Brian Reynolds
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Brian Reynolds (born 1967) is a North American game designer. Honored by PC Gamer magazine as one of twenty-five "Game Gods," Reynolds has masterminded the design of such strategy games as Civilization II, Alpha Centauri and Rise of Nations.
Reynolds' game career began in 1991 when he joined Microprose as the lead programmer for their graphic adventure series. Early games included Rex Nebular (1992), Return of the Phantom (1993), and Dragonsphere (1993). But Reynolds' greatest passion has always been for strategy games. As the graphic adventure series wound down, Brian began work on a prototype which eventually became a collaboration with Sid Meier, the eponymous Sid Meier's Colonization (1994). Acclaim for Colonization led to Reynolds' first stint as lead designer: Reynolds and Kaufman sequelized Meier's Civilization (1991) to create Civilization II (1996).
The runaway success of Civilization II gave Reynolds the beginnings of “name recognition” in the industry and he became a founding partner in Firaxis Games, his first entrepreneurial venture. At Firaxis, he contributed to the design of Sid Meier's Gettysburg (1997), and then led the design and creation of Alpha Centauri (1998), his second million-selling game. In 2000, Brian sold his stake in Firaxis to pursue his new dream, Big Huge Games.
Reynolds briefly pursued graduate studies in Philosophy at U.C. Berkeley.
Credited on 28 games
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| Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition (2020, Windows) | Creative Director |
| Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning (2020, Windows) | Additional Thanks |
| Rise of Nations: Extended Edition (2017, Windows Apps) | Design Lead |
| DomiNations (2015, Android) | Creative Director |
| The Ville (2012, Browser) | Additional Help |
| Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (2012, Xbox 360) | Additional Thanks |
| Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties (2008, Macintosh) | Creative Director |
| Catan (2007, Xbox 360) | Project Lead |
| Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends (2006, Windows) | Project Lead |
| Rise of Nations: Gold Edition (2004, Windows) | Design Lead |
| Rise of Nations: Thrones & Patriots (2004, Windows) | Design Lead |
| Rise of Nations (2003, Windows) | Game Design |
| Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri: Planetary Pack (2001, Linux) | Created By |
| Sid Meier's Alien Crossfire (1999, Windows) | Design |
| C-evo (1999, Windows) | Game Design |
| Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (1999, Windows) | Lead Design |
| Civilization II: Multiplayer Gold Edition (1999, Macintosh) | Game Design |
| Sid Meier's Gettysburg! (1997, Windows) | Design |
| Sid Meier's Civilization II (1996, Windows 16-bit) | Game Design |
| Once Upon a Forest (1995, DOS) | MADS Game Engine |
[ full credits ]
Frequent Collaborators
People- 20 games with Douglas Kaufman
- 19 games with Timothy Train
- 17 games with Jason S. Coleman
- 12 games with David Inscore
- 11 games with Sid Meier
- 11 games with Jennifer MacLean
- 11 games with Chris Coleman
- 11 games with Dan Halka
- 10 games with Pranas Pauliukonis
- 10 games with Jason Cain
Companies
- 8 games with MPS Labs
- 8 games with MicroProse Software, Inc.
- 8 games with Big Huge Games, Inc.
- 7 games with Microsoft Corporation
- 7 games with Xbox Game Studios
- 6 games with MicroProse-Spectrum...
- 5 games with Leader S.p.a.
- 4 games with Electronic Arts, Inc.
- 4 games with Epic Games Tools LLC
- 4 games with Electronic Arts Ltd.
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