Michael Bennighof 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 ...

who has worked primarily on

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a comp ...

Early life and education

Mike Bennighof,

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

, is a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

, and holds a doctorate in History from

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

. He has played and coached semi-pro football, taught college, worked as a newspaper reporter, and shoveled gravel professionally.

Career

Mike Bennighof has been designing games since the early 1980s, working on over 100 titles as designer or developer. Bennighof is president of

Avalanche Press Avalanche Press is an American company that publishes board wargames and has published some role-playing game supplements. They have produced '' The Great War at Sea'' and '' ''Panzer Grenadier'' series'', as well as '' Red Parachutes'', one of ...

, Ltd., a publisher of traditional

board wargame A board wargame is a wargame with a set playing surface or board, as opposed to being played on a computer or in a more free-form playing area as in miniatures games. The modern, commercial wargaming hobby (as distinct from military exercises, o ...

s. He has won

Origins Award The 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 (for example) the 1979 aw ...

s both for wargame design ('' U.S. Navy Plan Orange'') and

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 ...

design ('' Celtic Age''). He scripted the ''

Panzer General II ''Panzer General II'' is a computer wargame by Strategic Simulations, Inc. Released October 15, 1997, ''Panzer General II'' is the sixth SSI game in the ''Panzer General'' series and the first in the "Living Battlefield" series. It takes place d ...

'' (for which he also designed the maps) and '' Destroyer Commander'' computer games, among others; designed such games as '' Survival of the Witless'', ''

Panzer Grenadier ''Panzergrenadier'' (), abbreviated as ''PzG'' (WWII) or ''PzGren'' (modern), meaning '' "Armour"-ed fighting vehicle " Grenadier"'', is a German term for mechanized infantry units of armoured forces who specialize in fighting from and in conju ...

'', and '' Great War at Sea''; and was the author of the infamous book, ''

Black Flags The Black Flag Army (; , chữ Nôm: 軍旗𬹙) was a splinter remnant of a bandit group recruited largely from soldiers of ethnic Zhuang background, who crossed the border in 1865 from Guangxi, China into northern Vietnam, then during the Nguy ...

''. ''Great War at Sea'' received awards at the

Origins Awards The 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 (for example) the 1979 a ...

in 1998 and 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennighof, Michael Board game designers Emory University alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)