Maurice Suckling

GSAS
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About

Maurice Suckling has worked in the games industry for nearly 30 years, with over 50 published video game titles to his name. He’s worked as a producer, designer, voice director, motion capture director, animation director, and, most often, as a writer. In addition to Suckling’s work in games, he has also worked in TV and movies, and has published a collection of short stories. His research interests include storytelling in games, board and card games as narrative systems, and historical simulations. Suckling’s first game was Driver in 1999. Since then, he’s worked on Fortnite, Killing Floor 2, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Mafia III, Civilization VI, and the Wii Fit series. Between 2013 and 2015, he served as narrative director for 2K Australia. The second edition of his co-authored Video Game Writing: From Macro To Micro was published by Mercury Learning in 2017. Paper Time Machines: Critical Game Design and Historical Board Games was published by Routledge in 2025. Suckling’s first board game, Freeman's Farm: 1777, was published by Worthington Publishing in 2019. Since then, he has published four more board games through Worthington (Chancellorsville: 1863, Hidden Strike: American Revolution, 1565 Siege of Malta, Crisis: 1914), and published Operation Barclay through Salt & Pepper Games in 2024. Suckling is currently working on several history-themed board games for several different publishers.

Education & Training
  • Ph.D Creative Writing, Newcastle University, UK.
  • M.A. Global History, University of Birmingham, UK.
  • B.A. (Hons) Religion with Literature, University of Bristol, UK.
Other affililations: Communication and Media

Research

My current primary research focus is in history-themed analogue games - the history of the development of these games, investigating the design elements that purport to give us analytical models of aspects of history, and the rapidly evolving shape of the related commercial board games industry. Of especial interest to me is how games convey arguments about history and the capability of the medium to project historical narratives and afford experiential meaning to players.

I am currently writing a co-authored book (with RPI's Christopher Jeansonne) for Michigan University Press on the Ares published board game War of the Ring.

My current game developments include (many with co-designers):

  • Rebellion: Britannia, a 1-4 player game about the first century rebellions in Roman Britain.
  • Peace 1905, a 1-3 player game about the Treaty of Portsmouth ending the Russo-Japanese War.
  • Elizabeth: England Aflame, a 4-7 player hidden role game about spycraft in Elizabeth I's England.
Primary Research Focus
History-Themed Analogue Games
Other Focus Areas

My other major research area is storytelling in games, which includes analogue games and video games, with a special interest in the unique affordances of storytelling within these contexts - the ways story is a fundamentally and profoundly different in some regards in an interactive medium. My primary interest here is in innovation.

Teaching

Current Courses
  • Introduction to Game Storytelling (GSAS 2520)
  • Writing for Games I (GSAS 4240)
  • Writing for Games II (GSAS 4250)
  • Research Topics in Critical Game Design: Historical Simulations (GSAS 4961/6961)

Recognition

Awards & Honors
  • Games for Change Festival, Winner Most Innovative and Best Gameplay Awards, for Lost Words: Beyond the Page, 2021.
  • Charles S. Roberts Award for Excellence in Conflict Simulation, Winner Best American Civil War  Wargame, for Chancellorsville: 1863. 2021
  • Excellence in Curriculum Development. The School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, RPI. 2020
  • Charles S. Roberts Award for Excellence in Conflict Simulation, Nomination Best Ancients to Pre-Napoleonic Era Board Wargame for Freeman’s Farm: 1777. 2020
  • Faculty Achievement Award, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 2019
  • ProtoStar Game Pitch Competition, Winner. 2019
  • Faculty Achievement Award, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 2018
  • REVEAL Game Pitch Competition, Winner. 2018
  • Faculty Achievement Award, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 2017
  • Kotaku Australian Game of the Year, Readers’ Choice. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. 2014
  • BAFTA video game nomination (with Berbank Green).Teach Your Monster to Read. 2013
  • Northern Promise Award, New Writing North. 2005
  • BAFTA for Moving Images category. Driver. 1999

Publications

Board Games                                                                                              

  • Operation Barclay. Salt & Pepper Games. (Game designer.) 2024
  • Crisis: 1914. Worthington Publishing. (Game designer.) 2024
  • 1565 Siege of Malta. Worthington Publishing. (Game designer.) 2022
  • Hidden Strike: American Revolution. Worthington Publishing. (Game designer.) 2021
  • Chancellorsville: 1863. Worthington Publishing. (Game designer.) 2020
  • Freeman’s Farm: 1777. Worthington Publishing. (Game designer.) 2019

 

