James Wallis (games designer)
Encyclopedia
James Wallis is a designer and publisher of tabletop and role-playing games. In 1994 he founded Hogshead Publishing, a now-defunct company specialising in role-playing and storytelling game
s, and ran it until its sale in 2003. He has also created games and books for other publishers, including the award-winning card game Once Upon A Time
(which he co-authored with Richard Lambert and Andrew Rilstone). In 2001 he founded the annual Diana Jones Award
for "excellence in gaming". He currently runs the gaming consultancy Spaaace, which includes the publishing subsidiary Magnum Opus Press, and his personal blog, Cope.
Games he has edited and/or published include:
.
He wrote for the British Sunday Times newspaper from 2000 to 2001.
Storytelling game
A storytelling game is a game where two or more persons collaborate on telling a spontaneous story. Usually, each player takes care of one or more characters in the developing story...
s, and ran it until its sale in 2003. He has also created games and books for other publishers, including the award-winning card game Once Upon A Time
Once Upon a Time (game)
Once Upon a Time is a card game produced by Atlas Games, originally released in 1994 with a second edition published in 1995. One object of Once Upon a Time is to tell a fairy tale as a group....
(which he co-authored with Richard Lambert and Andrew Rilstone). In 2001 he founded the annual Diana Jones Award
Diana Jones Award
The Diana Jones Award is an annual award for "excellence in gaming". The award is unusual in two ways: first, it is not an award for a specific class of thing, but can be awarded to a person, product, publication, company, organization, event or trend – anything related to gaming; second, it does...
for "excellence in gaming". He currently runs the gaming consultancy Spaaace, which includes the publishing subsidiary Magnum Opus Press, and his personal blog, Cope.
Games
James Wallis's published games include:- Once Upon A TimeOnce Upon a Time (game)Once Upon a Time is a card game produced by Atlas Games, originally released in 1994 with a second edition published in 1995. One object of Once Upon a Time is to tell a fairy tale as a group....
(first released in 1994; named as winner of Games magazine's Best Family Card Game section in the 1997 Games 100GAMES 100The Games 100 is an annual feature of Games magazine, a United States magazine devoted to games and puzzles. The Games 100 first appeared in the November/December 1980 issue as an alphabetic list of the 100 games preferred by the editors of the magazine...
list. and one of "The Millennium's Best Card Games" by PyramidPyramid (magazine)Pyramid is a gaming magazine, publishing articles primarily on role-playing games, but including board games, card games, and other sorts of games. It began life in 1993 as a print publication of Steve Jackson Games for its first 30 issues, though it has been published on the Internet since March...
magazine ) - The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen (first released in 1998, revised and expanded in 2008; named as one of "The Millennium's Best Games" by PyramidPyramid (magazine)Pyramid is a gaming magazine, publishing articles primarily on role-playing games, but including board games, card games, and other sorts of games. It began life in 1993 as a print publication of Steve Jackson Games for its first 30 issues, though it has been published on the Internet since March...
magazine, nominated for the 2009 Origins AwardOrigins AwardThe Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
for "Best Children's, Family or Party Game")
Games he has edited and/or published include:
- NobilisNobilisNobilis is a contemporary fantasy role-playing game created by Jenna K. Moran, writing under the name R. Sean Borgstrom. The player characters are "Sovereign Powers" called the Nobilis; each Noble is the personification of an abstract concept or class of things such as Time, Death, cars, or...
(second edition, 2002; winner of the Origins AwardOrigins AwardThe Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
for "Best Graphic Presentation Book Format Product", 2002)
Writing and Periodicals
In 1994 he founded and published Interactive Fantasy (IF), an early journal of 'games design and criticism'. The editor was Andrew Rilstone. The second issue included the first printing of the essay 'I Have No Mouth And I Must Design' by Greg CostikyanGreg Costikyan
Greg Costikyan, sometimes known under the pseudonym "Designer X" , is an American game designer and science fiction writer.Costikyan's career spans nearly all extant genres of gaming, including hex-based wargames, role-playing games, boardgames, card games, computer games, online games and mobile...
.
He wrote for the British Sunday Times newspaper from 2000 to 2001.
External links
- Spaaace, the games consultancy
- COPE, James Wallis's personal blog
- "First Church Of James Wallis Sanctified", part of the webzine Critical Miss
- Magnum Opus Press