Tom Lehmann (game designer)


Tom Lehmann has worked as an economist, programmer, boardgame publisher, and technical writer, but is best known as a game designer. His card game Race for the Galaxy won several awards.

Career

Tom Lehmann was the publisher and designer of Prism Games. His first published game was in 1992. His works include Fast Food Franchise, Time Agent, 2038, 1846, Magellan/Pizarro & Co., Jericho, To Court the King, Phoenicia, Race for the Galaxy, and New Frontiers. He is now a freelance game designer, and has been a full time game designer since the early 2000s, publishing games internationally. He has also worked with Matt Leacock on expansions for Pandemic, as well as Res Arcana.
Lehmann began work on a card game version of Puerto Rico, both working on his own and with the designer Andreas Seyfarth. When his version was not used as part of San Juan, he continued to develop his game, combining it with a previous design for a space-themed customizable card game. The final result was published as Race for the Galaxy by Rio Grande Games.
Race for the Galaxy was an Origins Awards finalist in the "Traditional Card Game" category. Lehmann also received critical acclaim for the game, which has been called one of the best card games by New Indian Express. Meeple Mountain said it had "masterful design" and was still playable 12 years after its initial release.
In 2014, Lehmann designed Roll for the Galaxy with Wei-Hwa Huang, which Financial Times listed in its "Five of the best board games" list in 2023. This version uses a mechanic system involving six-sided dice. Dice Tower Dish said it fixed the perceived issues with complexity some players had with the original game. Lehmann created the Jump Drive expansion in 2016, based on his game The City from Amigo, for new Roll for the Galaxy players.
Lehmann also produced the 2018 standalone addition New Frontiers which allowed players to conquer new worlds and colonize them. In 2022, he published his dice-building game Dice Realms.

Published games

  • Fast Food Franchise
  • Time Agent
  • Suzerain
  • Age of Exploration
  • 2038 - co-designed with Jim Hlavaty
  • Throneworld
  • Magellan/Pizarro & Co.
  • Meine Würfel, deine Würfel - a dice game included with 55
  • 1846 - an 18XX game
  • Jericho
  • To Court the King
  • Phoenicia
  • Race for the Galaxy
  • The Gathering Storm
  • Middle Kingdom
  • New Society
  • Rebel vs Imperium
  • Pandemic: On the Brink - co-designed with Matt Leacock
  • The Brink of War
  • The City
  • Outpost Kicker Expansion
  • Starship Merchants - co-designed with Joe Huber
  • Pandemic: In the Lab - co-designed with Matt Leacock
  • Alien Artifacts
  • Roll through the Ages: the Iron Age
  • Ciúb
  • Roll for the Galaxy - co-designed with Wei-Hwa Huang
  • Pandemic: State of Emergency - co-designed with Matt Leacock
  • Ambition - co-designed with Wei-Hwa Huang
  • Favor of the Pharaoh
  • Xeno Invasion
  • Pandemic: The Cure - Experimental Meds, co-designed with Matt Leacock
  • Jump Drive
  • New Frontiers
  • Res Arcana
  • Rivalry - co-designed with Wei-Hwa Huang
  • The Expanded City and Eco Expansion
  • Lux & Tenebrae
  • Dice Realms
  • Chu Han
Lehmann has also contributed design ideas to other published games, including Outpost, San Juan, Pandemic: The Cure, the revised edition of Pandemic, and Pandemic Legacy: Season 1.