My Take
Richard Garfield is one of those rare people who genuinely changed a hobby forever — he didn't just design a game, he invented an entire category. Magic: The Gathering launched in 1993 and the collectible card game genre it spawned has never really stopped growing since. What gets me is that Garfield came at it as a mathematician first, and you can feel that in how Magic actually works: the mana system, deck construction constraints, card rarity — it's elegant game theory dressed up in dragons and spells. He's continued designing games since (Artifact had a rough landing, but the ambition was there), and he still teaches and lectures. The guy holds a PhD in combinatorics, designs some of the most strategically deep games on the planet, and somehow makes it look like a lifelong obsession rather than a career. That's the real tell of a genuine creator.
Overview
Richard Channing Garfield (born June 26, 1963) is an American mathematician, inventor, and game designer. Garfield created Magic: The Gathering, which is considered to be the first collectible card game (CCG). Magic debuted in 1993, and its success spawned many imitations. Garfield oversaw the successful growth of Magic and followed it with other game designs.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Richard Garfield
- Name (Japanese)
- リチャード・ガーフィールド
- Reading
- りちゃーど・がーふぃーるど
- Born
- June 26, 1963 (age 62)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Rabbit
- Origin
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- game designer / professor / mathematician / businessperson / video game developer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- University of Pennsylvania
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | Magic: The Gathering | — | |
| Notable work | Spectromancer | — | |
| Notable work | Artifact | — |
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.