Roberta Heuer Williams (born 16 February 1953) is a well-known computer game designer and arguably the most influential female gamer of her time.

In the eighties and nineties, Roberta and her husband Ken Williams were leading figures in the development of graphical adventure games. They founded the company On-Line Systems, which later became Sierra On-Line. Their contributions to gaming were partially chronicled in the book Heroes of the Computer Revolution.

Roberta Williams was instrumental in writing and designing several games, including the entire King's Quest series, Mixed-Up Mother Goose, and The Colonel's Bequest. Though Sierra was sold in 1996, Williams' production credits date until 1999.

Roberta posed for the cover of the game Softporn Adventure by Chuck Benton, published by On-line Systems. She also posed much later with her children as Mother Goose for the cover photograph of Mixed-Up Mother Goose.

Roberta and Ken married on 4 November 1972; she was 19, he just turned 18. They have two children, D.J. (b. 1973) and Chris (b. 1979). At present, the Williams family is living in a house they built in Mexico.

Since her retirement in 1998, she stayed shy away from the public and rarely gave interviews to talk about her past with Sierra On-Line. However, in a 2006 interview , she admitted that her favorite game she created was Phantasmagoria and not King's Quest, "If I could only pick one game, I would pick Phantasmagoria, as I enjoyed working on it immensely and it was so very challenging (and I love to be challenged!). However, in my heart, I will always love the King’s Quest series and, especially, King’s Quest, I since it was the game that really ‘made’ Sierra On-Line."

In a 2006 interview , Williams said that designing computer games is in the past for her now and that she intends to write a historical novel.

Works

• Mystery House (1980)
• Wizard and the Princess (1980)
• Mission Asteroid (1981)
• Time Zone (1982)
• Quest for the Crown (1984)
• The Dark Crystal (1984)
• Mickey's Space Adventure (1984)
• Romancing the Throne (1985)
• To Heir Is Human (1986)
• The Perils of Rosella (1988)
• Mixed-Up Mother Goose (1988)
• The Colonel's Bequest (1989)
• Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder! (1990)
• Quest for the Crown (1990)
• Mixed-Up Mother Goose CD (1990)
• Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow (1993)
• The Princeless Bride (1994)
• Phantasmagoria (1995)
• The Realm Online (1996)
• The Mask of Eternity (1998)

References

External links

• Ken and Roberta Williams page
• A Roberta Williams fan club
• Interview with Roberta Williams, Adventure Classic Gaming (1997)
• Roberta Williams at MobyGames
• An interview with Roberta Williams at WomenGamers.com
• Article at The Dot Eaters featuring Williams and an early history of Sierra

1953 births | Living people | Computer and video game designers | Computer and video game actors

Roberta Williams | Roberta Williams | Roberta Williams | Roberta Williams | Уильямс, Роберта