Alan R. Moon
Alan Richard Moon (born November 18, 1951 in Southampton ) is a British game designer living in the USA . It received the Game of the Year award twice .
Life
In 1967 Moon moved to Canada and two years later to the United States. After involuntary military service in the Vietnam War , he studied English and theater studies at Kean College in New Jersey , which he graduated in 1979. While at college, he began writing articles for Avalon Hills game magazine The General Magazine . After completing his studies, he was hired as a deputy editor and then also the main editor in charge. He realized that game development was more his thing and so he worked in the development department at Avalon Hill. After working in the video game development group at Parker Brothers from 1983 to 1984 , he decided to become a freelance game writer. He worked on his own ideas and tried to accommodate them in the much larger market of the German cultural area with game publishers, albeit with little success. Therefore he founded the White Wind publishing house in 1991 with Peter Gehrmann alias Mick Ado in order to be able to publish his own games in small editions. He hoped that other publishers would become aware of his games and then publish them on a larger scale. Since the publisher was not particularly successful, he became head of game development at the North American department of FX Schmid in 1996/1997 in order to establish a series of FX Schmid games on the market. After FX Schmid was bought by Ravensburger , he became Director of Games at Ravensburger USA.
Breakthrough as a game designer
After White Wind was dissolved in 1997, Amigo asked Moon if he could develop a simplified version of the 1992 White Wind game Elfenroads . The result Elfenland was Game of the Year in 1998 and that marked the beginning of Moon's breakthrough as a game designer. He has been a full-time game inventor since 2000. In 2004, a game of Moon became game of the year for a second time.
From 2003 to 2005, Moon was the first chairman of the game designers guild . Alan R. Moon has been married to his wife, Janet Niver, since February 14, 2004.
Awards
-
game of the year
- Reibach & Co : Selection list 1996
- Elfenland : 1998
- Union Pacific : nominated in 1999
- The amulet : nominated in 2001
- Capitol : Shortlist 2001
- San Marco : shortlist 2001
- Step by step : 2004
- Oase : list of recommendations 2004
- Diamant : List of Recommendations 2005
-
German Games Prize
- Reibach & Co: 5th place 1996
- Elfenland: 3rd place 1998
- Union Pacific: 3rd place 1999
- Capitol: 5th place in 2001
- San Marco: 7th place in 2001
- The amulet: 10th place in 2001
- New England : 8th place 2003
- Step by step: 6th place in 2004
-
Essen spring
- Union Pacific 1999
-
Game of games
- Lumberjack : Family Hit Games 2002
- Europa Tour : Games hit for families 2003
- Diamond: Games Hit for Many 2005
-
Swiss game award
- Step by step: 2nd place family games 2004
-
As d'Or
- Ticket to Ride 2005
-
Gamers Choice Award
- Union Pacific: Multiplayer Nominees 2000
- San Marco: Main Prize Multiplayer 2002
- Capitol: Finalist Multiplayer 2002
- Ticket to Ride: Finalist Multiplayer 2004
- Ticket to Ride Europe: Main Prize Multiplayer 2005
-
Origins Award
- Step by step: 2004
-
Dutch game award
- Step by step: nominated in 2004
-
à la carte card game price
- UFOs : 8th place 1992
- Freight Train : 8th place in 1994
- Reibach & Co: 2nd place 1996
- King of the Elves : 8th place 2000
- European Tour: 3rd place 2003
- Canal Grande : 4th place 2003
- Diamond: 4th place in 2005
- Gloria Picktoria : 9th place 2007
Ludography
- 1979: Pacific Theater via Midway , Avalon Hill
- 1980: War at Sea II , Avalon Hill
- 1981: Black Spy , Avalon Hill
- 1988: Starting Lineup Talking Baseball , Parker Brothers
- 1988: Superstar lineup Talking Football , Parker Brothers
- 1990: Airlines , Abacus Games
- 1990: Ghosts (= Black Spy ), Hexagames
- 1990: who has more? , Piatnik & Sons
- 1991: Elfengold , White Wind
- 1991: Fishy , White Wind
- 1991: Pony Express , Abacus Games
- 1992: Elfenroads , White Wind
- 1992: Santa Fé , White Wind
- 1992: UFOs , Salagames
- 1993: Freight Train , White Wind
- 1994: Mush , White Wind
- 1995: Elfenwizards , White Wind
- 1995: Rainbows , White Wind
- 1995: Tricks , White Wind
- 1996: Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire , Han Heidema
