As a supplier of customized and personalized playing cards, we have seen our fair share of awesome ideas. Some clients really go above and beyond with their ideas and create something clever or something beautiful.  Here are the 10 best ideas we’ve seen in a while for playing card decks!

Custom Card Decks Top Ten

10. Kimberly Jentzen’s Emotion Playing Card Decks – 2013 version

The author of Acting with Impact has done it again and made the top ten for 2012-2013. These decks have an emotion printed on each vibrantly colored card along with an explanation of each emotion. These educational playing card decks come with an instructional booklet explaining all the cool uses for the emotion decks, not the least of which is acting – especially since Kimberly is a prominent acting coach in LA. 

9. What’s Your Cosmo Playing Cards

This new game printed at the end of 2012 features multiple card games in one deck. These colorful and fun cards make for hours and hours of game play and we just LOVE the graphics! 

8. Symantec

Even the popular anti-virus Symantec guys decided to create their own custom card deck. On the face of each card face they list great reasons for going with their product line. Nice color combo of their yellow and black – and very convincing if you ask us! 

7. The Grand Canyon Playing Cards

Still one of the most informative decks this is a deck with a classy and interesting educational look (rather 54 looks that is as there is a different view on each face) of the Grand Canyon. Truly this is still the premier deck for anyone traveling in that vicinity.

6. Foodie Decks

These decks are playing card decks that contain 54 assorted restaurants in them and there are decks popping up for cities all over the USA. Each restaurant featured in the deck offers $10 off a meal – a great bargain – and way better than the coupon books if you ask us.

5. Cards Against Humanity Card Game

Seriously one of the most clever card decks we have seen in a long time. They have a game that is irreverent and fun to play whether you are drinking or not!!

4. Rivoli Design NYC Playing cards

These guys do packaging for some of the most famous cartoon and animated characters in the world – so when they designed their playing card faces – they included the most incredible artwork of everyone from Disney’s Princess Belle to the Backyardigans.  Kids would love it – but it is a portfolio deck and not meant for kids but really to show clients what they can do.

3. The Mark Mothersbaugh Art Decks

This music genius who headed the legendary band Devo in the 80’s put one of his art masterpieces on each of the faces of playing cards.  It is also a collectible deck and makes a great coffee table conversation piece.

2. Dave Matthews Band Custom Card Decks

Still one of the best ever! But moved down to number 2. They put one of their very cool tour posters from over the years on each face of the card deck. It not only came out beautiful but now the decks are collectors items! Great move and great music!

1. Decks for Tom Hanks and his new movie Saving Mr Banks

We created decks that have drawings for the original Mary Poppins movie on the faces and pics of Tom as Walt Disney that he gave to the crew of his new movie Saving Mr Banks. We packed them in red leather debossed double boxes and black ones and shipped them out to Hollywood. It was designed and laid out by Ad Magic with Disney art and has to be one of the coolest decks EVER! See for yourself.

SPECIAL MENTION – Katy Perry Custom Playing Cards

To promote her new flavor of POP CHIPS, Katy Perry printed decks of playing cards, poker chips and custom boxes printed which were handed out at the Las Vegas gambling type event to publicize the release of the new flavor which is called Kettle Corn. I have yet to locate them in the supermarket – but not for lack of trying. These custom playing cards feature Katy on the face cards and the bag of kettle chips on the card backs and boxes. The chips were full color ceramic and came out exceptionally vivid. They match the playing cards perfectly.

• Corporate Branding
• Corporate Events
• Promotional Giveaways at Trade Shows
• Incentive Items
• Catalog Items
• Bar Mitzvahs
• Wedding Gifts
• Engagement Gifts
• Wedding Favors
• Event Promotions
• Family Reunions
• Promoting New Programs
• Promoting New Products
• Games
• Party Favors
• Inspirations
• Proms
• Gifts, Birthday Presents and Anniversary Momentos
• Housewarming Presents
• Full Color Photo Playing Cards for Grandparents and Parents

New Work Culture, silver lining.

Now that we have no choice I cannot help but feel it forces those of us still busy with ongoing work, to focus even more on how to make our businesses survive. I know how productive I am from home, and I know how sidetracked I get when I’m around other people in the office. I also know and respect the people I work with enough to trust they know how to best to control their time. For now, under the circumstances, I hope they find some solace in not having to be in a place away from home for hours a day. I find myself thinking far more deeply and at length about what we need to cover in meetings, in the hope this will keep us all focused on staying on top of our changing business environment.

Freedom within limitations, silver lining.

Sometimes we craved the social atmosphere of the office and sometimes we really didn’t want that. But most people never had a choice and had to show up each day. Now, our collective plates are now more similar than not. This is a kind of new freedom, within limitations. I already see a lot of productive people accomplishing a great deal from home. I am so grateful to them all for everything they do and I encourage everyone I can to stay calm and push ahead. This also goes for our amazing and unstoppable clients

Faith in people not fear of people

I know we can’t help everyone. But simply because we can’t help everyone doesn’t mean we can’t help anyone. Social and human evolution has made a step forward, as our society that was not introspective as a rule, now becomes a society that is far more introspective. And while the human spirit is indomitable, sometimes so is fear. I believe that if, in your heart, you have lost your faith in people, then you succumb to fear. It’s hard to have faith IN people when people are in a panic. People in panic are at their worst. But that is when we need to help the most. I have had to talk some people down, more than once already. Also, I decided to setup a food share pod within my good friend Janit’s Purple Dragon Food Co-op in order to help allay people’s fears about the sudden lack of abundance at he grocery store. It is frightening to see empty shelves after taking for granted the abundance of full shelves for decades. Fortunately there are some people, like Janit, who are expert at farm to table foods and the food supply chain. This co-op now offers us an alternative way to source great organic food. I really hope that by setting up this food sorting pod in our warehouse, the arrangement for bi weekly food shares for the people I reached out to will help to dispel some fear.

