What Does That Mean?

First of all, be aware that if you are listed as having two or three types (such as Johnny / Spike), your most prominent type is listed first.

Now that you’ve taken the test, I’m sure you’re asking questions like what the heck is a Timmy, Johnny, or Spike? Here in Magic R&D our job is create a game that makes players happy. In order to do this, we have to find out what players like about our game. Doing so has been a long ongoing process involving numerous factors. We’ve done questionnaires. We’ve done focus groups. We’ve lurked on Magic web sites and bulletin boards. We’ve talked to players in person. Heck, we even see what articles you read on this site.

After numerous years, we’ve come to the conclusion that there are three basic types of Magic players. The fancy term for these categories is "psychographic profiles." A psychographic profile separates players into categories based on their psychological make-up. What motivates that player to play? What kind of cards do they like? What kind of things encourages that player to keep on playing?

Because R&D loves naming things, we have given each of these three category types a name: Timmy, Johnny, and Spike. In this column I am going to explain each type and talk about how we came up with the goofy nickname.

One last thing before I start. Very few players fall into one specific psychographic profile. Most players have elements that overlap numerous profiles. This is why, for example, some of you who took the test got a combination of profiles rather than just one. I will talk about the hybrids after I explain each profile.