Darwin Bromley

Darwin Paul Bromley (October 23, 1950 – January 2, 2019)[1][2] was an attorney and a game designer who had worked primarily on board games.

Darwin Bromley
Bromley at CruiseCon in 2015
Born
Darwin Paul Bromley

(1950-10-23)October 23, 1950
Huntington, West Virginia, U.S.
DiedJanuary 2, 2019(2019-01-02) (aged 68)
Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Game designer, Attorney

Career

Attorney Darwin Bromley was a railroad game fan, so in 1980 he founded the company Mayfair Games to publish a railroad game of his own; the company was named for the Chicago neighborhood where it was founded.[3]: 166  Bromley soon brought Bill Fawcett on as a partner in Mayfair Games, and together they designed the game Empire Builder (1980).[3]: 166  Bromley was involved with the Chicago Wargaming Association's convention, CWAcon, where Mayfair's first fantasy adventures in their new Role Aids game line were run: Beastmaker Mountain (1982), Nanorien Stones (1982) and Fez I (1982).[3]: 166  With Bromley's legal expertise, he felt that Mayfair could legally use TSR's trademarks as long as they were careful, so beginning with their Dwarves (1982) supplement Mayfair made it clear that they were not the trademark holders by printing on the cover: "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons is a trademark of TSR Hobbies, Inc. Use of the trademark NOT sanctioned by the holder."[3]: 166 

Bromley was an early adopter of German games, and imported German originals to distribute in the United States.[3]: 166  Bromley met Jay Tummelson of 54°40' Orphyte discussed about the companies working together.[3]: 199  Tummelson joined Mayfair in 1995, spending the next two years licensing German games under the direction of Bromley so that Mayfair could produce new American versions; under Tummelson, German classics such as Grand Prix, Modern Art, Manhattan, Streetcar, and The Settlers of Catan were published in the United States for the first time in 1996.[3]: 170  Bromley was the conceptual designer of Sim City: The Card Game.[4]

Darwin, playing Patchwork during CrusieCon in March 2015
Darwin, playing Patchwork during CrusieCon in March 2015

In 2018, Bromley made a donation, on behalf of himself and his late brother Peter, to The Strong National Museum of Play. It was the single largest donation in the history of the museum.[5]

He served as vice president of the GAMA Trade Show, and in 1990 he received the GAMA Merit of Service award.[6] He died on January 2, 2019, at the age of 68 following a long illness.[1]

References
  1. "Darwin Paul Bromley : Obituary". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  2. "Darwin Bromley - Board Game Designer - BoardGameGeek". boardgamegeek.com.
  3. Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  4. Writer, Stephen Lee, Tribune Staff. "TALES OF A CITY FOUND IN THE CARDS". chicagotribune.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. "Armchair Generals Past, Present, and Future: A Short History of Wargaming". Museumofplay.org. 2020-01-01. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  6. "Darwin Bromley, Co-Founder of Mayfair Games, Dies at 68". 2019-01-03. Retrieved 2019-01-04.
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