Mind Control Software announced today that it has hired former Vice President of Digital Gaming for Wizards of the Coast, Randy Buehler, as Vice President of Business Strategy. In addition to his role managing digital initiatives at Wizards, Buehler served for many years as the point person managing all content creation for Magic: the Gathering in both its tabletop and online incarnations. He joins Director of Game Design, Andrew Finch and Senior Programmer, Alan Comer, as former Wizards of the Coast employees who have joined the Mind Control team in recent months. All three will be involved in the recently announced project Mind Twist; the new online strategy game from Magic: the Gathering creator, Richard Garfield.

Prior to joining Mind Control Software, Buehler was the Vice President of Digital Gaming at Wizards of the Coast where he handled digital business development and evangelized digital initiatives. Before joining Wizards of the Coast as an employee, Buehler was one of the top Magic: the Gathering players in the world and was inducted into the Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame in 2007. After joining Wizards in 1999, Buehler contributed to the design and development of over 30 published card sets and he is well known by Magic fans for his ten years long (and still counting) run as play-by-play commentator for live webcasts of the Pro Tour. In his role as VP of Business Strategy at Mind Control Software, Buehler will be responsible for bringing key development and business partnerships to the company as well as contributing to game and metagame design.

"There is a huge amount of tabletop gaming money being made that hasn't crossed over to the internet yet. We plan to utilize these key hires to bring all the best elements of great tabletop games to the latest game playing platforms," said Andrew Leker, CEO, Founder, and Chief Designer of Mind Control Software. "As online gaming blossoms across internet-connected platforms, Mind Control Software will continue to focus on innovation and creativity, while carving a niche for ourselves in the strategy-gaming genre."

Buehler's fellow Magic Hall of Famer, Alan Comer, a former engineer and architect for Magic: the Gathering Online, has also joined the Mind Control Software team where he will be involved in programming several titles, including Mind Twist. In addition, Andrew Finch, former Wizards of the Coast Community Manager, Tournament Manager, Brand Manager, Business Developer, Game Designer, Creative Director and Executive Producer brings 13 years of experience across many Wizards brands to his role leading Mind Control Software's game design team as
the Director of Game Design.

"I have been entrenched in the tabletop realm for many years and I know I speak for myself, Andrew, and Alan when I say how excited we are about the opportunities we will have combining our game knowledge, enthusiasm, and experience with Mind Control's incredible technology capabilities," said Buehler. "We not only make these games, we LIVE these games, and at Mind Control we are being given an opportunity to take what we love to do and bring it to a new digital audience."

"We are extremely pleased to have Randy, Andrew and Alan on board for Mind Twist, as well as our other key upcoming projects, continued Leker. "Randy's extensive experience and expertise is a strategic asset to Mind Control Software as we gear up to take the tabletop gaming industry into the digital realm. Combine that with the key expertise that Andrew and Alan bring from Magic: the Gathering Online, Dungeons & Dragons, and more, and we are brimming with talent."

Mind Twist will be a free-to-play strategy game that launches initially on iPhone and Facebook and then expands onto other platforms later. Thanks to Mind Control's proprietary Orbital Gaming Platform, users on different gaming devices will be able to participate in the same events and play against each other.