Roll of the Dice
Originally published in the December 5, 2005, Boulder’s Daily Camera
Locals try their hand at the growing board game scene
By Alicia Wallace, Camera Business Writer
December 5, 2005
Photo by Paul Aiken
The Xbox 360 and the PlayStation Portable may be the hot toys for the techno-savvy, but one seasoned genre is making a comeback: the board game.
“We’re still in a post-9/11 frame of mind and wanting things from simpler days,” said Maria Weiskott, editor of Playthings, a 102-year-old trade magazine that covers the children’s toy industry. “Game companies are doing well and they’re coming out of the woodwork.”
Those game-makers, she said, are putting out unique ideas that not only cater to a wide variety of ages, but also a variety of retailers.
Within the past two years, some locals β the manufacturers of games such as Shift, Fetch!, Gamesake, and Boulder on Board β have jumped on that toy train.
“It’s been very exciting,” said Callie Weiant, co-founder of Jocapa Products LLC, which released the Gamesake series last year. “But we’re taking it slowly … We’re pretty realistic about how competitive the industry is.”
Last year, the games/puzzles category reported $2.3 billion in sales, the same amount as arts and crafts and just below dolls, according to data compiled by the NPD Group and released by the Toy Industry Association Inc.
People who are feeling frustrated with video games often crave the familiarity and simplicity of board games, said John Kaufeld, communications manager for the Game Manufacturers Association, or GAMA.
“I’m a parent, I’ve got a 13- and 15-year-old, and they have Game Boys,” Kaufeld said. “But they also really like sitting down and playing board games, not just because I’m a game geek myself, but because it gives us a chance to interact. It helps me be a good parent.”
And game manufacturers, large and small in size, have responded. There are “easily more than 1,000 to 2,000 titles” on the market, Kaufeld said.
The marketplace is getting crowded, but shelf space is getting smaller as more doors have closed, said Playthings’ Weiskott. Bankruptcy has forced large retailers Toys “R” Us, KB Toys and FAO Schwarz to close stores in recent years and some smaller independent retailers have shuttered after they failed to compete with the large discount stores, she said.
One answer for game manufacturers is utilizing the Internet for sales, Weiskott said.
“Another way is go to a toy fair and catch the attention of specialty toy retailers,” she said. “They want these kinds of products to differentiate themselves from the mass market.”
Finding a niche is what some of the Boulder-bred companies have worked to do.
For example, Weiant’s Gamesake series β occasion-oriented games with birthday, wedding and Christmas themes β are sold not just in toy stores, but gift stores and wedding boutiques as well.
Dog trivia and board game Fetch! also is sold in pet stores.
Psychological board game Shift is available in local stores ranging from PlayFair Toys to the Boulder Co-op Market.
“It’s neat because we’re on the game side and in the (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) market,” said Nicole Casanova, chief executive officer of Exponential Growth LLC, maker of Shift.
The niche strategy has appeared to work thus far for each of the Boulder game-makers.
Shift’s Casanova, whose background includes positions in marketing and sales, said her first venture into the game industry has been successful. So far, no store has said no to the product, she said. The company also has put a demo of the game on its Web site, which has spurred a fair amount of sales, she said.
Casanova said she hopes the game β where people share personal experiences to move from start to finish β will not only appeal to families and friends, but possibly psychologists, victims’ advocates and businesses as a way for people to trust and learn more about others.
“The idea is, can we see things different?” she said. “First, we have to be open to out-of-the-box thinking.”
In the near future, the focus will be to continue to get Shift in more locations, she said.
When the nonprofit Impact on Education released Boulder on Board, a Monopoly-styled game using Boulder themes and businesses, the goal was to sell 3,500 of the games to raise money for an opportunity fund for local schools.
All but 900 sold last year, said Karin Kearney, the initial project manager and former boardmember of Impact on Education.
“Games are in,” she said. “Families are playing games now … and this is a way the community can really step in and make a difference.”
The local and national communities also have responded well to the Gamesake series β the games are sold in 27 states and the company is in the after-Thanksgiving rush, Weiant said.
“Because it’s the holiday season, a lot of the orders are related to the Christmas game,” Weiant said. “(The game) is definitely not high-tech and that has its advantages, too.”
Weiant said her company has received requests for other versions and plans to put some of those in production soon.
Sharon Heskett said sales of her Fetch! game started off slow, but have picked up recently after getting the Web site established and selling some of the games on eBay.
“An overnight success, as they say, often takes a few years,” Heskett said. “I haven’t given up. It’s coming along, and I’m getting the hang of this.”
Contact Camera Business Writer Alicia Wallace at (303) 473-1332 or wallacea@dailycamera.com.