Cliff Johnson (born 1953) is an American game designer, best known for the puzzle video games '' The Fool's Errand'' (1987) and ''

3 in Three ''3 in Three'' is a 1989 metapuzzle video game designed by Cliff Johnson (game designer), Cliff Johnson and published by Cinemaware and Inline Design. While bearing some similarities to his previous game, ''The Fool's Errand'', ''3 in Three'' took ...

'' (1990). Both games use visual puzzles and a metapuzzle structure. Both won '' GAMES Magazine''s Best Puzzle Game of the Year.

Biography

Johnson was born August 14, 1953 in Hanover, New Hampshire, 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 a ...

in Connecticut, where he started making

Super 8 Super 8 or Super Eight may refer to: Film * Super 8 film, a motion picture film format released in 1965 * Super 8 film camera, a motion picture camera used to film Super 8mm motion picture format * ''Super 8'' (2011 film), a science-fiction fi ...

movies. In 1972, he had jobs "building monsters" for five different amusement parks. He later attended University of Southern California's film school, where he became a teaching assistant in

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

and created some of the

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...

esque animations for Nickelodeon's television series '' Out of Control''. In 1984, using his first computer, a 512 KB Macintosh, he learned to program and created the game '' The Fool's Errand'', which in 1987 won "Best Puzzle Game of the Year" from '' GAMES Magazine'' and was declared "Best Retro Game Ever" by British ''

GamesTM ''GamesTM'' (styled as ''gamesTM'') was a United Kingdom, UK-based, multi-format video games magazine, covering video game console, console, handheld game, handheld, PC game, PC and Arcade games. The first issue was released in December 2002 and t ...

'' magazine.) From 1990–1995, he directed the ''*FunHouse*'' production group for Philips Media, and from 1996–2001, he consulted with Mattel, Warner Bros. and Disney for online puzzles and treasure hunts. In 2002, Johnson designed a $100,000 Challenge for the book ''

Mysterious Stranger ''Mysterious Stranger: A Book of Magic'' by illusionist David Blaine was published on October 29, 2002 by Random House. Part autobiography, part history, and part armchair treasure hunt, the book also includes instructions on how to perform b ...

'' by street magician David Blaine. It was solved in 2004.

Authored games

*'' The Fool's Errand'' (1987) — '' GAMES Magazines Best Puzzle Game of the Year *''

At the Carnival ''At The Carnival'' is a puzzle video game by Cliff Johnson published in 1989 by Miles Computing. It was intended to be the first of a series of games called ''Puzzle Gallery'', but Miles Computing went out of business before any further games ...

'' (1989) — ''

Macworld ''Macworld'' is a website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG Inc. It started life as a print magazine in 1984 and had the largest audited circulation (both total and newsstand) of Macint ...

'' Game Hall of Fame inductee, Brain Teaser category *''Disney's Cartoon Arcade'' (1990) *''

'' (1990) — '' MacUser'''s Best Game of the Year; '' GAMES Magazines 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 ''The Fool and His Money'' is a puzzle game by Cliff Johnson. It is a self-published sequel to the 1987 game ''The Fool's Errand ''The Fool's Errand'' is a 1987 computer game by Cliff Johnson. It is a meta-puzzle game with storytelling, ...

'' (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: David Blaine's ''

'' 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