Toy Fair 2001 - Opening Day

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by Frank Sobyak
Sunday, February 11, 2001

Today you could just feel the enthusiasm in the air of the independent game manufacturers here in Game Zone. These are people who have dedicated their lives to producing their games and who have spent endless hours preparing for the show. Everyone was ready early for what was sure to be an exciting day.

The day started out busy and stayed busy throughout, with visits mostly from specialty store owners. We took the time to speak with the inventors of some of the new games on the scene for 2001, to learn of new additions of previously released games and to visit with some of the inventors of the classics. Here's what we found:

Here are some of the new games we have seen on the scene for 2001:

Orange Barrels, from Rough Road Productions LLC. Steve Kelch has produced this fun new game where players traverse road obstacles to get from start to finish. More on this game in today's Show Spotlight. www.orangebarrelsthegame.com

Franchisit, from LAF Enterprises, Inc. Loren Fossie has spent years creating this interesting game with overtones of Monopoly, but done one better. Great graphic design and sure to be one to watch. Look for more detail on this game in a coming report. www.franchisit.com

Coodju, from Anomaly Games. Derry Watkins and Matthew Garel have teamed up to develop Coodju, which is spelling with a twist. Teams compete for points by spelling everyday words in one of six bizarre and crazy ways: forwards, backwards, by skipping a letter, from the outside to the inside, with vowels only or with consonants only. It's a fast-paced party game that's has people G-N-I-K-L-A-T! www.coodju.com

Longevity, from New Earth Games. The game of Longevity grew out of an increasing awareness of how factors such as the environment, genetic background, and lifestyle can affect the length and quality of life. The game combines both chance and choice to simulate real life. Players learn to balance risk factors, emergencies and their genetic make-up. Whoever is oldest at the end wins. Definitely teaches some valuable lessons that are applicable to everyday life. www.longevitythegame.com

Teams of Enemies (compare prices), from Big Toe Games. Mark Nelson has created this game where your friends and family cooperate together in alliances to solve trivia questions in five unique and challenging rounds. But be careful as the teams often change, and your friends and family may be teammates in one round... but enemies in the next. As the end of the game draws near the mode changes from team cooperation to survival of the fittest. Rated one of the Top 10 New Board Games from the Chicago Tribune. www.bigtoegames.com

The Poll Game (compare prices), from The Poll Game LLC. The fun begins with the posing of an intriguing poll question from the game's questions, or players can create one of their own. The object of the game is for the other players to guess how the other players will answer the question. Players move forward based on how they guess. We certainly had fun playing this game when it was demonstrated, and found that it spurred some lively discussions. www.thepollgame.com

New and Improved for 2001:

Scaventure, from Scaventure Inc. Lisa Kelleher and Helen Bacik developed this great group game that sends people off in teams with a handful of tasks... and a limited time to carry out as many as possible. Anything can happen, from finding out what the soup of the day is at the local diner to finding and bringing back a CEO's business card. It's an organized scavenger hunt that's easy to play and a fun way to inject interaction to the start of a dinner party or other get-together. New for this year is a version for kids, with the hunt confined to items around the house or yard. Sounds like great fun for kids, especially for a birthday party event. www.scaventure.com

Zoki (compare prices), from Playroom Entertainment. Their new line of games, puzzles and game teasers is based on Zoke, an incredible mathematically based game concept that is sure to tease the brain. Their products include the Zoki card set, the Zoki software package, a travel deck and Zoki Junior. www.zoki.com

Great Games here again:

Some of the other favorites that you may have heard of before are here again at the show.

Chebache from Pardee Games. This Games 100 award-winning game from Scott Pardee is a strategic game that combines elements of Checkers, Backgammon and Chess, while bridging the gaps between them. It's played on a board of 16 squares and the objective is to move your pieces from one corner to the diagonally other corner. If you're looking for an exciting game built on familiar principles, and if you like to challenge your strategic intellect then you'll find this game addicting. www.chebache.com

Consequential from Just a Game, Inc. Bradley Pyles and Walker Rowland, Jr. have teamed to create this fast-paced word game. Help your team to quickly guess five words in consecutive order. But, you can only give clues beginning with letters in a particular sequence between the letters you roll on an alpha-die. For example, roll a B and then a D. Your clues are Block... Cold... Dry. Have the answer yet? It's ice! www.justagameinc.com

Proverbial Wisdom (compare prices) from Jordan Pine. Jordan has researched over 500 proverbs and sayings to turn them into a fun and entertaining game. Players either sketch a proverbs for teammates to guess, choose the correct meaning or origin of a proverb, or guess what proverb is represented by a picture already drawn. The game is "as easy as 1-2-3" and more fun than "a barrel of monkeys." www.proverbialwisdom.com

Tonight we're off to the 50th Anniversary Colorforms Party, hosed by University Games in the FAO Schwartz flagship store on 5th Avenue. This is going to be fun! A full report tomorrow.