- 1996: Freight Train , Mayfair Games
- 1996: Reibach & Co (with Peter Gehrmann), FX Schmid
- 1997: Bidwise , Games Magazine
- 1997: Get The Goods (= Reibach & Co , with Peter Gehrmann ), US Games Systems
- 1997: Strings , Games Magazine
- 1998: Elfenland , Amigo
- 1998: Santa Claus Is Comin 'To Town , Han Heidema
- 1999: Andromeda , Abacus Games , Rio Grande Games , 999 Games
- 1999: Elfengold , (extension to Elfenland), Amigo
- 1999: Elfenland / Elfengold , Rio Grande Games
- 1999: Good Dog Carl (with Mark Hauser ), Ravensburger USA
- 1999: King of the Elves , Rio Grande Games, Amigo
- 1999: Knights of the Rainbow (with Aaron Weissblum ), FX Schmid USA
- 1999: Madeline & the Gypsies (with Mark Hauser), Ravensburger USA
- 1999: Richard Scarry Poles & Ladders (with Mark Hauser), Ravensburger USA
- 1999: Union Pacific , Amigo, Rio Grande Games
- 1999: Whoa Nellie (with Richard Borg ), FX Schmid USA
- 2000: Time Pirates (with Aaron Weissblum), Piatnik & Sons, Rio Grande Games
- 2000: Wongar (with Richard Borg), Goldsieber
- 2001: The Amulet (with Aaron Weissblum), Goldsieber, Face to Face
- 2001: Capitol (with Aaron Weissblum), Schmidt Spiele
- 2001: San Marco (with Aaron Weissblum), Ravensburger
- 2002: Canal Grande (with Aaron Weissblum), Adlung-Spiele
- 2002: Clippers , Eurogames
- 2002: Prince of Darkness (with Aaron Weissblum), Amigo
- 2002: In the shadow of the Sun King (= Knights of the Rainbow , with Aaron Weissblum), Amigo
- 2002: Lumberjack (with Aaron Weissblum), Schmidt Spiele
- 2002: San Marco - Das Kartenspiel (with Aaron Weissblum), Adlung-Spiele
- 2002: Santa Fe Rails , GMT Games
- 2002: Where's Bob's Hat? (= Who has more? ), Abacus games
- 2003: Ice Age (with Aaron Weissblum), Alea , Rio Grande Gamea
- 2003: Europe Tour (with Aaron Weissblum), Schmidt Spiele
- 2003: Gold and Rum (with Bruno Faidutti), Asmodée Editions
- 2003: King Lui (with Aaron Weissblum), Abacusspiele, Rio Grande Games
- 2003: New England (with Aaron Weissblum), Goldsieber, Überplay
- 2003: Stop It (with Aaron Weissblum), Schmidt Spiele
- 2003: 10 Days in Africa (= Europe Tour , with Aaron Weissblum), Out of the Box
- 2003: 10 Days in America (= Europe Tour , with Aaron Weissblum), Out of the Box
- 2004: Clocktowers (with Aaron Weissblum), Jolly Roger Games
- 2004: Die Drachen (with Richard Borg), Phalanx Games , Face to Face
- 2004: Employee of the Month (with Aaron Weissblum), Dancing Eggplant Games
- 2004: Always on top! (with Aaron Weissblum), Goldsieber
- 2004: Monster & Mythen (with Richard Borg), Phalanx Games
- 2004: Oase (with Aaron Weissblum), Schmidt Spiele, Überplay
- 2004: Slow Freight , Funagain
- 2004: Warriors (with Richard Borg), Face to Face
- 2004: Walk the Dogs (with Aaron Weissblum), Simply Fun
- 2004: Ticket to Ride , Days of Wonder
- 2005: Diamant (with Bruno Faidutti ), Schmidt Spiele
- 2005: Gracias (with Richard Borg), Ravensburger
- 2005: Slide with Winnie the Pooh (with Mark Hauser), Ravensburger
- 2005: Ticket to Ride Europe , Days of Wonder
- 2006: Wizard's Brew (= The Amulet , with Aaron Weissblum), Face to Face
- 2006: Ticket to Ride - USA 1910 , Days of Wonder
- 2006: Ticket to Ride Märklin , Days of Wonder
- 2007: Gloria Picktoria (= Reibach & Co , with Peter Gehrmann), Zoch Verlag
- 2007: Incan Gold (with Bruno Faidutti), Sunriver Games
- 2007: Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries , Days of Wonder
- 2007: Ticket to Ride Switzerland , Days of Wonder
- 2008: Ticket to Ride - The Card Game , Days of Wonder
Individual evidence
- ^ Report on Moon 1999 by "fachdienst spiel", published by the German Games Archive
- ↑ Alan R. Moon 2006 ( memento from January 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) at boardgamenews (English)
- ↑ Brief message 2004 at Hall 9000
Web links
- Alan Moon's homepage
- Biography at alea
- Interview 1997 at Game Cabinet (English)
- 2004 interview with Alan Moon at Hall 9000
- Alan R. Moon in the Luding games database
- Alan R. Moon in the games database BoardGameGeek (English)
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Moon, Alan R. |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Moon, Alan Richard (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English game designer |
DATE OF BIRTH | November 18, 1951 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Southampton |