Jay Tummelson is the founder of Rio Grande Games.
Jay Tummelson was the top-ranked RPGA Judge, when Don Bingle and Linda Bingle brought him on as a third owner of their company 54°40' Orphyte after they purchased the product rights for Pacesetter Ltd's games.[1] Tummelson met Darwin Bromley of Mayfair Games through his connection with 54°40' Orphyte, and joined Mayfair Games in 1995, and for the next two years was involved with licensing German games under the direction of Bromley for the company to produce American versions; under Tummelson in 1996 alone, German games such as Grand Prix, Modern Art, Manhattan, Streetcar, and The Settlers of Catan were finally published in the United States.[1] Tummelson was laid off from Mayfair, and founded Rio Grande Games in 1998, which became the major United States Eurogame publisher for many years,[1] [2] by taking the approach of using the same artwork and components as the original games and sharing the cost of printing with the European publishers.[3] [4] Tummelson sold his shares in 54°40' Orphyte after founding Rio Grande Games, leaving the Bingles solely in charge of their company.[1]