2024 Academy Of Adventure Gaming Arts And Design Hall Of Fame Inductees Honored At Origins Game Fair

Tabletop Games

Jul 11

The Game Manufacturers Association honored the 2024 induction class into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design Hall of Fame during the Origins Game Fair held June 19-23, 2024.

This year’s class included four individuals and two products. Matt Leacock, Rebecca Guay, David Trampier, Terry Amthor & Christopher Rush increased the membership to 81, and two products, The aMAZEing Labyrinth (Ravensburger) and Twilight Struggle (GMT Games) increased the hallowed products roster to 48.

Trampier, Amthor, and Rush were inducted posthumously. Each year, the induction class is honored at Origins Game Fair, held for the 49th time in 2024.

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Leacock is known prominently for designing Pandemic (Z-Man Games, 2008), Forbidden Island (Gamewright Games, 2010) and Forbidden Desert (Gamewright Games, 2013).

Guay worked on several Magic: The Gathering products, as well as Dungeons & Dragons.

Trampier worked on some of the earliest editions of Dungeons & Dragons, including Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, and was also known for “Wormy”, a 6-panel comic featured in the Dungeons & Dragons magazine Dragon.

Amthor was one of the primary founders of Iron Crown Enterprises and was a major contributor to the original Rolemaster system. He also founded Eidolon Studio, writing Shadow World supplements.

Rush illustrated over 100 different cards for Magic: The Gathering, including the most valuable card in the game’s storied history: Black Lotus. He was more heavily involved in the early years of Magic: The Gathering, including designing the symbols used for the different colors of mana used in the game.

The aMAZEing Labyrinth, originally released in 1986 by Ravensburger and designed by Max J. Kobbert, spawned an entire line of Labyrinth games. It has received several awards and honors, including Spiel des Jahres Recommended (1986), Arets Spel Best Family Game (1988), and the Spring Parents’ Choice Classic Award (2011).

“It is an honor for Ravensburger’s Labyrinth to be included alongside so many other pioneers in the tabletop space,” said Filip Francke, Global Head of Games and President at Ravensburger North America. “What began as a small spark of inspiration from the closing of Max Kobbert’s desk drawer has blossomed into a dynamic game and world of play, and we would like to thank The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design for this thoughtful recognition.”

Twilight Struggle, designed by Ananda Gupta and Jason Matthews, has also been heavily decorated since its release in 2005 by GMT Games. The honors include the Charles S. Roberts Best Modern Era Boardgame (2005), James F. Dunnigan Award (2005), Golden Geek Best 2-Player Board Game (2006), Golden Geek Best Wargame (2006), International Gamers Awards for General Strategy at 2 players (2006) and Historical Simulation (2006), Lucca Games Best Boardgame for Experts (2011) and Ludoteca Ideale Winner (2012).

About The Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA)

The Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) was formed in 1977 as the nexus for the tabletop game industry to network and do business with each other. Since then, it has grown to nearly 1,600 member companies in 26 countries, and become the premier trade association for hobby games companies. GAMA organizes the Origins Game Fair as a promotional opportunity for member companies to share their games with consumers and to grow the hobby gaming market.

For more information about GAMA’s programs and services, please visit GAMA.org.

About The Academy Of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design (AAGAD)

The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design (AAGAD) is a peer-based network of gaming industry professionals whose mission is to promote innovation and excellence in design and production of games and game-related materials.

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.

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