Matt Leacock Explained

Matt Leacock
Nationality:	American
Occupation:	Game designer
Notable Works:	Pandemic, Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert
Website:	http://www.leacock.com/

Matt Leacock is an American board game designer, most known for cooperative games such as Pandemic, Pandemic Legacy: Season 1, Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert.^{[1] [2]}

Early life

Leacock grew up in Long Lake, Minnesota.^[3] He studied visual communication at Northern Illinois University.^[4]

Career

Matt designed Pandemic, published in 2008 by Z-Man Games.^[5] Leacock had previously worked as a developer of social media^[6] and as a user experience designer, primarily in community and communications products^[7] for AOL and Yahoo.^[8] He switched to designing board games full time in July 2014.

Pandemic Legacy: Season 1, which Leacock co-designed with Rob Daviau, has been rated very highly among board gamers and by the website Board Game Geek on its board game rankings.^{[9] [10]} His latest game, Daybreak is about climate change, and won The Best Board or Tabletop Game for Impact at the 2024 Games for Change Festival.^[11]

Games

• Pandemic (2008)
• (2008)
• Pandemic: On the Brink (Expansion) (2009)
• Forbidden Island (2010)
• Forbidden Desert (2013)
• Pandemic: In The Lab (Expansion) (2013)
• Pandemic: The Cure (2014)
• Pandemic: State of Emergency (Expansion) (2015)
• Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 (2015)
• Thunderbirds (2015)
• Knit Wit (2016)
• Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu (2016)
• Pandemic Iberia (2016)
• Chariot Race (2016)
• Space Escape (formerly Mole Rats in Space) (2017)
• Pandemic: Rising Tide (2017)
• Pandemic Legacy: Season 2 (2017)
• Pandemic Fall of Rome (2018)
• Forbidden Sky (2018)
• (2019)
• Pandemic Legacy: Season 0 (2020)
• Ticket to Ride: Legends of the West (2023)
• Daybreak (2023)
• Forbidden Jungle (2023)
• Flickering Stars (2024)
• Ziggurat (2024)
• Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West (2024)
• The Problem with Purrballs (2024)

Charity

According to Leacock, 5% of his design royalty for Pandemic products is donated directly to Medecins Sans Frontieres.^[12]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Games. Matt Leacock Games. en-US. 2017-06-19.
2. Web site: Matt Leacock - Game Designer - Profile. About.com Home. 2016-04-24.
3. Web site: Yoo. Sharon. 27 March 2020. A board game called 'Pandemic' is big right now...because of course it is. 2020-09-08. Kare11. en-US.
4. Web site: Borrelli. Christopher. 5 March 2020. Q&A with the Chicago creator of Pandemic, the board game that has become all too real. 2020-09-08. Chicago Tribune.
5. Web site: Pandemic. 2020-09-08. BoardGameGeek. en-US.
6. Web site: Matt Leacock and Pandemic Legacy. 2020-09-08. BBC.
7. Web site: About. 2020-09-08. Matt Leacock Games. en-US.
8. Web site: This Board Game Designer Isn't Sorry About Taking a Big Risk . . June 30, 2016 . October 29, 2016 . Alex . Fitzpatrick .
9. Web site: Pandemic Legacy review: Emotional highs and agonising lows . . January 16, 2016 . September 29, 2016 . Owen . Duffy .
10. Web site: Pandemic Legacy is the best board game ever—but is it "fun?" . . March 12, 2016 . October 1, 2016 . Nate . Anderson .
11. Web site: Hall . Charlie . 2021-04-13 . Pandemic creator's new board game, Daybreak, is about climate change . 2021-04-16 . . en . mdy-all.
12. Web site: Genovese. Peter. 2020-04-03. Pandemic —the board game — foreshadows current crisis. 2020-09-08. nj. en.