4Stack #14 — answers & breakdown
Monday, July 27, 2026
Sixteen people who all made something you have played. The categories are roles, not achievements, which matters because several of these names could sit under two headings if you sorted by fame instead.
The sixteen cards in this puzzle were: Shigeru Miyamoto, Hideo Kojima, Sid Meier, John Carmack, Gabe Newell, Markus Persson, Palmer Luckey, Tim Sweeney, Troy Baker, Nolan North, Laura Bailey, Charles Martinet, Koji Kondo, Nobuo Uematsu, Mick Gordon, C418.
The four stacks
Created iconic franchises
Shigeru Miyamoto, Hideo Kojima, Sid Meier, John Carmack
Designers defined by the series they created. John Carmack is the one that stings — he co-founded id Software, so he would fit the green group perfectly well; he is here because Doom and Quake are the larger fact about him.
Founded gaming companies
Gabe Newell, Markus Persson, Palmer Luckey, Tim Sweeney
Company founders: Valve, Mojang, Oculus and Epic Games respectively. Markus Persson sold Mojang to Microsoft in 2014 and has had no involvement since.
Prolific voice actors
Troy Baker, Nolan North, Laura Bailey, Charles Martinet
Voice actors with enormous credit lists. Charles Martinet voiced Mario for roughly twenty-seven years before stepping back from the role in 2023.
Game composers
Koji Kondo, Nobuo Uematsu, Mick Gordon, C418
Composers. C418 is the second Minecraft-adjacent name on this board — he wrote the soundtrack while Persson wrote the game — and that doubling is the trap, because spotting one Minecraft connection tempts you into grouping them together.
Want to try it yourself? Play puzzle #14 — archive plays don't affect your streak. Or jump into today's puzzle.