Biography
Mabel Addis Mergardt was an American writer, teacher and the first video game writer. She designed The Sumerian Game, programmed by William McKay, for the IBM 7090 in 1964, which inspired other kingdom management games such as Hamurabi from the early 1970s.
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Mabel Addis Mergardt was an American writer, teacher and the first video game writer. She designed The Sumerian Game, programmed by William McKay, for the IBM 7090 in 1964, which inspired other kingdom management games such as Hamurabi from the early 1970s. She was a teacher when she participated in an experiment with IBM to create an educational game, and as a result, she became the first female video game designer!
In 1962, Mabel was elected to work with IBM on their jointly sponsored project with the Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES). The group held a summer workshop to explore simulated environments as methods of instruction. What resulted was the Sumerian Game, an early video game that taught the basics of economic theory to sixth graders. In it, a student would act as the ruler of the Mesopotamian city-state of Lagash, in Sumer, in 3500 B.C. The video game was text-based, but it is believed to be the first to introduce storytelling and characters, and the first in a genre now known as edutainment.
Alexandra Johnson, Mabel’s only child, remembered her mother as a playful educator who made history come alive. Mabel retired from teaching in 1976. She frequently traveled abroad, including to the ancient ruins of Pompeii in Italy and the Acropolis in Greece, returning to give slide show presentations to local residents who could not travel. She was involved in historical societies and collected oral histories of octogenarians in the area, contributing chapters to several books about neighborhoods in Westchester County.
In March 2023, the Game Developers Choice Awards honored Mabel with a posthumous Pioneer Award, listing her innovations: “game updates, in-game narrative experiences, and early iterations of what would become known as cutscenes.” The award announcement also said that she “helped pave the way for game elements that wouldn’t become mainstream for decades.”
- Lifespan
- 1912-2004
- Nationality
- American
- Occupations
- Teacher, Video game writer
- Era
- 20th Century
- Born
- 1912 Reviewed
- Died
- 2004 Reviewed
- Tags
- American, 20th Century, Teacher, Video game writer
- Themes
- Writing, Education, Global History