Rick Loomis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rick Loomis
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Loomis at Gen Con Indy 2014
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| Born | August 24, 1946 |
| Died | August 23, 2019 (aged 72) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Game designer |
Rick Loomis (born August 24, 1946 – died August 23, 2019) was an American game designer. He was best known for starting a game company called Flying Buffalo. He ran this company until he passed away.
Contents
Rick Loomis: A Game Designer's Journey
Early Life and First Games
Richard F. Loomis grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona. He went to Coronado High School there. In 1969, he joined the United States Army and served for three years. He was stationed in Oahu, Hawaii.
While in the Army, Rick found a wargame called Gettysburg. This game sparked his interest in designing his own games. In 1970, he created a game called Nuclear Destruction. It was special because players could move their pieces secretly.
Rick started offering to run multiplayer games of Nuclear Destruction by mail. This was called a play-by-mail (PBM) game. Soon, he had over 200 players! He asked a fellow soldier, Steve MacGregor, to write a computer program to help manage the games. They rented time on a computer near their base. They called their new venture Flying Buffalo.
In 1972, Rick left the Army. He went to college part-time and earned a degree in accounting from Arizona State University.
Starting Flying Buffalo Games
After leaving the military in 1972, Rick Loomis and Steve MacGregor officially started their PBM company. They named it Flying Buffalo, Inc. They used their savings to buy a special computer just to run their games. Rick often said he was the first person to buy a computer only for playing games!
In 1972, Flying Buffalo also started publishing the card game Nuclear War. This game quickly became one of their most popular products.
Later, in 1975, Rick helped his friend Ken St. Andre sell copies of a game called Tunnels & Trolls at a game convention. When all the copies sold, Flying Buffalo decided to publish Tunnels & Trolls themselves. They released a second edition in December 1975.
Rick also came up with the idea for Buffalo Castle in 1976. This was an adventure book where players made choices and turned to different pages. It was a great way to introduce players to Tunnels & Trolls. In 1981, Rick also created the idea for Grimtooth's Traps, which was a book full of tricky traps for role-playing games.
Rick designed another award-winning play-by-mail game called Starweb in 1976. In 1983, Flying Buffalo released a card game called Nuclear Escalation. Some politicians in the UK tried to ban it, saying it was "a nasty twist on the toy industry." Rick explained that the game was meant to be funny. He said, "the subject is so serious that you have to laugh about it because otherwise you'd cry."
In 1985, Flying Buffalo moved its offices to a farmhouse Rick had inherited. That same year, Rick tied for first place as "Best PBM Moderator" in a magazine award.
Rick Loomis was also one of the people who helped start the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) in 1978. This group helps game makers. He served as its President many times. He was also one of only six people who had attended every Origins Game Fair since it began in 1975. In 1988, Rick received an award at the Origins Game Fair for his contributions to the game industry.
Later Years and New Games
In 2002, Flying Buffalo published a special game for the Origins convention. Rick also printed poker decks for the convention.
In 2013, Flying Buffalo announced a new version of Tunnels & Trolls. They raised over $125,000 for it through a crowdfunding campaign. This new "Deluxe" version came out in 2015. It brought a lot of new interest to the game. Rick oversaw all the plans and publishing for these new products. He even wrote a new part for his Buffalo Castle adventure.
In 2015, Flying Buffalo started another crowdfunding campaign for the 50th Anniversary edition of the Nuclear War Card Game. They raised over $156,000! This special edition was released in 2016. It included new cards designed by Rick.
In March 2019, Flying Buffalo announced a crowdfunding campaign for a combined edition of Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes. This new book brought together different versions of the game. It also added new content and illustrations. The campaign raised over $31,000.
Health and Death
In January 2019, Rick Loomis was diagnosed with a type of lymphatic cancer. He was hopeful because his doctors said it was "very treatable." However, on August 17, he was moved to the intensive care unit. Sadly, on August 23, 2019, Rick Loomis passed away due to medical problems. This was just one day before his 73rd birthday.
