Philip E. Orbanes is an American board game designer, author, founding partner and former president of Winning Moves Games in
Danvers, Massachusetts. Orbanes is a graduate of the Case Institute of Technology (now
Case Western Reserve University). He was a Senior Vice President for Research and Development at
Parker Brothers
Parker Brothers (known by Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. Among its products wer ...
until the 1990s. Orbanes has also served as Chief Judge at U.S. National and World
Monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...
tournaments.
Orbanes has written three books about the board game Monopoly (his book ''The Monopoly Companion'' has been printed in three distinct editions). His ''Monopoly: The World’s Most Famous Game and How It Got That Way'' is considered the definitive reference book.
[ He also wrote a book about the history of ]Parker Brothers
Parker Brothers (known by Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. Among its products wer ...
from the 1880s to the start of the 21st century. His book about the card game Rook
Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to:
Games
*Rook (chess), a piece in chess
*Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game
Military
* Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft
* USS ...
, however, is only found packaged along with the game's cards, published by Winning Moves Games. Orbanes also authored articles for ''The Games Journal'' on acquiring the rights to out of print games, and the card game, Canasta
Canasta (; Spanish for "basket") is a card game of the rummy family of games believed to be a variant of 500 Rum. Although many variations exist for two, three, five or six players, it is most commonly played by four in two partnerships with tw ...
.
Orbanes was prominently featured in the documentary Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story for his role serving as the Chief Judge at U.S. and World Monopoly Championships for over 30 years.
Life
Philip E. Orbanes was born in 1947. When in college, he started his first game company. Orbanes went to work for Parker Bros Parker may refer to:
Persons
* Parker (given name)
* Parker (surname)
Places Place names in the United States
* Parker, Arizona
* Parker, Colorado
*Parker, Florida
* Parker, Idaho
* Parker, Kansas
* Parker, Missouri
* Parker, North Carolina
* Par ...
at age 32 as head of research and development.[ He then created the Speed Die for the ]Monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...
game adding it to Winning Moves' Monopoly Mega Edition (2006).
Bibliography
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References
Case Western Reserve University alumni
Living people
People from Gloucester, Massachusetts
Year of birth missing (living people)
Board game designers
American male writers
{{US-writer-stub