Game Industry Events

2017 Toy Fair Trends: Part 4 (the last one)

This is it, the last part of the 2017 Toy Fair Trends series. If you missed them here are links: Parts 1 and Part 2 and Part 3.

Co..

2017 Toy Fair Trends: Part 3

In Parts 1 and 2 I covered three HUGE trends: YouTube, Toy-etic, and Strategy. Those are pretty big themes, but what TYPES of games did I ..

2017 Toy Fair Trends: Part 2

Did you miss 2017 Toy Fair Trends: Part 1? Click HERE.

Continuing Trend: Toy-etic Games

Back in 2012 I wrote about how nice it was ..

2017 Toy Fair Trends: Part 1

I cannot believe that another Toy Fair has passed, but what a great show! The longer I’m in this industry the more I love events like ChiT..

2016 TAGIE Winners

I’m a bit late in getting this one posted, but it was a lovely even in the Navy Pier ballroom. I had the pleasure of sitting with some in..

2016 ChiTAG Picks

Whew – what a weekend! ChiTAG is over and I had an amazing time at the conferences, the TAGIE Awards, PlayChic, and finally the fair itsel..

Game Industry Events

2016 ChiTAG Preview — with a $3 off coupon and chance to WIN! (ended)

It’s time for my annual Chicago Toy and Game (ChiTAG) preview article! The fair is held on Chicago’s Navy Pier (all the way at the end) o..

2016 Toy Fair: My 2 Cents

RoadKill – Helvitq

By now I hope you’ve read my 3 Toy Fair Tends articles for 2016 (if you haven’t start with Toy Fair Trends Part 1 H..

2016 Toy Fair Trends: Part 3

This is part 3 in my article of 2016 Toy Fair Trends; to view part 1 click HERE and part 2 HERE. If you are reading this via the email ne..

2016 Toy Fair Trends: Part 2

This is part 2 in my article of 2016 Toy Fair Trends; to view part 1 click HERE. If you are reading this via the email newsletter, many o..

2016 Toy Fair Trends: Part 1

It’s time for my annual Toy Fair trends article series based on what I saw in New York during Toy Fair. I’ll admit some years there are bl..

2015 ChiTAG Games Recap

Finally! My ChiTAG games recap talking about some of the cool games I saw/played at the Chicago Toy and Game Fair! Granted I will say that..

2015 TAGIE Awards: The Winners & The Cats

Last year at the TAGIES we saw John Spinello handing over the original Operation prototype to Hasbro for safe keeping. This year didn’t h..

Game Industry Events

ChiTAG 2015 Games Preview

The Chicago Toy and Game Fair is a great place to try out new games and buy some holiday gifts! Here are a few that I know will be highli..

Game Industry Events

ChiTAG 2015 Events Preview

Woohoo! The Chicago Toy and Game Fair is right around the corner! The video above is from last year’s show and it was awesome! Here are..

Toy Fair 2015: Sneaky Cards from Gamewright

Did you see the pic of the guy on the floor of the Gamewright booth on The Game Aisle’s Facebook page? Or maybe The Game Aisle’s Instagra..

Game Industry Events

Toy Fair 2015: Trends Part 3

This is part 3 in a 3 part series on the trends seen at New York Toy Fair.

Game Industry Events

Toy Fair 2015: Trends Part 2

This is part 2 of a 3 part series on the trends of New York Toy Fair.

Game Industry Events

Toy Fair 2015: Trends Part 1

It’s been about a week since New York Toy Fair ended so it’s time for my trends article! Here we go…

Game Industry Events

I went to Toy Fair… and so did Seth Meyers.

And it was a bit more awesome than my trip… watch and enjoy!

Game Industry Events

2014 TAGIE Awards: The Winners

EXCELLENCE IN GAME DESIGN

Oliver Morris, designer of Gravity Maze

This year’s field of inventors (Dan Klitsner/Hasbro Design – Simo..

Game Industry Events

2014 ChiTAG Events Preview

It’s time again for the Chicago Toy and Game Fair and while I’ve slacked and haven’t put together a preview article that includes new game..

2014 Toy Hall of Fame Inductees Announced!

And the winners are…. BUBBLES, LITTLE GREEN ARMY MEN, and RUBIK’S CUBE!

These are the 54th and 55th AND 56th items inducted in to the N..

I Love Operation Campaign… Inventors helping inventors and a peek behind the curtain

The thing I love about being in this industry is that there are so many inventors willing to help and support other inventors. We’re all ..

Game Industry Events

2014 TAGIE Nominees!

It’s that time of year again… (well actually it was last week but I’m a little behind)

The 2014 Toy & Game Inventor of the Year (TAGI..

2014 Toy Hall of Fame Nominees Announced: Only one game in the bunch?!

Loyal readers know that every year I’ve got a beef with the number of games that are nominated for the National Toy Hall of Fame* and..

Game Industry Events

Gen Con 2014: I missed it but here’s what other folks had to say…

I was already disappointed that real life was getting in the way of another year of Gen Con, and then grim reaper decided it was going to ..

