Cliff Johnson (born 1953) is an American

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 ...

, best known for the

puzzle video game Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, sequence solving, spatial recognition, and word completion. H ...

s '' The Fool's Errand'' (1987) and '' 3 in Three'' (1990). Both games use visual puzzles and a metapuzzle structure. Both won ''

GAMES Magazine ''GAMES World of Puzzles'' is a puzzle magazine formed from the merger of Games and World of Puzzles in October 2014. The entire magazine interior is now newsprint (as opposed to the part-glossy/part-newsprint format of the original ''Games'') an ...

''s Best Puzzle Game of the Year.

Biography

Johnson was born August 14, 1953 in

Hanover, New Hampshire Hanover is a town located along the Connecticut River in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 11,870. The town is home to the Ivy League university Dartmouth College, the U.S. Army Corps of En ...

, the only child of Norman and Leatrice Johnson. He attended

Bristol Eastern High School Bristol Eastern High School is a public high school in Bristol, Connecticut, United States which was opened in 1959. It has an enrollment of 1,367 students in grades 9-12. As of 2019, its principal is Michael Higgins. Its mascot is the Lancer an ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

, where he started making Super 8 movies. In 1972, he had jobs "building monsters" for five different amusement parks. He later attended

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

's film school, where he became a teaching assistant in animation and created some of the Monty Pythonesque animations for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

series '' Out of Control''. In 1984, using his first computer, a 512 KB

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...

, he learned to

program Program, programme, programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program management, the process of managing several related projects * Time management * Program, a part of planning Arts and entertainment Audio * Progra ...

and created the game '' The Fool's Errand'', which in 1987 won "Best Puzzle Game of the Year" from ''

'' and was declared "Best Retro Game Ever" by British '' GamesTM'' magazine.) From 1990–1995, he directed the ''*FunHouse*'' production group for

Philips Media Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered ...

, and from 1996–2001, he consulted with

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

and

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

for online puzzles and treasure hunts. In 2002, Johnson designed a $100,000 Challenge for the book '' Mysterious Stranger'' by street magician

David Blaine David Blaine (born April 4, 1973) is an American illusionist, endurance artist, and extreme performer. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance and has set and broken several world records. Early life Blaine was born and r ...

. It was solved in 2004.

Authored games

*'' The Fool's Errand'' (1987) — ''

s Best Puzzle Game of the Year *'' At the Carnival'' (1989) — '' Macworld'' Game Hall of Fame inductee, Brain Teaser category *''Disney's Cartoon Arcade'' (1990) *'' 3 in Three'' (1990) — ''

MacUser ''MacUser'' was a monthly (formerly biweekly) computer magazine published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. and licensed by Felden in the UK. It ceased publication in 2015. In 1985 Felix Dennis’ Dennis Publishing, the creators of MacUser in the UK, l ...

'''s Best Game of the Year; ''

s Best Puzzle Game of the Year *''Hanna Barbera's Cartoon Carnival'' (1993) *''Merlin's Apprentice'' (1994) *''Labyrinth of Crete'' (1995) *'' The Fool and His Money'' (2012)

Other contributed works

* Game Design: ''Disney's The Hunt for the Lost Toy'', website contest, 1996 * Game Design: '' Of Light and Darkness: The Prophecy'', 1998 * Treasure Hunt Design:

's '' Mysterious Stranger'' book, 2002

References

External links

*
Johnson's official website
(click on the image at the upper right to see his biography timeline) *''Inside Mac Games'', March 31, 2003
"Cliff Johnson's April Fool's Treasure Hunt"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Cliff 1953 births Living people American video game designers Puzzle designers USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni People from Hanover, New Hampshire People from Bristol, Connecticut