HALL OF FAME
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
INDUCTED 1974
- Wargame and RPG Designer
- Founder Albion Magazine, Play-By-Mail Games, Fiend Folio (D&D)
INDUCTED 1975
- Wargame Designer
- “Father of Modern Board Wargaming”, Founder Avalon Hill, Tactics
INDUCTED 1977
- Wargame Designer
- Specialist in Game Information Graphics, Strategy and Tactics
INDUCTED 1982
- Board Game and RPG Designer, Publisher
- Ogre, GURPS, Munchkin, Founder Steve Jackson Games
INDUCTED 1984
- Wargame and RPG Designer, Writer
- Founder GDW, En Garde!, Twilight 2000, Europa, Traveller
INDUCTED 1986
- Wargame Designer
- Zocchihedron 100 sided die, How To Sell Your Wargame, The General
INDUCTED 1988
- Publisher, Game Designer
- Founder Flying Buffalo, Pioneer in Play By Mail games, Starweb
INDUCTED 1989
- RPG Designer, Writer
- Gamma World, Metamorphosis Alpha, Deities and Demigods, Greyhawk Adventures, Pool of Radiance
INDUCTED 1990
- Wargame Designer
- War of the Ring, Campaign for North Africa, Bergs Review of Games
INDUCTED 1993
- Wargamer, Writer
- Gaming Advocate, Wargamer’s Newsletter, Numerous Wargaming Books
INDUCTED 1993
- Writer, RPG Designer
- Gaming Advocate, DragonCrown War, Star Wars, Battletech
INDUCTED 1994
- Board Game Designer, Publisher
- Founder FASA, Wizkids, Mage Knight, Heroclix, Battletech
INDUCTED 1995
- Artist, RPG Designer
- Sorceror’s Apprentice, Tunnels and Trolls 5E, Magic the Gathering, Middle Earth RPG
INDUCTED 1998
- Trading Card and Board Game Designer
- Magic The Gathering, King of Tokyo, Android: Netrunner, Roborally, Bunny Kingdom, Keyforge
INDUCTED 2002
- Board Game Designer, Publisher
- Founder Cheapass Games, Kill Dr. Lucky, Tak
INDUCTED 2004
- Wargame Designer
- Harpoon , Command at Sea, Specialist in modern military simulations
INDUCTED 2004
- Board Game Designer
- Tigris and Euphrates, Ra, Modern Art, Lost Cities, Medici, Quest for El Dorado, Samurai
INDUCTED 2004
- RPG Designer, Writer
- D&D Forgotten Realms, Elminster, Dragon Magazine, Shandril’s Saga
INDUCTED 2005
- Publisher
- Founder Heritage Models, Pioneer in gaming miniatures industry
INDUCTED 2006
- Writer and RPG Designer
- Knights of the Dinner Table, Founder Shadis Magazine, Hackmaster
INDUCTED 2006
- RPG and Board Game Designer
- Cyberpunk, Castle Falkenstein, Teenagers from Outer Space
INDUCTED 2007
- RPG and Board Game Designer
- Dungeons & Dragons, D&D Minis, Everway, Dreamblade
INDUCTED 2011
- RPG Designer
- Amber Diceless RPG, Palladium, Rifts, Paranoia, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & Other Strangeness
INDUCTED 2017
- Trading Card and Board Game Designer
- Duel Masters TCG, Battle Spirits TCG, Thunderstone, Star Trek Fleet Captains
INDUCTED 2018
- Board Game Designer
- Blood Rage, Rising Sun, Chaos in the Old Word, Cthulhu: Death May Die
INDUCTED 2019
- Board Game Designer
- Codenames, Through the Ages, Galaxy Trucker, Space Alert, Dungeon Lords
INDUCTED 2020
- Board Game Designer
- El Grande, Tikal, The Princes of Florence, 6 Nimmt!
INDUCTED 2020
- Board Game Designer
- Gaming Advocate, Founder Gottingen Gathering, Founder German Game Authors Guild
INDUCTED 2021
- Board Game Designer
- Agricola, Caverna, A Feast for Odin, Patchwork, Bohnanza, Le Havre
INDUCTED 2021
- Board Game Designer
- Kingdomino, Shadows Over Camelot, Five Tribes, Mr. Jack
INDUCTED 2022
- Trading Card and Board Game Designer
- Cardfight Vanguard, Fairy Tale, Weiß Schwarz
INDUCTED 2023
- Trading Card Game Designer
- Magic: The Gathering, Insider Trading, Making Magic, Magic: The Puzzling
PRODUCTS AND PUBLICATIONS
Hall of Fame Classes
1977
- Dungeons & Dragons (TSR, INC.)
- Empire (ARLINGTON REPRODUCTION)
1993
- Ace of Aces (FLYING BUFFALO)
- Diplomacy( AVALON HILL)
1994
- Dragon Magazine (TSR, INC)
- Risk! (HASBRO)
1995
- Call of Cthulhu (CHAOSIUM)
- Axis & Allies (AVALON HILL)
1996
- Traveller (GAME DESIGNERS WORKSHOP)
- Cosmic Encounter (EON PRODUCTS)
- Advanced D&D (TSR, INC.)
1997
- Berg’s Review of Games (RICHARD BERG)
- Middle-Earth PBM (GAME SYSTEMS)
- The Courier (LEGIO X)
- Nuclear War (FLYING BUFFALO)
- Fire & Movement (DECISION GAMES)
- Strategy & Tactics (DECISION GAMES)
- BattleTech: Mechs & Vehicles (RAL PARTHA)
- Illuminati (STEVE JACKSON GAMES)
1998
- Magic: The Gathering (WIZARDS OF THE COAST)
1999
2001
- Settlers of Catan (MAYFAIR GAMES)
2004
- Warhammer 40,000 (GAMES WORKSHOP)
- Squad Leader (AVALON HILL)
2005
- Mage Knight Miniatures (WIZKIDS)
2006
- Star Fleet Battles (TASK FORCE GAMES)
2007
- Napoleon’s Battles (AVALON HILL)
- Pendragon (CHAOSIUM)
2008
- Vampire: The Masquerade (WHITE WOLF PUBLISHING)
- Paranoia (MONGOOSE PUBLISHING)
2011
- TwixT (AVALON HILL)
- Amber Diceless RPG (PHAGE PRESS)
- Acquire (HASBRO)
2013
2019
- Apples to Apples (MATTEL GAMES)
- Mage Knight Board Game (WIZKIDS)
2020
- BoardGameGeek.Com (BOARDGAMEGEEK)
- Yahtzee (HASBRO)
2021
- Carcassonne (HANS IM GLUCK)
- Pokémon Trading Card Game (THE POKÉMON COMPANY)
2022
- Alarums & Excursions (ANE)
- Pandemic (ZMAN PUBLISHING)
2023
- Cyberpunk RPG (R TALSORIAN GAMES)
- 1829 (LOOKOUT GAMES)
2024
- The aMAZEing Labyrinth (RAVENSBURGER)
- Twilight Struggle (GMT GAMES)
2025
- Codenames (CZECH GAMES EDITION)
- Time’s Up! (R&R GAMES)