Show Spotlight

Orange Barrels (www.orangebarrelsthegame.com)

Steve Kelch, of Dayton, Ohio first conceived the idea for his game while broken down in a construction zone. And for days, weeks and even months after, his wife Lori, heard Steve's stories of delays, near misses and traffic tickets in construction zones he traversed in his travels through the city. From these experiences, that often cause some drivers an occasional bout of road rage, came a fun new game that mimics the challenges of every day driving.

The objective of the game is to be the first person to advance their car to the finish square . . . but watch out for your opponents, who can slow you down by building bottlenecks with small orange barrels. The strategy of the card play and the roll of the die are a player's only "roadside assistance". "Go Cards" are used for your own advancement, Stop Cards are used to play against other players and Police Cards are fines (with fines doubled in construction zones!).

The game's packaging is unique in that the entire game is encased in a tube. Plus, Steve has designed an ingenious point-of-purchase display with a road construction design that holds a dozen games. Because the board game is rolled inside the tube, Steve and Lori spent months researching the proper materials for the board game construction to ensure that it would lay flat when unrolled, and it does... amazing!

Steve has created an interesting game that attracted a lot of attention at the show. His booth was well done as every detail followed the construction zone theme... he even wore orange shoes and offered orange barrel candy to passers by. And what inspired us most was Steve's positive enthusiasm and Lori's dedicated support of her husband as he follows his dream of delivering a fun new game to the market. We certainly wish them the best.

Don't Make Me Laugh (www.lolofun.com)

Don't Make Me Laugh was created by two brothers, Charlie and Robert Paul. Charlie and Robert have found that by drawing upon their respective strengths (Charlie's an engineer and Paul a teacher) they have come up with a game and a company that's a winner. The name of their company, The Lolo Company, means "crazy" in Hawaiian and was selected to support their company's mission, to help people look at the lighter side of life.

Their flagship product, "Don't Make Me Laugh," has been on the market for about 5 years and has won multiple awards. Some of these awards include Dr. Toy's Top 10 Games, Top 10 New Games, and Top 100 Best Products. To play the game, teams challenge one another to laugh at a variety of improvisational antics. Players collect Ha Ha, Ho Ho and He He cards through different situations, actions, jokes, objects and impressions. There are also Jester and Heckler cards that help add to the laughter. We find Don't Make Me Laugh to be a game that's needed in every game collection. It's sure to add hours of fun and laughter to your life, while creating lasting memories between friends and family.

Announced this year at Toy Fair, is the second edition of this classic party game. Some tweaks have been made to increase group interaction, so now it's now twice the fun. This release follows last June's release of Don't Make Me Laugh Jr., designed for kids to play with kids and for kids to play with adults. The Lolo Company is also announcing a new game called Roh Szam Boh, which is promoted as "Rock, Paper, Scissors and Checkers meet in the galaxy." It's targeted to kids between the ages of 7 to 12 and is an entertaining strategy game. We heard several people talking about it, and it sounds like it's sure to be a winner. This new game will be available in June with a targeted retail price of $15.

We were impressed by this team's success in the industry and with their willingness to help many of the other new entrepreneurs in the Game Zone. They were friendly and helpful with advice.

Betcha Didn't Know...

Yahtzee (compare prices) was invented in 1956 by a Canadian couple aboard their yacht. When friends were invited aboard, they were taught how to play their "Yacht Game." Eventually they approached Edwin S. Lowe, who made his fortune selling Bingo games in the 1920s, and asked him to print up a few games as gifts. Lowe liked the game so much he offered to buy all the rights. The couple was not interested in receiving royalties, and they signed away their rights in exchange for a few copies of the game. Lowe changed the name of the game to Yahtzee and enjoyed great success with this classic dice game. Milton Bradley acquired the E.S. Lowe Company and the Yahtzee game in 1973. (Courtesy of the Toy Manufacturers of America)