Mike Selinker 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 ...

puzzle A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at the correct or fun solution of the puzzle ...

maker, and the founder and president of Lone Shark Games.

Credits

Selinker's design credits include ''

Pirates of the Spanish Main The Pirates Constructible Strategy Game is a tabletop game manufactured by WizKids, Inc., with aspects of both miniatures game and collectible card game genres. "Pirates of the Spanish Main" (the initial release of the ''Pirates'' line) is the ...

'' and ''

Fightball ''Fightball'' is a real-time card game designed by James Ernest and Mike Selinker and published by Cheapass Games in 2002. ''Fightball'' is the third real-time card game published by Cheapass Games, following the success of ''Falling'' and ''Br ...

'' with

James Ernest James Ernest is an American game designer and juggler, best known as the owner and lead designer of Cheapass Games. Career Prior to founding Cheapass Games, Ernest worked as a juggler at various venues, including Camlann Medieval Village, and a ...

, ''

Axis & Allies ''Axis & Allies'' is a series of World War II strategy game, strategy board games. The first version was initially published in 1981 and a second edition known colloquially as ''Axis & Allies: Classic'' was published in 1984. Played on a board d ...

Revised Edition'' with Larry Harris, the ''

Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game The ''Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game'' is a role-playing game published by TSR, Inc. that uses the ''SAGA System'' and features characters published by Marvel Comics. It should not be confused with the earlier '' Marvel Super Heroes Game'', ...

'', ''

Risk Godstorm ''Risk Godstorm'' is a ''Risk'' variant board game published by Avalon Hill and designed by Mike Selinker with developers Richard Baker and Michael Donais. The cultures of the Celts, Norse, Greeks, Egyptians, and Babylonians clash for supremacy ...

'', ''Gloria Mundi'', ''Key Largo'', ''Stonehenge'', ''Thornwatch'', and ''

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Pathfinder may refer to: Businesses * Pathfinder Energy Services, a division of Smith International * Pathfinder Press, a publisher of socialist literature Computing and information science * Path Finder, a Macintosh file browser * Pathfinder ...

''. He was a creative director for the 3rd edition of ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (T ...

'' and the '' Harry Potter Trading Card Game''. As a

maker, he created the fictional police officer Lt. Nodumbo for ''

GAMES World of Puzzles ''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 ...

''. Selinker founded ''LIVE/WIRE'' with Tim Beach and the '' Maze of Games'' with Teeuwynn Woodruff. He also has written

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

books such as ''Dealer's Choice: The Complete Handbook of Saturday Night Poker'', with James Ernest and

Phil Foglio Philip Foglio (born May 1, 1956) is an American cartoonist and comic book artist known for his humorous science fiction and fantasy art. Early life and career Foglio was born on May 1, 1956, in Mount Vernon, New York, and moved with his family to ...

. He has also written puzzles for the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'', the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', and ''Games'' magazine. He has also authored "The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design" and "Puzzlecraft: The Ultimate Guide on How to Construct Every Kind of Puzzle." Selinker and James Ernest created Titanic Games with Paizo Publishing in 2005 to add board game publishing to Paizo's already established role-playing game publications.

Lone Shark Games

Selinker founded the Lone Shark Games design studio with James Ernest, and is the company's president. In March 2010, in conjunction with ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fran ...

'' magazine and

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

, the company announced plans to release a group of "Runners" to go "on the lam". The Runners were to be hunted by anyone in the United States who desired to find them. Anyone that caught a Runner would receive a US$7,500 "bounty". Of the contest, Selinker said, "Our Runners are out there hiding among 300 million people. Of course, that's 300 million people who might turn them in ..." After a long time employee accused Selinker of creating an abusive and toxic work environment, he took an unpaid leave of absence from Lone Shark in November 2021.

Awards

Selinker won three 2004

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 aw ...

for ''

Pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

'', '' Axis & Allies: D-Day'', and ''

Betrayal at House on the Hill ''Betrayal at House on the Hill'' is a board game published by Avalon Hill in 2004, designed by Bruce Glassco and developed by Rob Daviau, Bill McQuillan, Mike Selinker, and Teeuwynn Woodruff. Players all begin as allies exploring a haunted hou ...

''. His game ''

Alpha Blitz Mike Selinker is an American game designer, puzzle maker, and the founder and president of Lone Shark Games. Credits Selinker's design credits include ''Pirates of the Spanish Main'' and ''Fightball'' with James Ernest, '' Axis & Allies Revised ...

'' was ''

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 1998

Word Game Word games (also called word game puzzles or word search games) are spoken, board, or video games often designed to test ability with language or to explore its properties. Word games are generally used as a source of entertainment, but can ad ...

of the Year.

Personal life

Selinker is a member of the

National Puzzlers League The National Puzzlers' League (NPL) is a nonprofit organization focused on puzzling, primarily in the realm of word play and word games. Founded in 1883, it is the oldest puzzlers' organization in the world. It originally hosted semiannual conventi ...

under the nickname "Slik".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Selinker, Mike American company founders Board game designers Crossword compilers Dungeons & Dragons game designers Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Puzzle designers Year of birth missing (living people)