Okay so you’ve got an idea for an awesome game or toy  — now what?!  Yea, I get that question ALL THE TIME and I have one answer….go to T&GCon.  But spending money on a conference isn’t what most people want to hear when they’re already considering self-manufacturing a new concept.  Which makes sense — BUT I can’t stress enough that starting off on the right foot is essential to success and the best way to make sure you’re doing that is by getting advice from people who have ” …

I was hoping that after my 1-day whirlwind trip to GenCon in Indianapolis I would have this amazing recap article to write, but I have to say after spending an hour and forty-three minutes in the Will Call line to pick up my ticket, I was pretty miffed.  Given that my ONE-day pass set me back $50.88 (a 4-day pass costs $78.00 + fees, just FYI) standing in line for that long really soured the start of the event for me.  (The pic at right only shows a small portion …

Unfortunately I didn’t get to go to ASTRA this year, but my inventor friend Mary Jo Reutter (read about her games HERE) did and she was nice enough to share what’s great about the ASTRA show from an inventor’s perspective.  Quick background for anyone who doesn’t know ASTRA stands for American Specialty Toy Retailing Association and they’re the ones behind Neighborhood Toy Store Day which is Nov. 12th this year.  The ASTRA show is held in June every year, but unlike Toy Fair the location of the show bounces around …

I’ll admit it, I was the geek in the back last night taking feverish notes during Mike Hirtle’s lecture entitled  “What Makes A Good Game.”  Now, before the sassy comments come streaming in, it wasn’t because I don’t know what makes a game good – it’s more I that I wanted to be able to share his thoughts with you.
What I found interesting is that he referred to George Parker’s criteria for a good game.  For those of you who don’t know George Parker (at left) was THE original Parker …

To read Part 1 of this series, click HERE.  To read Part 2 of this series, click HERE.
Here are some of the continuing trends I saw during Toy Fair 2011:

Tile-Placement games
In the last two years we’ve seen a bunch of Blokus-like games such as Callisto by University Games, Cir*Kis by Winning Moves/Hasbro and Blockers by Briarpatch.  New additions this year – both of which I think look pretty fun — include City Square Off by Gamewright and PathWords by ThinkFun.  In City Square Off each player has their own board …