game)</span>

Wizard is a board game system of medieval fantasy magical combat published by Metagaming in 1978 that was designed to complement the previously published Melee, a system of melee combat rules. Forty years later, Wizard was revived and re-released by Steve Jackson Games.

<i>Annihilator & One World</i> Two 1979 board games in one box

Annihilator & OneWorld are two board wargames released in one package by Metagaming Concepts in 1979 as the 14th addition to its MicroGame line.

The MicroGame line by Metagaming Concepts consisted of tabletop microgames published from 1977 to 1982.

<i>Rommels Panzers</i>

Rommel's Panzers is a board wargame published by Metagaming Concepts in 1980 that simulates combat in North Africa in 1941.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tollenkar's Lair</span> Tabletop role-playing game adventure

Tollenkar's Lair is a 1980 fantasy role-playing game adventure for The Fantasy Trip originally published by Metagaming Concepts and re-released by Steve Jackson Games in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grail Quest (The Fantasy Trip)</span>

Grail Quest is a solitaire Arthurian fantasy combat adventure published by Metagaming Concepts in 1980 that uses the combat rules from The Fantasy Trip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death Test 2</span>

Death Test 2 is a 1980 fantasy role-playing game adventure for The Fantasy Trip published by Metagaming Concepts. It was re-released by Steve Jackson Games in 2019.

<i>Helltank Destroyer</i> Board game

Helltank Destroyer is a science fiction board wargame published by Metagaming Concepts in 1982 as part of its MicroGame line that features combat between supertanks and other futuristic weapoons systems. The game is a sequel to 1981's Helltank, which is itself based on Ogre.

<i>Starleader: Assault!</i> Combat module for science-fiction table-top role-playing game.

Starleader: Assault! is a science fiction microgame published by Metagaming Concepts in 1982 that was designed to introduce the rules of combat with firearms for a forthcoming science fiction role-playing game that did not get published before Metagaming went out of business.

<i>In the Labyrinth</i> (supplement) Fantasy tabletop role-playing game rules expansion

In The Labyrinth is a 1980 role-playing game supplement for The Fantasy Trip published by Metagaming. An expanded version released in 2019 by Steve Jackson Games as part of the company's revival of The Fantasy Trip.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN   978-1-907702-58-7.
  2. ↑ "Where We're Going", Howard Thompson, The Space Gamer, Number 1 (Metagaming, 1975)
  3. ↑ Thompson, Howard (1980-03-31). "Letter addressed to Andy Windes" . Retrieved 2007-12-29.
  4. ↑ "Metagaming Report", Howard Thompson, The Space Gamer, Number 27 (SJG, March–April 1980)
  5. ↑ Thompson, Howard (1982-04-01). "Letter addressed to Metagaming employees Kevin Hendryx and Norman Royal" . Retrieved 2007-12-29.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.