Hall of Fame

“In our Hall of Fame we find those people who have made critical contributions to gaming overall. We have those who elevated game design to an art and those who elevated the art found in game design. We have members who have made contributions to the business side of gaming, and those whose contributions have been less in design and production than in service to the industry as a whole. And we have the greatest fruits of their labors enshrined there as well.” — Michael Stackpole, Hall of Fame inductee.


 Introduction to the Hall of Fame

Game design is a very old field, dating back to games such as Senet in ancient Egypt. What gaming means to everyone has evolved over the years. When the Hall of Fame first started in 1974, War Gaming was a very big part of the field. A few years later Role Playing Games came onto the scene. This was followed by an explosion in tabletop board gaming, then by Trading Card Games, Cooperative Games, Deck Builders, and many more categories as well as unique games that do not fit into any mold.

The Hall of Fame is intended to honor the contributions made by individuals over the years that have advanced the tabletop gaming field. The individuals included in the Hall have contributed over their careers to expanding the reach of gaming and created games that bring people together to enjoy the lifestyle of strategy, challenges, and fun. The Hall of Fame also honors specific games that showcase innovation and exceptional quality as well as endeavors that promote gaming such as publications and other media.

The Hall includes many industry legends, such as Dungeons and Dragons creators Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, Magic the Gathering creator Richard Garfield, and Reiner Knizia, one of the most prolific board and card game designers of all time. Not all of the inductees are well known, and gaming is not a field where there are a large number of household names among its elite. However, all of members of the Hall have helped elevate gaming to heights it had never achieved before. The contributions come from writers, artists, sculptors, publishers, and designers from many areas of tabletop gaming. Miniatures Gaming, Role Playing Games, Play-by-Mail Games, Board Games, Trading Card Games. Individuals from all of these areas are honored here.  

The members of the Hall of Fame select new individuals and games for induction each year and the inductions take place at the Origins Game Convention in Columbus Ohio. While there are some exceptions, individuals are generally considered for induction after they have been in the field for 20 years, with work in any area of gaming or gaming related activities applying towards consideration. Products and media entries are considered after 10 years from the date of first publication or launch. Tactics, the first modern wargame, came out in 1952 and that year is used as the cutoff for induction as that started the modern core hobby era.

Below is a list of the current members of the Hall of Fame and the year they were inducted.

An asterisk indicates that sadly, the member has passed away.

Mike Elliott
AAGAD Hall of Fame Curator


Donald
Turnbull*

INDUCTED 1974

  • Wargame and RPG Designer

  • Founder Albion Magazine, Play-By-Mail Games, Fiend Folio (D&D)

Charles Roberts*

INDUCTED 1975

  • Wargame Designer

  • “Father of Modern Board Wargaming”, Founder Avalon Hill, Tactics

James Dunnigan

INDUCTED 1975

  • Wargame Designer

  • Panzer Blitz, Complete Wargames Handbook


Tom
Shaw*

INDUCTED 1976

  • Wargame Designer

  • Founder The General Magazine

Redmond Simonsen*

INDUCTED 1977

  • Wargame Designer

  • Specialist in Game Information Graphics, Strategy and Tactics

John
Hill*

INDUCTED 1978

  • Wargame Designer

  • Squad Leader, Founder Conflict Games


David
Isby

INDUCTED 1980

  • Wargame Designer, Writer

  • SPI, Strategy and Tactics

Gary
Gygax*

INDUCTED 1980

  • RPG Designer

  • Dungeons & Dragons, Founder TSR

Marc
Miller

INDUCTED 1981

  • RPG and Board Game Designer

  • Traveller, Founder GDW, Imperium


Steve
Jackson

INDUCTED 1982

  • Board Game and RPG Designer, Publisher

  • Ogre, GURPS, Munchkin, Founder Steve Jackson Games

David
Arneson*

INDUCTED 1984

  • RPG Designer

  • Dungeons & Dragons

Frank Chadwick

INDUCTED 1984

  • Wargame and RPG Designer, Writer

  • Founder GDW, En Garde!, Twilight 2000, Europa, Traveller


Louis
Zocchi

INDUCTED 1986

  • Wargame Designer

  • Zocchihedron 100 sided die, How To Sell Your Wargame, The General

GREG
Stafford*

INDUCTED 1987

  • RPG Designer, Publisher

  • Founder Chaosium, Glorantha, Pendragon

Rick
Loomis*

INDUCTED 1988

  • Publisher, Game Designer

  • Founder Flying Buffalo, Pioneer in Play By Mail games, Starweb


James
Ward*

INDUCTED 1989

  • RPG Designer, Writer

  • Gamma World, Metamorphosis Alpha, Deities and Demigods, Greyhawk Adventures, Pool of Radiance

