Games expert and designer is new visiting professor for University of Suffolk

East Anglian Daily Times: Designed and invented by David ParlettDesigned and invented by David Parlett (Image: Archant)

The University of Suffolk has announced the appointment of David Parlett as visiting professor of games design.

David Parlett is known internationally as a game designer, author, games historian and consultant.

Professor Parlett’s most well-known game, Hare & Tortoise, is a unique race game in which players don’t use dice, but use strategy to move their pieces according to available resources.

Hare & Tortoise was the first game to be conferred with the prestigious German board games accolade, the Spieles des Jahres award when the German edition was published in 1979.

East Anglian Daily Times: Invented by David Parlett, who is joining the university of Suffolk as visiting professor in games designInvented by David Parlett, who is joining the university of Suffolk as visiting professor in games design (Image: Archant)

First published in English in 1974, Hare & Tortoise has sold more than three million copies in ten languages.

Professor Parlett’s most recently published games include Around the World in 80 Days, a race-game based on the Jules Verne story, and a card game, 4 Seasons, both published in 2016.

Another card game, Chicken Out!, is due to be launched in February 2017 at the world’s biggest toy fair, held annually at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre in Germany.

As a consultant, Professor Parlett has provided advice on games in television and stage productions, including Poldark (BBC); Downton Abbey (ITV); Great Expectations (BBC) and Richard Strauss’s Intermezzo (English National Opera Company).

He is the author of a number of books on games including The Oxford History of Board Games and The Oxford Guide to Card Games.

Senior lecturer Eddie Duggan, organiser of the Board Game Studies Colloquium held at the University of Suffolk, said “We are delighted that David Parlett is the first visiting professor in games design. As a scholar and historian David has a lot to offer and his expertise as a games inventor will give Games Design students invaluable insight into game mechanics. His appointment will be a boon to games design which is growing area of study at the University of Suffolk.”