Bernie De Koven
1941-2018
It is with great sadness that we share the news lifelong play advocate Bernie De Koven has passed away. Born October 15, 1941, in Appleton, WI, Bernie spent his life encouraging others to play:
- He was the author of The Well Played Game, long considered the standard for creating successful video games.
- He developed the Interplay Curriculum for School District of Philadelphia
- He created a retreat for adults to study the relevance of games and play in Eastern Pennsylvania
- He consulted with LEGO, Mattel, and Ideal on game and toy design
- He was one of the earliest and most vocal advocates of GameTime's Expression Swing
- He published two of the longest-running blogs on the topics of fun and playfulfness: deepfun.org and aplayfulpath.org
Last year, after telling his family and friends he was nearing the end of his battle with terminal cancer, Bernie left a loving gift of Expression Swings to his neighborhood park in Indianapolis to remind adults and children that playfulness is a gift.
We will miss you, Bernie. Yours was a life well played.
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