Sid Sackson
Encyclopedia
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
designer and collector.
His most popular creation is probably the business game Acquire
Acquire
Acquire is a board game designed by Sid Sackson.The game was originally published in 1962 by 3M as a part of their bookshelf games series. In most versions, the theme of the game is investing in hotel chains. In the 1990s Hasbro edition, the hotel chains were replaced by generic corporations,...
. Other games he designed include Can't Stop and Focus
Focus (board game)
Focus is an abstract strategy board game, designed by Sid Sackson and first published in 1964 by Kosmos. The game has been re-published many times since, sometimes under the titles Domination or Dominio. Focus won the 1981 Spiel des Jahres and Essen Feather awards...
(Domination), which won the prestigious German Spiel des Jahres
Spiel des Jahres
The Spiel des Jahres is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the stated purpose of rewarding excellence in game design, and promoting top-quality games in the German market. It is thought that the existence and popularity of the award is one of the major drivers of the quality...
game design award in 1981.
Other notable works include his books, especially A Gamut of Games
A Gamut of Games
A Gamut of Games, written by Sid Sackson and first published in 1969, contains rules for a large number of paper and pencil, card, and board games. Many of the games in the book had never before been published...
and Card Games Around the World; both titles include a large array of rules for games both new and old, and Sackson himself invented a number of the games covered by these works.
For several years in the mid-1970s, Sid Sackson wrote a monthly column for Strategy & Tactics
Strategy & Tactics
Strategy & Tactics is a wargaming magazine now published by Decision Games, notable for publishing a complete new wargame in each issue...
magazine called Sackson on Games in which he reviewed games (other than wargames).
Sackson collected games throughout his life; at the time of his death, his collection was estimated at over 18,000 titles. Many of those were unique, sent to him by hopeful game developers who wanted Sackson's advice. At one point in his life, Sackson turned down an offer to bring his collection elsewhere for permanent safekeeping; the games were sold at a series of auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
s after his death, breaking up the collection. Sackson’s personal papers are stored at The Strong
The Strong
The Strong is an interactive, collections-based educational institution in Rochester, New York, USA, devoted to the study and exploration of play...
in Rochester, New York.
Sackson was inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design's Hall of Fame
Origins Award
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 the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
, along with Acquire, in 2011.
Games
Some of Sackson's notable games include:- AcquireAcquireAcquire is a board game designed by Sid Sackson.The game was originally published in 1962 by 3M as a part of their bookshelf games series. In most versions, the theme of the game is investing in hotel chains. In the 1990s Hasbro edition, the hotel chains were replaced by generic corporations,...
- Bowling Solitaire
- BuyWordBuyWordBuyWord is a letter arrangement word game by American designer Sid Sackson. It is published by Face2Face Games.-Equipment:* 108 letter tiles with varying numbers of pips under the letters.* 9 labelled "Wild" tiles with one pip....
- Can't Stop
- Fields of ActionFields of ActionFields of Action is a two-player abstract strategy board game invented by Sid Sackson, which was initially inspired by Lines of Action....
- FocusFocus (board game)Focus is an abstract strategy board game, designed by Sid Sackson and first published in 1964 by Kosmos. The game has been re-published many times since, sometimes under the titles Domination or Dominio. Focus won the 1981 Spiel des Jahres and Essen Feather awards...
- HaggleHaggle (game)Haggle is a party game designed by Sid Sackson and intended for a large number of players. It is rather complex and involved compared to many party games and, as a result, is often played only at gatherings of people who are known to enjoy gaming at other times.At the start of the game, each...
- I'm the Boss!I'm the Boss!I'm the Boss! is a board game by American designer Sid Sackson. It is a negotiation game in which a group of players compete and cooperate to put together profitable business deals. The goal is to make the most money. I'm the Boss is currently published by Face2Face Games...
- KhanhooKhanhooKhanhoo is a non-partnership Chinese card game of draw-and-discard structure adapted to the western taste by the British Sinologist and Consul-General in China and Korea in the mid 1890's, Sir William Henry Wilkinson...
- Poke
- The No Game
One of Sackson's lesser-known works was a 1977 book entitled "Beyond Competition" which contained six original pencil-and-paper games designed to be played by multiple players who could only win as a group through cooperation in achieving a mutual goal.
The No Game
The No Game is a party game with only one real rule. Sid Sackson wrote about it in A Gamut of GamesA Gamut of Games
A Gamut of Games, written by Sid Sackson and first published in 1969, contains rules for a large number of paper and pencil, card, and board games. Many of the games in the book had never before been published...
, but it undoubtedly existed beforehand.
Play is as follows:
- Locate a nice prize.
- As everyone enters the party, pin a small ribbon on their clothes, one per person.
- After everyone has arrived, gather them together and give a speech similar to the following:
- "The object of tonight's game is to collect the most ribbons. To collect ribbons, you must have an opponent say the word 'No' to you. Upon uttering that word, you may promptly collect every ribbon currently pinned on them; they are yours, at least until you say 'No.' Other words, phrases, and actions, like 'Nah,' 'Certainly not,' and a swift slap, are perfectly valid; only uttering the word 'No' causes a lack of ribbons. At [some time here], the person with the most ribbons wins the game, and receives a nice prize."
- Play as the speech above states.
While simple in concept, it is surprisingly hard to remove the word 'No' from one's vocabulary; see lipogram
Lipogram
A lipogram is a kind of constrained writing or word game consisting of writing paragraphs or longer works in which a particular letter or group of letters is avoided — usually a common vowel, and frequently "E", the most common letter in the English language.Writing a lipogram is a trivial task...
s for a literary equivalent.