Michael Cranford is an American video game designer, programmer, ethicist, and educator. He is known for his work on the role-playing games The Bard's Tale (1985) and The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight (1986), as well as Centauri Alliance (1990) and Dark Seed (1992).
After his video game career in the 1980s and early 1990s, Cranford pursued graduate study in religion and social ethics. In 2026, he returned to video game development with Shadow Snare, a role-playing game in development for the Commodore 64.
Game designer Cranford was the designer and programmer of 1985's The Bard's Tale and 1986's The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight role-playing video games published by Interplay Productions. He also programmed the Apple II version of Donkey Kong, the Commodore 64 version of Super Zaxxon, as well as Maze Master (a spiritual predecessor of The Bard's Tale). His last video game was Dark Seed for Cyberdreams in 1992. He left the video game industry to pursue graduate studies, and thus was not involved in the creation of 1988's The Bard's Tale III. Almost thirty years later, however, he was approached by inXile Entertainment to assist with the development of The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep and had agreed to provide feedback and advice for the new game.
Games Name Year Credited with Publisher Story Machine (VIC-20 port) 1983 programmer Human Engineered Software Maze Master 1983 designer, programmer Human Engineered Software Super Zaxxon (C64 port) 1984 programmer Human Engineered Software Donkey Kong (Apple II port) 1984 programmer Atarisoft The Bard's Tale 1985 designer, programmer Electronic Arts Borrowed Time 1985 writer Activision The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight 1986 designer, programmer Electronic Arts Centauri Alliance 1990 designer, programmer Broderbund Dark Seed 1992 designer Cyberdreams
Academic career He was a professor for eight years at Biola University in La Mirada, California, gaining his Master of Divinity degree from Biola and a master's degree in Social Ethics from the University of Southern California. He is currently an adjunct professor of philosophy at Concordia University in Irvine, California. He studied architecture at the University of California, Berkeley and he holds a degree in philosophy from the University of Southern California, and has completed a Ph.D. in Religion and Social Ethics from the University of Southern California, with a focus on ethics and technology.
Publications
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References
External links
The Bard's Tale Compendium - more information about Michael Cranford's popular game series