13 Facts About Mabel Addis

Mabel Addis Mergardt was an American writer, teacher and the first video game writer.

Mabel Addis 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.

Mabel Addis is considered to have created the strategy video game genre and text based game concept.

Mabel Addis has been recognized as the world's first narrative video game writer as well as the first video game writer, and is the oldest known female video game designer.

Mabel Addis grew up in Mount Vernon and excelled in school, graduating valedictorian from Brewster High School in 1929.

Mabel Addis attended Columbia University for her graduate schooling, and obtained a masters degree in education.

Mabel Addis worked there for thirteen years before finally moving to Katonah-Lewisboro School District in 1950.

Mabel Addis used her knowledge of history to contribute to both history and book committees in the school district.

Mabel Addis wrote and published historical articles, started an oral history collection, and co-authored a book titled Katonah: a History of a New York Village and Brewster Through the Years.

Mabel Addis was elected to work with IBM and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services to create The Sumerian Game, the first text-based computer game.

Mabel Addis married Alexander L Addis in 1942, officially becoming Mabel Addis.

Mabel Addis remarried in 1991 to Gerard Mergardt, who died in 1995.

Mabel Addis was posthumously awarded the Pioneer Award during the 2023 edition of Game Developers Conference on 23 February 2023.