Francis Tresham (game designer)

{{Short description|British board game designer (1936–2019)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

File:Francis Tresham, game designer.jpg

Francis Tresham (1936 – 23 October 2019) was a British board game designer who produced board games since the early 1970s. Tresham founded and ran games company Hartland Trefoil (founded 1971), a company well-known for its Civilization board game, until its sale to MicroProse in 1997.{{cite news|title=MicroProse, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Creator of Civilization(TM) Board Game|publisher=MicroProse inc|date=December 2, 1997|work=Press Release|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-20027461.html}}{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} His 1829 game was the first of the 18xx board game series{{Cite web|url=http://www.18xx.net/personal.htm#Francis+Tresham|title=Blackwater Station : Personal|website=www.18xx.net}} and some of his board games inspired Sid Meier computer games such as Railroad Tycoon.

Francis Tresham was the first to introduce a technology tree into his boardgames.{{Cite book|author=Stewart Woods|title=Eurogames – The Design, Culture and Play of Modern European Board Games|place=London|publisher=Mc Farland |year=2012|isbn=978-0-7864-6797-6|page=40}} This idea had a large influence on later board and computer games.

He was managing director of Tresham Games, which produced 18xx-style board games. In 2013, he was one of the first inductees in the UK Games Expo Hall of Fame.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/halloffame.php|title=Uk Games Expo Hall of Fame|website=www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk|access-date=25 October 2019|archive-date=29 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629163639/https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/halloffame.php|url-status=dead}} He died on 23 October 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.railsonboards.com/2019/10/24/18xx-legend-francis-tresham-passed-away/|title=18XX Legend – Francis Tresham – passed away|date=23 October 2019}}