Whew…ChiTAG is over and I’m exhausted!  I will freely admit that between T&GCon, the TAGIEs and ChiTAG it’s my favorite 4 days in the game industry calendar because it feels like everyone is in town and it’s not quite as crazy as New York Toy Fair – although that’s debatable.  During those 4 days I tackled: speaking at T&GCon on the “Packaging and Design” panel, I attended the Toy and Game Inventor Awards (and lost), was interviewed by a newspaper and a radio station, met with (what feels like) a …

I can’t express enough how social media has taken me to new and crazy places —  places I’d never dream I’d be.  For example, this month Fast Company magazine (a magazine I love) and has an article just on me and the “tools of my trade” (which is really just some of the interesting stuff I use to do my job).  Amazing!  Here’s a screen shot and a link to the article (and the one without typos is in the Dec/Jan print issue, page 84):

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/161/kim-vandenbroucke-game-inventor 
Okay, I’m tooting my horn right …

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 …

Last November was the Toy and Game Inventor Awards better known as the TAGIEs and the 2010 winner for “Excellence in Game Design” was the lovely Mary Jo Reutter.  She’s invented Sumo Ham Slam by Gamewright, Flip-A-Longs by the Fat Brain Toy Co., Laundry Jumble by Educational Insights, and many others.  And luckily for all of us she has gracefully agreed to submit to an interview.  Here’s what she had to say…
1. How did you get started inventing games?
I started designing games before I realized that’s what I was doing. I …