Richard
Berg*

INDUCTED 1990

  • Wargame Designer

  • War of the Ring, Campaign for North Africa, Bergs Review of Games

Sandy Petersen

INDUCTED 1990

  • RPG and Board Game Designer

  • Call of Cthulhu RPG, Chaosium


Don
Greenwood

INDUCTED 1991

  • Wargame Designer

  • Advanced Squad Leader, Republic of Rome, The General

Tom
Meier

INDUCTED 1991

  • Sculptor

  • Thunderbolt Mountain, Ral Partha

Donald Featherstone*

INDUCTED 1993

  • Wargamer, Writer

  • Gaming Advocate, Wargamer’s Newsletter, Numerous Wargaming Books


Michael Stackpole

INDUCTED 1993

  • Writer, RPG Designer

  • Gaming Advocate, DragonCrown War, Star Wars, Battletech

Nigel
Findley*

INDUCTED 1994

  • RPG Designer

  • Shadowrun RPG

Julie
Guthrie

INDUCTED 1994

  • Sculptor

  • Dungeons & Dragons, Grenadier, Ral Partha, Reaper


Jordan Weisman

INDUCTED 1994

  • Board Game Designer, Publisher

  • Founder FASA, Wizkids, Mage Knight, Heroclix, Battletech

Elizabeth Danforth

INDUCTED 1995

  • Artist, RPG Designer

  • Sorceror’s Apprentice, Tunnels and Trolls 5E, Magic the Gathering, Middle Earth RPG

Darwin Bromley*

INDUCTED 1996

  • Publisher, Board Game Designer

  • Founder Mayfair Games, Empire Builder


Richard Garfield

INDUCTED 1998

  • Trading Card and Board Game Designer

  • Magic The Gathering, King of Tokyo, Android: Netrunner, Roborally, Bunny Kingdom, Keyforge

Greg Costikyan

INDUCTED 1999

  • RPG Designer

  • Star Wars RPG, Paranoia

Larry
Elmore

INDUCTED 1999

  • Artist

  • Dungeons & Dragons, Dragonlance, Traveller


Tracy
Hickman

INDUCTED 2001

  • Writer, RPG Designer

  • Dragonlance

Margaret
Weis

INDUCTED 2001

  • Writer

  • Dragonlance

James
Ernest

INDUCTED 2002

  • Board Game Designer, Publisher

  • Founder Cheapass Games, Kill Dr. Lucky, Tak


John
Kovalic

INDUCTED 2002

  • Writer, Illustrator

  • Dork Tower, Munchkin

Peter
Adkison

INDUCTED 2003

  • Publisher

  • Founder Wizards of the Coast, Owner Gen Con

R.A.
Salvatore

INDUCTED 2003

  • Writer

  • D&D Forgotten Realms series, Drizzt series


David
Cook

INDUCTED 2003

  • RPG Designer

  • Dungeons & Dragons 2ed

Larry
Bond

INDUCTED 2004

  • Wargame Designer

  • Harpoon , Command at Sea, Specialist in modern military simulations

Bob
Charrette

INDUCTED 2004

  • Sculptor, Artist, Game Designer, Writer

  • Bushido, Ral Partha, Battletech


Reiner
Knizia

INDUCTED 2004

  • Board Game Designer

  • Tigris and Euphrates, Ra, Modern Art, Lost Cities, Medici, Quest for El Dorado, Samurai

Klaus
Teuber*

INDUCTED 2004

  • Board Game Designer

  • Settlers of Catan (Catan)

