James Wallis (games designer)

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 games,^[1] 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

James Wallis's published games include:

• Once Upon A Time (first released in 1994; named as winner of Games magazine's Best Family Card Game section in the 1997 Games 100 list.^[2] and one of "The Millennium's Best Card Games" by Pyramid magazine ^[3])
• 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 Pyramid magazine,^[4] nominated for the 2009 Origins Award for "Best Children's, Family or Party Game")

Games he has edited and/or published include:

• Nobilis (second edition, 2002; winner of the Origins Award 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 Costikyan.

He wrote for the British Sunday Times newspaper from 2000 to 2001.

References

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