Why Did Richard Garfield Create Magic: The Gathering? To Bring the Customizable Fun of RPGs to Card Games
When mathematician and game designer Richard Garfield created Magic: The Gathering in 1993, he envisioned translating the imaginative, social fun of multiplayer fantasy roleplaying games (RPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons into an innovative new card game format. According to Garfield, his primary motivation was introducing a customizable, collectible card game that created a shared fantasy experience and gave players control over shaping their strategic card combos.
Magic Captures What Garfield Loved About RPGs
As an avid RPG player, Garfield adored the social storytelling, boundless imagination, and player creativity that came with collaboratively building a fantasy world. Players weren‘t confined to strict gameplay – if they dreamed up an inventive new ability for their characters, the DM would often allow it!
This ability to customize your own cards to suit different strategies and playstyles was a huge appeal of Magic for Garfield. When brainstorming the game in 1991, he asked himself:
"What if there was a card game where players could customize their decks, getting that same feeling as optimizing an RPG character?”
That creative spark led to the world‘s first collectible card game.
Key Influences Behind Garfield‘s Game Design
While RPG freedom was integral to Magic‘s inspiration, other key influences helped shape Garfield‘s genre-defining design:
Applying Combinatorial Mathematics
With a Ph.D. in combinatorial mathematics, Garfield had the know-how to engineer immense strategic complexity into Magic. By calculating dizzying arrays of card interactions, Garfield created the depth players expect from an expertly balanced strategy game.
Cosmic Encounter Showed Rule-Bending Potential
The 1979 sci-fi card game Cosmic Encounter showed Garfield that card game rules didn‘t have to be strict and unchanging. Cosmic Encounter added variability by allowing players to creatively break rules and invent new powers. This demonstrated the possibilities of customization that Garfield expanded on.
| Year | Game | Key Influence |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Cosmic Encounter | Demonstrated possibilities of customizable card powers/abilities |
| 1974 | Dungeons & Dragons | Roleplaying inspiration, sparking imagination through collaborative storytelling |
The Untapped Market of Collectible Card Games
Finally, as both gamer and designer, Garfield recognized no collectible card game yet harnessed worldwide RPG fandom into an innovative new format. Magic: The Gathering would be the first, captivating fans of fantasy adventure from D&D while pioneering an entire new gaming genre.
Magic Captivates Fans – Garfield‘s Vision Realized
In bringing the storytelling social fun of RPGs into quick-playing customizable card battles, Garfield‘s game design struck a chord across the globe. Magic: The Gathering has retained devoted fans for almost 30 years, played by over 20 million fans.
The game remains popular not just because of addictive gameplay, but because veterans and new players alike enjoy the creativity and community that comes with building unique card combinations. Just as Garfield envisioned back in 1991, Magic makes every player feel like the master strategist of their own fantasy realm.