Video Games - select listing

  • Lost Words: Beyond The Page (Narrative Consultant, Narrative Designer, Additional Writer) 2020
  • Fortnite, Epic Games. (Narrative Consultant) 2019
  • Metro Exodus. Deep Silver. (Narrative Consultant) 2019
  • Killing Floor 2, Back and Kickin’ Brass, DLC. Tripwire Interactive. (Writer) 2019
  • Killing Floor 2, Twisted Christmas DLC. Tripwire Interactive. (Writer) 2018
  • Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier, The Imaginati Studios. (Lead Narrative Designer) 2017
  • Killing Floor 2, Tripwire Interactive. (Writer) 2017
  • Civilization VI, 2K Games. (Writer) 2016
  • Killing Floor 2, Tripwire Interactive. (Writer) 2016
  • Claptastic Voyage, DLC, 2K Games. (Narrative Director, Voice Director) 2015
  • Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!, 2K Games. (Narrative Director, Voice Director) 2014
  • Battleplan: American Civil War, The Mustard Corporation. (Creative Director) 2014
  • Boiling Point, Atari. (Writer for opening sequence) 2014
  • The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, 2K Games. (Writer) 2013
  • The Thirty Nine Steps, The Story Mechanics. (Consultant) 2013
  • Wii Fit U, Nintendo. (Producer, EFIGS recordings) 2013
  • Teach Your Monster To Read, Usborne Publishing. (Writer) 2013
  • Brain or Body, Ubisoft. (Writer, consultant) 2011
  • Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, SEGA. (Writer, voice director) 2011
  • James Noir's Hollywood Crimes, Ubisoft. (Writer) 2011
  • BioShock 2, 2K Games. (Producer, UK voice sessions) 2010
  • Alphablocks, webispodes, BBC. (Writer) 2010
  • Birthday Party Bash, 2K Games. (Producer, UK voice sessions) 2009
  • Planet 51, SEGA. (Writer) 2009
  • Wii Fit Plus, Nintendo. (Producer, EFIGS recordings) 2009
  • Nintendo Presents Crossword Collection, Nintendo. (Producer, writer) 2009
  • Unsolved Crimes, Empire Interactive. (Writer, consultant) 2008
  • Pipemania, Empire Interactive. (Writer) 2008
  • Don King Presents Prizefighter, 2K Sports. (Lead writer) 2008
  • Wii-Fit, Nintendo. (Producer, EFIGS recordings) 2008
  • Virtua Tennis 3, Sega. (Writer) 2007
  • Driver '76, Atari. (Lead writer) 2007
  • Pokemon Battle Revolution, Nintendo. (Producer, FIGS recordings) 2007
  • Buzz: The BIG Quiz, SONY. (Writer) 2006
  • Driver: Parallel Lines, Atari. (Lead writer, voice director) 2006
  • Driver 3, Atari. (Lead writer, voice director, animation co-director) 2004
  • Endgame, Empire Interactive. (Writer) 2002
  • Stuntman, Atari. (Lead writer, voice director, animation co-director) 2002
  • Driver 2, Infogrames. (Lead writer, voice director) 2000
  • Driver, GT Interactive. (Lead writer, voice director) 1999

 

Books - select listing

  • Paper Time Machines: Critical Game Design and Historical Board Games. Routledge Press. 2025.
  • Video Game Writing: from macro to micro, (textbook and reader for students) Mercury Learning (2nd edition) co-written with Marek Walton. 2017
  • Video Game Writing: from macro to micro, (textbook and reader for students) Mercury Learning (1st edition) co-written with Marek Walton. 2012
  • Photocopies of Heaven, Elastic Press. 2006

 

Book Chapters and Forewords

  • Chapter: "Design Elements in Postcolonial Commercial Historical Board Wargames" in Heritage, Memory and Identity in Postcolonial Board Games. Ed. Michal Mochocki. New York and London: Routledge Press. 2024.
  • Chapter: :Historiography in Space: Approaches in Commercial Wargame Board Design" in Playing Place: Board Games, Popular Culture, Space. Eds. Chad Randl and Medina Lasansky. Cambridge, MA, London, England: The Mit Press. 2024.
  • Chapter: "Storytelling and Board Games" in Storytelling for New Technologies and Platforms: a writer’s guide to theme parks, virtual reality, board games, virtual assistants, and more. Ed. Ross Berger. Studies in the Long Nineteenth-century. New York: CRC Press Press. 2022.
  • Chapter: "What Did They Play and What Does It Say? Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of Nineteenth Century Board Games in Britain" in Playing Games in Nineteenth-century Britain and America. Eds. Ann R Hawkins, Erin Bistline, and Maura Ives. Studies in the Long Nineteenth-century. Ed. Pamela K. Gilbert. New York: State University of New York Press.  2021
  • Chapter: "If it Works, Break It: Game Narrative Tropes and Innovation" in Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing, (2nd edition) A.K.Peters. 2020.
  • Foreword in Surviving Game School: and the game industry after that, Michael Lynch and Adrian Earle, CRC Press. 2018
  • Story: "Televisionism" in Elasticity: The Best of Elastic Press, Ed. Andrew Hook, NewCon Press. Chapter: ‘2017
  • Chapters: "Writing for Shooting Games’, "Writing for Driving Games" in Writing for Video Game Genres: From FPS to RPG, A.K.Peters. 2009
  • Chapter: "Writing in a Team", co-written with Sande Chen and Anne Toole. Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing, A.K.Peters. 2008

 

Journal Articles

 

TV

  • Alphablocks. (Co-writer on series 1.) BBC. 2010
  • Comic Relief, BBC. 2005

The following is a selection of recent publications in Scopus. Maurice Suckling has 4 indexed publications in the subjects of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Computer Science.

Paper time machines: Critical game design and historical board games
Maurice W. Suckling
Paper Time Machines: Critical Game Design and Historical Board Games
, 2024
, pp.1-347
.
Design elements in postcolonial commercial historical board wargames
Maurice Suckling
Heritage, Memory and Identity in Postcolonial Board Games
, 2023
, pp.26-44
.
Dungeon on the Move: A case study of a procedurally driven narrative project in progress
Maurice Suckling
Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
, 11869 LNCS
, 2019
, pp.144-147
.
Board with meaning: Reflections on game design and historiography
Maurice Suckling
CEA Critic
, 79
, 2017
, pp.110-119
.

In the Media

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