Ensemble founder Bruce Shelley joins Shenandoah Studios

Microprose and Zynga veteran Bruce Shelley has been appointed to Shenandoah Studio’s board of advisors.

The company specializes in iOS war games like Drive on Moscow, Gettysburg: The Tide Turns, and the Kickstarted Battle of the Bulge, which makes Shelley a natural match for the company.

Shelley is currently a freelance games design consultant, is a 30 year strategy games veteran who has worked on titles like the Age of Empires games, Railroad Tycoon, Civilization, and Halo Wars.

"I find it cool that they are focused on the iPad, especially as a platform for games,” said Shelley.

“I love that they are bringing strategy games to the platform, which were my first interest and the reason why I got into games – it’s a genre eager for growth."

Turn based strategy might seem a natural match for touch-screen devices, but so far there haven’t been many companies to charge into the breach.

Shelley has been in the strategy game industry since 1980 when he co-founded Iron Crown Enterprises. He then moved on to work at Simulations Publications, Avalon Hill, and in 1988 he joined Microprose where he worked with Sid Meier.

He was a founder of Ensemble studios, and in 2011 he joined Zynga but was let go in June of this year.