Tom Lehmann (game designer)

For other people with the same name, see Tom Lehmann.

Tom Lehmann (born July 1, 1958) has worked as an economist, programmer, boardgame publisher, and technical writer, but is best known as a game designer.[1][2][3] His card game Race for the Galaxy won several awards.[4]

Career

Tom Lehmann was the publisher and designer of Prism Games.[5][6][7] His first published game was in 1992.[8][2] His works include Fast Food Franchise, Time Agent, 2038 (with Jim Hlavaty), 1846, Magellan/Pizarro & Co., Jericho, To Court the King, Phoenicia, Race for the Galaxy, and New Frontiers.[2][5][9] He is now a freelance game designer, and has been a full time game designer since the early 2000s, publishing games internationally.[8][5] He has also worked with Matt Leacock on expansions for Pandemic, as well as Res Arcana.[8]

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.[10]

Race for the Galaxy was an Origins Awards finalist in the "Traditional Card Game" category.[11] Lehmann also received critical acclaim for the game, which has been called one of the best card games by New Indian Express.[12] Meeple Mountain said it had "masterful design" and was still playable 12 years after its initial release.[13]

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.[14][15] This version uses a mechanic system involving six-sided dice.[15] Dice Tower Dish said it fixed the perceived issues with complexity some players had with the original game.[16] Lehmann created the Jump Drive expansion in 2016, based on his game The City from Amigo, for new Roll for the Galaxy players.[17]

Lehmann also produced the 2018 standalone addition New Frontiers which allowed players to conquer new worlds and colonize them.[18] In 2022, he published his dice-building game Dice Realms.[8][19]

Published games

  • Fast Food Franchise (Prism Games, 1992)[6][9]
  • Time Agent (Prism Games, 1992)[6]
  • Suzerain (Prism Games, 1993)[6]
  • Age of Exploration (Prism Games, 1994)[6]
  • 2038 - co-designed with Jim Hlavaty (Prism Games, 1995)[6][9]
  • Throneworld (Prism Games, 1997)[6]
  • Magellan/Pizarro & Co. (Hans im Glück, Rio Grande Games, 2002)[6]
  • Meine Würfel, deine Würfel (My Dice, Your Dice) - a dice game included with 55 (Abacus, 2005)[6]
  • 1846 - an 18XX game (Deep Thought Games, LLC, 2005; GMT Games, 2016)[6]
  • Jericho (Abacus, 2006)[6]
  • To Court the King (Amigo Spiele and Rio Grande Games, 2006; Japanese Edition with new art: Cosaic, 2015)[6]
  • Phoenicia (Rio Grande Games/JKLM Games, 2007)[6]
  • Race for the Galaxy (Rio Grande Games, 2007)[20]
  • The Gathering Storm (Race for the Galaxy expansion 1) (Rio Grande Games, 2008)[6]
  • Middle Kingdom (Z-Man Games, 2008)[6]
  • New Society (included in the St. Petersburg expansion) (Rio Grande Games, 2008)[6]
  • Rebel vs Imperium (Race for the Galaxy expansion 2) (Rio Grande Games, 2009)[6]
  • Pandemic: On the Brink (Pandemic expansion) - co-designed with Matt Leacock (Z-Man Games, 2009)[6]
  • The Brink of War (Race for the Galaxy expansion 3) (Rio Grande Games, 2010)[6]
  • The City (Amigo Spiele, 2011)[21][6]
  • Outpost Kicker Expansion (included in the 2011 Outpost reprint) (Stronghold Games, 2011)[6]
  • Starship Merchants - co-designed with Joe Huber (Toy Vault, 2012)[6]
  • Pandemic: In the Lab (Pandemic expansion) - co-designed with Matt Leacock (Z-Man Games, 2013)[6]
  • Alien Artifacts (Race for the Galaxy expansion arc 2) (Rio Grande Games, 2013)[6]
  • Roll through the Ages: the Iron Age (Eagle-Gryphon Games, Pegasus Spiele, 2014; revised edition, 2018)[6]
  • Ciúb (Amigo Spiele, 2014)[6]
  • Roll for the Galaxy - co-designed with Wei-Hwa Huang (Rio Grande Games, 2014)[6]
  • Pandemic: State of Emergency (Pandemic expansion) - co-designed with Matt Leacock (Z-Man Games, 2015)[6]
  • Ambition (Roll for the Galaxy expansion) - co-designed with Wei-Hwa Huang (Rio Grande Games, 2015)[6]
  • Favor of the Pharaoh (Bezier Games, 2015)[22]
  • Xeno Invasion (Race for the Galaxy expansion arc 3) (Rio Grande Games, 2015)[6]
  • Pandemic: The Cure - Experimental Meds (Pandemic: The Cure expansion), co-designed with Matt Leacock (Z-Man Games, 2016)[6]
  • Jump Drive (Rio Grande Games, 2017)[6]
  • New Frontiers (Rio Grande Games, 2018)[6]
  • Res Arcana (Sand Castle Games, 2019)[23][2][24]
  • Rivalry (Roll for the Galaxy expansion) - co-designed with Wei-Hwa Huang (Rio Grande Games, 2019)[6]
  • The Expanded City and Eco Expansion (expansions published along with the revised English edition of The City) (Eagle-Gryphon Games, 2019)[6]
  • Lux & Tenebrae (Res Arcana expansion) (Sand Castle Games, 2019)[6]
  • Dice Realms (Rio Grande Games, 2022)[25]
  • Chu Han (Matagot, 2024)[26]