Loren Wiseman*

INDUCTED 2004

  • RPG Designer

  • Founder GDW, Traveller, Twilight 2000


Ed
Greenwood

INDUCTED 2004

  • RPG Designer, Writer

  • D&D Forgotten Realms, Elminster, Dragon Magazine, Shandril’s Saga

Duke
Seifried*

INDUCTED 2005

  • Publisher

  • Founder Heritage Models, Pioneer in gaming miniatures industry

Rodger MacGowan

INDUCTED 2006

  • Wargame Designer, Artist

  • Fire and Movement


Jolly Blackburn

INDUCTED 2006

  • Writer and RPG Designer

  • Knights of the Dinner Table, Founder Shadis Magazine, Hackmaster

Aaron Allston*

INDUCTED 2006

  • RPG Designer, Writer

  • Autoduel Champions, Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars

Dennis
Mize*

INDUCTED 2006

  • Sculptor

  • Ral Partha, Reaper, Dungeons & Dragons


Michael Pondsmith

INDUCTED 2006

  • RPG and Board Game Designer

  • Cyberpunk, Castle Falkenstein, Teenagers from Outer Space

Alan
Moon

INDUCTED 2007

  • Board Game Designer

  • Founder Gathering of Friends, Ticket to Ride

Jonathan Tweet

INDUCTED 2007

  • RPG and Board Game Designer

  • Dungeons & Dragons, D&D Minis, Everway, Dreamblade


Sid
Sackson*

INDUCTED 2011

  • Board Game Designer

  • Acquire, Can’t Stop, I’m the Boss

EricK
Wujcik*

INDUCTED 2011

  • RPG Designer

  • Amber Diceless RPG, Palladium, Rifts, Paranoia, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness

Alex Randolph*

INDUCTED 2011

  • Board Game Designer

  • TwixT, Enchanted Forest, Richochet Robots


Lisa
Stevens

INDUCTED 2014

  • Publisher

  • Founder Paizo Publishing

Loren
Coleman

INDUCTED 2014

  • Publisher

  • Founder Catalyst Game Lab

Kevin
Siembieda

INDUCTED 2015

  • RPG Designer, Publisher, Artist

  • Rifts, Founder Palladium Books


Monte
Cook

INDUCTED 2015

  • RPG Designer

  • Dungeons & Dragons, Numenera

John
Nephew

INDUCTED 2016

  • Publisher

  • Founder Atlas Games

Mike
Elliott

INDUCTED 2017

  • Trading Card and Board Game Designer

  • Duel Masters TCG, Battle Spirits TCG, Thunderstone, Star Trek Fleet Captains


Jennell JaquayS*

INDUCTED 2017

  • RPG Designer

  • Founded The Dungeoneer, Dark Tower

Eric
Lang

INDUCTED 2018

  • Board Game Designer

  • Blood Rage, Rising Sun, Chaos in the Old Word, Cthulhu: Death May Die

Kenneth
St. Andre

INDUCTED 2018

  • RPG Designer

  • Tunnels and Trolls


Vlaada
Chvátil

INDUCTED 2019

  • Board Game Designer

  • Codenames, Through the Ages, Galaxy Trucker, Space Alert, Dungeon Lords

Gerald
Brom

INDUCTED 2019

  • Artist

  • D&D Dark Sun

Wolfgang Kramer

INDUCTED 2020

  • Board Game Designer

  • El Grande, Tikal, The Princes of Florence, 6 Nimmt!


Reinhold Wittig

INDUCTED 2020

  • Board Game Designer

  • Gaming Advocate, Founder Gottingen Gathering, Founder German Game Authors Guild

Maureen Hiron*

INDUCTED 2021

  • Board Game Designer

  • Continuo, Duo

Uwe Rosenberg

INDUCTED 2021

  • Board Game Designer

  • Agricola, Caverna, A Feast for Odin, Patchwork, Bohnanza, Le Havre


Bruno
Cathala

INDUCTED 2021

  • Board Game Designer

  • Kingdomino, Shadows Over Camelot, Five Tribes, Mr. Jack

Rose
Estes

INDUCTED 2022

  • Writer

  • Dungeons & Dragons, Endless Quest

Michael Kiesling

INDUCTED 2022

  • Board Game Designer

  • Azul, Tikal, Heaven & Ale


Satoshi Nakamura

INDUCTED 2022

  • Trading Card and Board Game Designer

  • Cardfight Vanguard, Fairy Tale, Weiß Schwarz

Mark Rosewater

INDUCTED 2023

  • Trading Card Game Designer

  • Magic: The Gathering, Insider Trading, Making Magic, Magic: The Puzzling

Martin Wallace

INDUCTED 2023

  • Board Game Designer

  • Steam, Brass, London


Jeff
Easley

INDUCTED 2023

  • Artist

  • Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering

MATT
LEACOCK

INDUCTED 2024

  • Board Game Designer

  • Pandemic, Forbidden Island, Forbidden Desert

Rebecca
guay

INDUCTED 2024

  • Artist

    Magic the Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons


David
Trampier*

INDUCTED 2024

  • Artist, Illustrator

  • Dungeons and Dragons, Wormy, Titan

TERRY
AMTHOR*

INDUCTED 2024

  • RPG Designer

  • Gaming Advocate, Shadow World, Rolemaster, Kult

Christopher
Rush*

INDUCTED 2024

  • Artist

  • Magic: The Gathering


PRODUCTS AND PUBLICATIONS

Hall of Fame Classes

1977

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2001

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2011

2013

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024