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Greg Costikyan

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Greg Costikyan (born July 22, 1959<ref name="contemporary"/>), sometimes known under the pseudonym Designer X,<ref name=rpg>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is an American game designer and science fiction writer.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 games. Several of his games have won Origins Awards. He co-founded Manifesto Games, now out of business, with Johnny Wilson in 2005.

Personal life and educationEdit

Greg Costikyan was born in New York City, the son of attorney and politician Edward N. and Frances (Holmgren) Costikyan.<ref name="contemporary"/> He and game designer Warren Spector were friends since high school.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is a 1982 graduate (B.S.) of Brown University.<ref name="contemporary">Template:Cite book (subscription required)</ref> He married Louise Disbrow (a securities analyst), September 4, 1986.<ref name="contemporary"/> They have three children.<ref name=personal>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is a frequent speaker at game industry events including the Game Developers Conference and E³.

CareerEdit

Greg Costikyan has been a game designer since the 1970s.<ref name="HG">Template:Cite book</ref> Costikyan worked at SPI until it was closed by TSR in 1982; he came to West End Games in 1983.<ref name="designers">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp His 1983 game Bug-Eyed Monsters brought West End Games into the science-fiction and fantasy genres, and the following year he licensed his Paranoia role-playing game to West End Games for publishing after trying unsuccessfully to find a publisher.<ref name="designers"/>Template:Rp Costikyan designed Toon (1984) for Steve Jackson Games after developing it from an idea suggested by Jeff Dee; Costikyan felt that the game system was mostly "arbitrary" and that the theme of the game was far more important.<ref name="designers"/>Template:Rp West End Games acquired licensing to make a game based on Star Wars, and Costikyan designed Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, published in 1987, assisted by Doug Kaufman and others.<ref name="designers"/>Template:Rp

Costikyan and Eric Goldberg left West End Games in January 1987, forming the short-lived Goldberg Associates.<ref name="designers"/>Template:Rp When West End Games declared bankruptcy in 1998, Costikyan and Goldberg tried to recover the rights to Paranoia; although West End's founder Scott Palter tried to fight this, a judge gave the rights back to the creators in 2000.<ref name="designers"/>Template:Rp Costikyan designed the role-playing game Violence (1999) under the pseudonym "Designer X" for Hogshead Publishing, and made sure that the game would widely available by releasing it under a Creative Commons license.<ref name="designers"/>Template:Rp Costikyan and Goldberg licensed Paranoia to Mongoose Publishing, which began producing new books for the game in 2004.<ref name="designers"/>Template:Rp

Costikyan was the CEO of Manifesto Games, a start-up devoted to providing a viable path to market for independently developed computer games.<ref name="HG"/> He subsequently worked as a consultant for several years before joining Guerillapps as lead game designer in March 2010 to develop its game Trash Tycoon for Facebook.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In May 2011, he joined Disney Playdom as senior games designer and in January 2014 assumed the same role at Loop Drop. In June 2015, Costikyan joined Boss Fight Entertainment as senior games designer.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

He has written on games, game design, and game industry business issues for publications including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Salon, The Escapist, Gamasutra, and the magazine Game Developer.<ref name="HG"/><ref name="DMW">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

He has lectured on game design at universities including the IT University of Copenhagen, Helsinki University of Art & Design,Template:Clarify Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Stony Brook University.<ref name="DMW"/>

In 2019, Costikyan and Goldberg joined Playable Worlds, a startup founded by Raph Koster focused on producing the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Stars Reach.<ref name=playable">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

GamesEdit

Costikyan's notable works include:

  • Web and Starship (1984, a starships combat science fiction board game)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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  • Pax Britannica (Charles S. Roberts Award Winner for Best Pre-20th Century Game of 1985<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>)

  • Paranoia (Origins Award Winner for Best Roleplaying Rules of 1984<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Costikyan's other RPG credits include Acute Paranoia (1986) for Paranoia,<ref name="HW"/>Template:Rp and Your Own Private Idaho (1987) for The Price of Freedom.<ref name="HW"/>Template:Rp

In addition, Costikyan is a widely published author on the subject of game design and the role of games in culture. His essay "I Have No Words and I Must Design"<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is widely read as a conceptual approach to framing game design.

Costikyan worked on game design for many years, including writing and consulting for Nokia. In September 2005, he left Nokia to join with Johnny Wilson, former editor of Computer Gaming World, in founding the startup indie game publisher Manifesto Games.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He regularly contributed to the now defunct Manifesto Games' website, and was editor in chief of their now defunct offshoot game review blog Play This Thing.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the 1970s and 1980s, Costikyan was a leading player of Slobbovia. His novel One Quest, Hold the Dragons includes several stories about "crottled greeps", a Slobbovian meme.Template:Citation needed

In 1997, he designed the video game Evolution: The Game of Intelligent Life.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In February 2009, Costikyan updated the rules and re-released his 1979 space combat game, Vector 3, under a Creative Commons license as a free PDF download.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

BooksEdit

Costikyan has written four novels. The first two were parodies of genre fantasy: Another Day, Another Dungeon (1990, Template:ISBN) and its sequel One Quest, Hold the Dragons (1995, Template:ISBN). By the Sword (1993, Template:ISBN) is another irreverent fantasy about a young barbarian who is forced by circumstances to make his way in the larger world; it was originally serialized on the Prodigy online service.

His latest novel, First Contract (in French : Space O.P.A. - 2000, Template:ISBN), depicts (with much dry humor) the vast sociological and economic changes that happen after aliens arrive on Earth, and one entrepreneur's efforts to survive and make a new start.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2013, Costikyan's non-fiction look at the role of uncertainty in game development Uncertainty in Games was published by MIT Press. A paperback edition was subsequently published in 2015. Template:ISBN.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Awards and recognitionEdit

Costikyan is the winner of five Origins Awards.<ref name="HG"/> On March 7, 2007, Costikyan received the Game Developers Choice Awards Maverick Award. The award was given for his tireless efforts to create a viable channel for indie games.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was inducted into the Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame in 1999.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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