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.

References

  1. ^ "Tom Lehmann | tabletop-network". tabletop-network. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d Rexhausen, Sebastian. "The best games from Thomas Lehmann". The best board games at Tibi. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
  3. ^ "Think Like A Game Designer Podcast #16: Tom Lehmann". Justin Gary. May 27, 2020. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
  4. ^ "Race for the Galaxy". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c Lehmann, Tom (2007). "Tigris & Euphrates". In Lowder, James (ed.). Hobby Games: The 100 Best. Green Ronin Publishing. pp. 319–321. ISBN 978-1-932442-96-0.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj "Info about 'Thomas Lehmann'". luding.org. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
  7. ^ Harkey, Alex (November 12, 2014). "November Guest Interview – Tom Lehmann". Games Precipice.
  8. ^ a b c d Eggett, Christopher John (December 1, 2022). "Talking Tabletop: Dice Realms with Thomas Lehmann". Tabletop Gaming. Warners Group Publications. Archived from the original on November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023. The interview is also available here from PressReader and verifies the interviewer is Christopher John Eggett.
  9. ^ a b c Huber, Joe (July 2, 2004). "German Game Authors Revisited - #13 - Tom Lehmann". Academic Gaming Review. Archived from the original on April 29, 2007. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
  10. ^ Batty, Ward (March 12, 2008). "Game". Boise Weekly. p. 38. ProQuest 367265827.
  11. ^ "Origins Awards Finalists Announced". ICv2. April 28, 2008. Archived from the original on November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  12. ^ Sukumaran, Arjun (August 27, 2020). "A new game of galaxies: In New Frontiers, 2-5 players compete to expand their galactic empires in various ways". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  13. ^ Wells, Thomas (July 13, 2019). "Race for the Galaxy Game Review". Meeple Mountain. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
  14. ^ Harford, Tim (April 21, 2023). "The never-ending brilliance of board games: When the pandemic struck, sales of Catan soared as people looked for something fun to do at home". Financial Times. Retrieved November 22, 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  15. ^ a b Monagle, Matthew (December 2, 2021). "The 20 Best Board Games For Adults". /Film. Archived from the original on November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  16. ^ "Donald X Vaccarino part 4 – Spin-offs and Stairwells". dicetowerdish.com. November 6, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
  17. ^ Niebling, William (December 16, 2016). "'Race for the Galaxy: Jump Drive': Stand-Alone Game by Thomas Lehmann". ICv2. Archived from the original on November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  18. ^ "Rick And Morty Get Szechuan Sauce, Black Mirror Goes Social, And More In Tabletop Gaming News". Gizmodo. November 24, 2018. Archived from the original on November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  19. ^ Bell, Justin (September 14, 2022). "Dice Realms Game Review". Meeple Mountain. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
  20. ^ "The best games from Thomas Lehmann 🇺🇸". The best board games at Tibi. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  21. ^ Helm, Peter van der (June 7, 2016). "Review: The City". Tabletop Together. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
  22. ^ Niebling, William (February 16, 2017). "Review: 'H.P. Lovecraft's Kingsport Festival: The Card Game' (Game)". ICv2. Archived from the original on November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  23. ^ "Henry Audubon part 5 – Sand Castles, Star Wars, and Slain Spires". dicetowerdish.com. March 12, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
  24. ^ "87 - Victory Points and Player Agency with Tom Lehmann". Nerdlab. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
  25. ^ "Dice Realms Review". Tabletop Gaming. Warners Group Publications. September 28, 2022. Archived from the original on November 22, 2023. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  26. ^ Lynch, Andrew (December 11, 2024). "Chu Han Game Review: A Lot to Chu On". Meeple Mountain. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
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