Dominic McDowall-Thomas is a

game designer Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in ...

and

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

who has worked primarily on

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

s and

card games A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ga ...

Career

Dominic McDowall-Thomas is a leadership and communications consultant. McDowall-Thomas began his relationship with

Cubicle 7 Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd is an Irish games company that creates and publishes tabletop games. Best known for its ''Doctor Who'' and ''Lord of the Rings'' games, Cubicle 7 offers titles covering a range of licensed and self-developed properties ...

on January 1, 2004. McDowall-Thomas and

Angus Abranson Angus Abranson is a game designer, publisher and poet who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Angus Abranson started playing ''AD&D'' in 1984, and by the age of 14 he was working for Leisure Games - one of the top game retailer ...

were friends who regularly gamed and clubbed together, and he agreed to help edit the ''

SLA Industries ''SLA Industries'' (pronounced "slay") is a role-playing game first published in 1993 by Nightfall Games in Glasgow, Scotland. The game is set in a dystopian far-flung future in which the majority of the known universe is either owned or indir ...

'' books for Abranson, starting with ''Hunter Sheets Issue One''. In late 2006, Abranson and McDowall-Thomas properly formed Cubicle 7 Entertainment Limited, with the two of them as partners. Abranson and McDowall-Thomas handed the creation of ''

Victoriana Victoriana is a term used to refer to material culture related to the Victorian period (1837–1901). It often refers to decorative objects, but can also describe a variety of artifacts from the era including graphic design, publications, phot ...

'' to

Ian Sturrock Ian Sturrock is a rescuer and restorer of orchards and apple trees, saving apple varieties from extinction. He discovered the last remaining Bardsey Island#Bardsey Island apple, Bardsey apple, and rescued the Diamond apple, as well as many other W ...

and

Andrew Peregrine Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derived ...

, as they remained focus on the business side of things. When McDowall-Thomas was busy with a consultancy contract, Gareth-Michael Skarka stepped in to edit ''

Starblazer Adventures ''Starblazer Adventures'' is a role-playing game published by Cubicle 7 in 2008. History In May 2007 Cubicle 7 Entertainment announced that they were producing a licensed '' Starblazer'' role-playing game using the FATE 3.0 system. The game wa ...

'' (2008). After acquiring the ''Doctor Who'' license, Abranson and McDowall-Thomas needed investment by the end of 2008, and went to

Matthew Sprange Matthew Sprange is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Matthew Sprange met with Alex Fennell in a pub in Swindon, England in late 2000; Sprange suggested starting a game company, but Fennell instead joined a ...

Mongoose Publishing Mongoose Publishing is a British manufacturer of role-playing games, miniatures, and card games, publishing material since 2001. Its licenses include products based on the science fiction properties '' Traveller'', ''Judge Dredd'', and ''Parano ...

who introduced them to the Rebellion Group. Abranson and McDowall-Thomas were then able to go full-time for the first time in March 2009. When Cubicle 7 secured the license to ''Lord of the Rings'', McDowall-Thomas and Robert Hyde of Sophisticted Games led the project, with lead designer Francesco Nepitello. In November 2011 Abranson left Cubicle 7 after the reported failure of the print partnerships he oversaw. With McDowall-Thomas in sole charge of the company it went from financial crisis to turn over a million dollars within two years. In 2012 the Mcdowall-penned "Words of the Wise" won the Silver ENnie award for best free product. Under Mcdowall's CEOship, Cubicle 7 expanded beyond its original roleplaying games remit, into card games, and dice games. In December 2014, Cubicle 7 announced that it had left the Rebellion Developments group of companies, following a successful management buy out led by CEO Dominic McDowall. In July 2016, still under Mcdowall's sole leadership, Cubicle 7 announced "Adventures in Middle-earth" an OGL setting guide for Middle-earth, bringing Tolkien's work to the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' ruleset for the first time.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDowall-Thomas, Dominic Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Role-playing game designers Year of birth missing (living people)