Decipher, Inc. is a gaming company based in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. They began with three puzzles called "Decipher" then moved on to party games and Pente sets but since 1994, has begun to produce collectible card and role-playing games. Gaming is an umbrella term that includes a number of special hobby game types: Board games Collectible card games Computer and video games Tabletop wargaming (i. ... Jump to: navigation, search Norfolk is a city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States of America. ... Jump to: navigation, search Pente is a board game created in 1978 by Gary Gabrel. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Jump to: navigation, search Collectible card games (CCGs), also called customizable card games or trading card games, are played using specially designed sets of cards. ... Jump to: navigation, search A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which players assume the roles of fictional characters via role-playing. ...

Their first and longest-running offering is How to Host a Murder Mystery. Their other popular works have included many different card games:

• Star Trek Customizable Card Game (1994-Present)
• Star Wars Customizable Card Game (1995-2001)
• Young Jedi Collectible Card Game (1997-2001)
• Austin Powers Collectible Card Game (1999)
• Jedi Knights Collectible Card Game (2001)
• The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game (2001-Present)
• .hack//ENEMY Trading Card Game (2003-2005)
• Beyblade Trading Card Game (2003)
• Megaman: NT Warrior Trading Card Game (2004-2005)
• WARS Trading Card Game (2004-2005)

They've also produced two role playing games: Jump to: navigation, search The Star Trek Customizable Card Game is, as the name implies, a collectible card game based on the Star Trek universe. ... Star Wars Customizable Card Game (SW:CCG) is a collectible card game based on the Star Wars fictional universe. ... The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game (a. ... .hack//ENEMY is a trading card game released in 2003 by Decipher, Inc. ... Decipher, Inc. ...

• Star Trek RPG (2002-2003, 2005-present)
• Lord of the Rings RPG (2002-2003, 2005-Present)

As you can see, from the start Decipher has been largely focused on creating games based on big, popular franchises. Unfortunately in 2001 they lost the rights to the Star Wars game to Wizards of the Coast, ending the long run of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game which was possibly one of their biggest games at the time. Luckily, the Lord of the Rings movies started to release that same year, giving Decipher a quick replacement franchise to take over the spot. In 2003 they started to try getting a younger crowd involved, to compete with Yu-Gi-Oh and all the other games flooding that market. They created three different Anime based games, to varying degrees of success. Unfortuantely in 2005 with the wavering success of the .hack and Megaman cartoons, they were forced to cancel both lines. They also attempted in 2004 to re-release the extremely popular game mechanices of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game in the form of their first non-franchised card game, Wars. Unfortunately it didn't prove to be commercially successful, and was put on hold in 2005. Jump to: navigation, search The Star Trek Role Playing Game is, as the name implies, a role-playing game based on the Star Trek universe. ... Star Wars began with a 13-page treatment for a space adventure movie which George Lucas drafted in 1973, inspired from multiple myths and classic stories. ... Jump to: navigation, search Wizards of the Coast (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is a publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes. ... Star Wars Customizable Card Game (SW:CCG) is a collectible card game based on the Star Wars fictional universe. ... Dust jacket of the 1968 UK edition The Lord of the Rings is an epic fantasy story by J. R. R. Tolkien, a sequel to his earlier work, The Hobbit. ... Yu-Gi-Oh! manga volume 1 (English version) Yu-Gi-Oh! (遊☆戯☆王 yūgiō, Japanese for King of Games) is a popular Japanese anime and manga franchise from Kazuki Takahashi that mainly involves characters who play a card game called Duel Monsters (originally called Magic and Wizards (M&W... For the PlayStation 2 video game series by the same name, see . ... Mega Man firing his weapon while in Shadow Mans stage from Mega Man 3 (NES). ... Star Wars Customizable Card Game (SW:CCG) is a collectible card game based on the Star Wars fictional universe. ...

During 2005, with the overall decline of the gaming industry, the company suffered financial losses and was forced to layoff as many as 40 employees. With the game industry in a decline, Decipher's future remains in doubt.

External link

• Decipher's website
• Decipher's tournament website