Toy Fair 2014: Trends Part 3

This is part 3 in a 3 part series on the trends of New York Toy Fair. (whew!)

Toy Fair 2014: Trends Part 2

This is part 2 of a three part series on the trends seen at New York Toy Fair.

Toy Fair 2014: Trends Part 1

This is part 1 in a three part series on the trends seen at New York Toy Fair.

Game Industry Events

2013 TAGIES: What a magical night…literally!

Sometimes I drop the ball – and this time if it was a nice shiny glass ball, it would be in a zillion tiny little pieces because I reall..

Game Industry Events

2013 ChiTAG: The Inventors!

The Chicago Toy and Game Fair isn’t just a public toy and game fair, it’s a gathering of industry folks from all over the world. The inve..

Game Industry Events

2013 ChiTAG Preview: GAMES!

Chicago Toy and Game Fair aka “ChiTAG” IS THIS WEEKEND! Last week’s article talked about some of the tournaments and events – this week i..

Game Industry Events

2013 ChiTAG Preview: Events and Tournaments!

It’s just about time for the Chicago Toy and Game Fair aka ChiTAG — and I’ve got lots of fun insight as to what to expect at the show ..

Game Industry Events

2013 Toy Hall of Fame Inductees Announced! CHESS WINS!!

Well fourth time wasn’t a charm for the Magic 8 Ball (which saddens me slightly as I still have one in my office for those “difficult” d..

Game Industry Events

2013 National Toy Hall of Fame Nominees Announced: Is the 4th time a charm for Magic 8 Ball?

The nominees have been announced! And again we’ve got a couple “frequent flyers” on the list. This year’s nominees are: bubbles, chess..

Game Industry Events

Gen Con 2013: I missed it but here’s what other reviewers had to say…

I missed GenCon AGAIN this year but thought I’d share a few links to other reviewer’s recap articles. I follow all of these fine folks on..

New York Toy Fair: Trends 2013 pt. 2

This is PART 2 of a 3 part series on the trends of New York Toy Fair.

New York Toy Fair: Trends 2013 pt. 3

The last 2 parts of this series talked about NEW trends I saw at Toy Fair 2013 and this installment will talk about the continuing trends, how they’ve changed and trends we’re not seeing anymore. Enjoy!

New York Toy Fair: Trends 2013 pt. 1

This is part 1 of a 3 part series on the trends seen at New York Toy Fair.

Game Industry Events

New York Toy Fair 2013: PREVIEW

It used to be that new products were kept under lock and key until the big unveiling at New York Toy Fair — but not anymore! This year I feel like there are more manufacturers who are posting what their exciting new products are on their websites. So for those of you who are dying to know what might be on letters to Santa (from gamers big and small) holiday 2013, here are some links showing hot new items!

2012 ChiTAG Wrap-Up: Stuff I liked but haven’t talked about already…

I can’t believe another ChiTAG has come and gone. This year was outstanding – so many GIANT games to play with, so many amazing show sp..

Game Industry Events

2012 Toy Hall of Fame Inductees Announced! 1 Toy, 1 Game!

Last year the Toy Hall of Fame saw the induction of Hot Wheels, dollhouse and the not-even-in-the-pool-of-nominees surprise winner, blanke..

Game Industry Events

2012 TAGIE Award Winners: Oh what a night!

It’s been one week since the Toy and Game Inventor Excellence Awards (the TAGIES) so I’m little late in posting this but it turns out t..

Game Industry Events

2012 ChiTAG Preview Part 2: Children’s Games

This is part 2 of the ChiTAG Preview, if you want to read part 1 click HERE. Part 1 includes Word Games, Party Games and Family Games. For..

2012 ChiTAG Preview: Part 1 Family Games, Party Games and Word Games

This is part 1 of 2 of the ChiTAG Preview articles; part 2 will include information on Children’s Games and any late updates I might get. ..

Game Industry Events

2012 National Toy Hall of Fame Nominees Announced: Getting that deja vu feeling…

Well it’s that time of year again, time for the National Toy Hall of Fame (part of The Strong Museum in Rochester, NY) nominees! This y..

TAGIE Awards: 2012 Honorees Announced!

Despite the fact that nominations are still being taken for some of the TAGIE Awards (Toy and Game Inventor Excellence Awards), three of t..

Young Inventor Challenge: Gina Manola on Getting Kids to Think about New Ideas

A couple weeks ago I kicked off my Young Inventor Challenge series with advice from Mike Hirtle who helps judge the competition. You ca..

Young Inventor Challenge: Advice from Mike Hirtle

Last month I visited my 5th grade teacher’s current class to talk to them about board game invention as his students were assigned a proje..

New York Toy Fair 2012: Trends pt. 2

This is the second and final article regarding trends spotted at New York Toy Fair.

New York Toy Fair 2012: Trends pt. 1

I can’t believe it’s been a week since New York Toy Fair which means that despite the fact that I’m drowning in follow-up work and business cards from this year, the count down to Toy Fair 2013 has already begun. But first, the trends…