The goal of the game is to create the highest net worth in cash and franchises by strategically buying franchise business as you traverse the board. Land on a franchise and buy it, or pay-up to the owner when you pass "start". Land on a Profit and Asset space and select a card that will help you out. Land on a Loss and Liability space and you better get ready to pay. It usually takes two trips around the game board, or about 2.5 to 3 hours to complete a game.

Franchi$it features real-life chains including 7-Eleven, Aamco Transmissions, The Athlete's Foot, The Coffee Beanery, Dent Doctor, Great Clips and more. There are 15 in all.

The game is in it's prototype stages and production quantities will be available later in the year. The manufacturer's suggested retail price will be $39.99. But don't worry about the price, the game also includes a Franchise Education Booklet that contains more than $250 worth of redeemable coupons from participating franchises.

This is a fun new game that will keep everyone playing for hours. Looks like Loren's really found what's important in life -- friends, family and... franchising!

Pig Pile (www.rnrgames.com; compare prices)

This year, R&R is announcing Pig Pile... "the card game that lets you go hog wild!" Players compete to collect the most pigs in this crazy new card game. Get rid if your cards first and be awarded the prime pile of pigs. The player with the largest pile of swine after the final round wins.

We played this game and found it to require quick thinking and clever card play to "heap up on the hogs." :-) It was a lot of fun, and what we loved most were those cute little plastic pigs -- oink! oink!

The game is for 3 to 6 players ages 8 and up. There are 80 cards in the deck, 50 cute, lovable pink plastic pigs and an illustrated rules booklet.

Also new from R&R is a Riddles and Riches expansion set called Riddles and Riches... The Hunt Continues. The expansion pack comes with 102 riddle cards, 51 hint cards and an answer booklet.

We also saw some of the classic R&R games in their booth such as Sold (compare prices), the Antique Dealer Game; Riddles and Riches (compare prices), the Treasure Hunt Game; Time's Up (compare prices), the Fast Paced Game of Multiple Personalities and Overthrone (compare prices), the Card Game of Intrigue and Rebellion.

Bethump'd by Mamopalire, Inc.

Here's an interesting tidbit of game trivia for you... How many of you knew that Mamopalire is a name that was derived by putting together pieces of the inventor's three daughters names? We'll it's true, and quite a nice tribute to the daughters, one of whom is the current president of the company.

The original Bethump'd is Bethump'd with Words (compare prices), and was a winner of the "Best New Word Game Award" from Games Magazine and was a "Top 10 New Game" as rated by the Chicago Tribune. Then to play off of this stupendous success, the company released Bethump'd with History (compare prices) in 2000. New for this year is a supplemental card set for the original Bethump'd with Words.

Great Games here again:

Eurogames / Descartes

Today we had the opportunity to meet with Ron Magin, the Managing Director of Eurogames / Descartes -- USA. Many of the Eurogames have won multiple awards from Games Magazine, which Ron attributes to the finer design of most of the imported games. On display were Delta Dragon, A Dog's Life, Montgolfiere, Mystery on the Nile, Democrazy, Castle, Halloween, Dragon's Gold, Vinci (compare prices), Evo (compare prices) and the popular Formula De (compare prices).

There were no new announcements for the show, but we did hear that there will be some new releases later on in the year. To keep up to date on what's new visit their web site at www.descartes-editeur.com/english.htm

Discover Games (www.discovergames.com)

One of the services offered on Mary's site is representation at Toy Fair. We visited the booth on the main floor of the Javits this year and found it jam-packed with prospects. On one side of the booth Mary had game literature neatly organized, and on the back-side of the booth were all the games she was representing. There was also a table for presentations and for game demonstrations. The booth also seemed to be a gathering place for independent inventors to meet and to share ideas, contacts and experiences.

Tonight Mary organized an inventors dinner that was attended by about 20 to 25 inventors. It was held at Trattoria Trecolori and started at 6:00 p.m. The food was excellent and it was the perfect opportunity to establish friendships with some of the other inventors. It sure is a great group of people, thanks for getting us all together Mary.

Betcha Didn't Know

TriBond (compare prices) celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Tim Walsh and two friends created the idea for the game at college, but they struggled to gain the respect from the toy industry. Going against the odds, they raised money from their families and friends to develop a prototype that they brought to Toy Fair 1990. The game that gets players to think in threes has quietly become an international success and has sold almost 2 million copies. Not bad considering that for the first four years Tim sold TriBond out of the back of his jeep! (Courtesy of the Toy Manufacturers of America)