Andrea Angiolino

Lore & Background

Andrea Angiolino began his career as a journalist in the mid-1980s with a column about role-playing games on the Italian monthly magazine Pergioco, co-written with Gregory Alegi. He later worked for many national newspapers, magazines, radio broadcasts, and internet sites. As a game designer, his board games include Dragon Ball – Alla ricerca delle sette sfere (1998), Ulysses (2001), Wings of War (later Wings of Glory), Battlestar Galactica: Starship Battles (2019), Isla Dorada (2010), and the card game Obscura Tempora (2005). He also wrote role-playing games such as Orlando Furioso, co-authored with Gianluca Meluzzi and published by the City Council of Rome for distribution in schools and public libraries.

Reader's Guide

Andrea Angiolino's significance lies in his dual career as a journalist and game designer, bridging media and play. He was the first Italian author to publish a choose-your-own-story gamebook, In Cerca di fortuna, and the first to publish one for pre-literate children, Il Mischiastorie – Osvaldo e i cacciatori. His 'Games Dictionary' (Dizionario del Gioco, with Beniamino Sidoti, 2010) contains over 6,500 entries and nearly 1,200 pages, serving as a major reference work. He also wrote manuals on using gamebooks and role-playing games in schools and libraries, and gives lessons to teachers and librarians. His recognition includes being named 'Expert Game Inventor' by the Italian Ministry for Public Teaching in 1999, receiving the first Special Best of Show for Distinguished Achievements from Lucca Games in 2004, and being awarded Personalità Ludica dell'Anno 2007 (Game Person of the Year 2007) in 2008. His legacy includes the Wings of War/Wings of Glory series, which became a widely played aerial combat game system.

Did You Know?

• Andrea Angiolino started his journalism career with a column about role-playing games on the Italian monthly magazine Pergioco in the mid-1980s.
• He co-wrote the 'Games Dictionary' (Dizionario del Gioco) with Beniamino Sidoti, first published in 2002, which has over 6,500 entries and nearly 1,200 pages.

From Journalist to Game Designer

Andrea Angiolino, born in Rome on April 27, 1966, built a career that wove together journalism and game design in a way few Italian creators have matched. His professional journey began in September 1982, when he and Gregory Alegi launched a column dedicated to role-playing games in the Italian monthly magazine Pergioco. That early byline opened doors across the Italian media landscape: he went on to contribute to numerous national newspapers and magazines, appear on radio broadcasts, and write for internet publications. Yet journalism was never his sole identity. As a game designer, Angiolino produced titles spanning genres and decades—from the 1998 Dragon Ball board game through the 2001 strategy title Ulysses, the long-running Wings of War and Wings of Glory miniature wargames, the 2018 Battlestar Galactica: Starship Battles, and the 2010 island-exploration game Isla Dorada. He also co-wrote the role-playing game Orlando Furioso with Gianluca Meluzzi, and created bespoke games for radio stations, television programs, corporate training, advertising campaigns, festivals, and live shows.

A Prolific Author and the Games Dictionary

Beyond his game designs, Angiolino has published more than twenty books, several of which have been translated into multiple languages. His most ambitious literary achievement is the Dizionario del Gioco (Games Dictionary), co-authored with Beniamino Sidoti and released by Zanichelli in 2010. That single volume contains over 6,500 entries spread across nearly 1,200 pages, making it a comprehensive reference for anyone studying the history and mechanics of play. Angiolino also holds the distinction of being the first Italian author to publish a choose-your-own-story gamebook, In Cerca di fortuna, and the first to create one aimed at pre-reading children, Il Mischiastorie – Osvaldo e i cacciatori. His other written works include fantasy short stories, an encyclopaedia covering the Warhammer fantasy universe, and the 1995 Super Sharp Pencil & Paper Games (later reprinted in 2003 as Mind Sharpening Logic Games). He also co-designed the card game Obscura Tempora (2005) and contributed to the educational title Earthquakes: How and Why (2010).

Games as a Teaching Tool

A distinctive thread running through Angiolino's career is his commitment to using games as educational instruments. The role-playing game Orlando Furioso, which he wrote with Gianluca Meluzzi, was published not by a commercial publisher but by the City Council of Rome specifically so it could be distributed in schools and public libraries. He followed this with two dedicated manuals explaining how gamebooks and role-playing games can be integrated into classroom and library settings. Beyond publishing, he actively trains educators, giving lessons to teachers and librarians on the broader use of games in pedagogical contexts. This educational philosophy earned him a formal title in 1999, when the Italian Ministry for Public Teaching designated him an "Expert Game Inventor." His approach treats play not as a diversion from learning but as a legitimate and structured medium for developing critical thinking, narrative skills, and collaborative problem-solving in young people.

Recognition and a Career Spanning Decades

Angiolino's contributions to Italian and international gaming culture have been formally acknowledged on multiple occasions. In November 2004, the Lucca Games convention presented him with the inaugural Special Best of Show award for Distinguished Achievements, a first-of-its-kind honor recognizing a body of work rather than a single product. The following summer, in 2008, he received the Personalità Ludica dell'Anno 2007 prize—essentially a "Game Person of the Year" title—further cementing his status as a central figure in the Italian ludic community. His career arc stretches from that 1982 Pergioco column through the 2018 release of Battlestar Galactica: Starship Battles, a span of more than three decades of continuous creative output. He has maintained a personal website as a public point of contact, and his collaborations with designers such as Pier Giorgio Paglia, Andrea Mainini, Bruno Faidutti, and Alan R. Moon on titles like the Wings of War and Wings of Glory series demonstrate that his influence extends well beyond solo projects into the broader international tabletop community.

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