Change in the world, silver lining

When each individual can clearly and linearly see where they are and what they are doing in the overarching scheme of things, do we get closer to having everyone understand a wider mission statement? As Peter Coleman from Columbia University said, “The extraordinary shock(s) to our system that the coronavirus pandemic is bringing has the potential to break America out of the 50-plus year pattern of escalating political and cultural polarization”. I assume this might be true as well. Of course THAT would be a silver lining. I prefer discussions about real things to rhetoric any day – except I wish we did not have to get to this point for people to realize how unimportant their online disagreements (with members of their own FAMILY even) really are. Can these circumstances make it easier to define our collective vision? Will we stop taking sides made up by others, and instead mix our individual views and goals symbiotically with the larger group energy? When combined without judgement, will a clear path appear for all of us? That may be a tall order, but it is a satisfying concept. Maybe this will be part of the change in the world that people want to believe is possible. I saw this quote today from a Politico Article that gave me pause: “Perhaps, … we will finally start to understand patriotism more as cultivating the health and life of your community, rather than blowing up someone else’s community. Maybe the de-militarization of American patriotism and love of community will be one of the benefits to come out of this whole awful mess”.

For me – I am just hopeful to see any one of these shiny silver linings materialize. “MAYBE SHMAYBE”, as my brother Tim likes to say. Maybe shmaybe the silver linings are what we have to look forward to.

We need to seek and find as much calm and strength as possible. I generally find that in my family, my friends, and my colleagues (not always in that order).

Maybe we can team up with our friends and family and take turns watching and staying on top of the news (standing guard, so to speak). In return we could update our friends when it’s our turn to watch for them. People could take a day or two off from watching incessant news programs, and have their friends update them during their “off media” days. This way we are not constantly exposed to the news but keep up with important updates. Or limit news to only morning and evening. One way or another I think we need to limit our intake because the news is not there to keep us healthy – it’s there to get ratings.

So I am going to try my best to keep calm, control fear, and be more tolerant. People dealing with fear need special attention. I have learned, in the past few days, it is not always easy to give everyone the kind of attention they need, when they need it.

We should also remember to be vigilant about protecting our freedoms and our civil rights. Now, with the justified but sudden loss of many liberties (in the name of the greater good), unprecedented curfews and public business closings are quickly shifting us into uncharted territory worldwide (except as previously enacted in sci-fi movies).

Enough of us are sci fi buffs to know where this goes. The pandemic causes massive controls to be implemented. Curfews, closings, and most importantly the loss of the freedom to congregate.

I need to be clear. I am 100 percent in agreement with getting this done to prevent spreading illness, but we must remember at some point to reverse these controls and get our rights back when the strict policies have accomplished their goal. We need to stay aware, keep talking and be diligent.

Trying to look on the bright side, this is probably going to be the most continuous uninterrupted family together time I have had in a long time. That is my personal silver lining. I have my youngest daughter home from High School. Today was her first day of online school. I feel for her because it is Junior year and she was finally getting comfortable there. I just hope this time can be a positive learning experience. Under the circumstances we all have to stay positive and find ways to help other people do that too.

Perhaps I will become a really good cook now that going to restaurants is out of the question.

I cooked 4 meals this week: Pasta with Meat Sauce and Garlic Bread, Shepards pie, Steak with Broccoli and Rice, and I opened and cooked a package of Instant Organic Ramen soup (which was the easiest & by far my favorite).

I heated up leftovers last night.

Becoming a good cook is probably a bad idea.

Now that I am thinking about it, I may be better off helping the restaurant across the street launch a home delivery service.

Today I will hold an entire day’s worth of company meetings remotely.
I am planning to see if anyone is open to giving me a day or two off from watching the news.

The reason I am blogging now is because of the corona virus. I’m not blogging because I fear it will kill us all, I’m blogging because I am hoping that people are becoming more receptive because of the world’s situation. This might be wishful thinking, but I believe that people cannot help but see that we are all human, all prone to dying unexpectedly and we should, because of the fleeting nature of life, try to be more accepting of those we encounter, less quick to anger, less prone to snap judgement, more patient, and most of all we should be kinder and more helpful to those who need our kindness and help the most.

I am blogging because of what my friends and associates are going through, mostly because I have been again reminded of our humanity and I felt the need to reach out. I want to offer positive support in an uncertain time, and to encourage people to get along better. Anyone should be able to clearly see at this point, that there are far worse things out in the world than a difference of opinion.

In fact, my friend and associate Kurt Bieg, ran a kickstarter called “To Live” and it was another thing that got me thinking about reaching out. His kickstarter is exceptionally thought provoking. It is about loss and how the realization of loss and its ongoing relationship to us through change, is part of what defines how we live our life and how we derive meaning from it as time goes on. The “To Live” card deck he developed is really a brilliant way to recognize the importance of living each day to the fullest. Being grateful is to live each day as if it is your last.

I was never a generous child, so I had no way to gauge whether or not I would be a generous adult. As a child we did not have “abundance”. We had good meals to eat and a home that was just big enough, and maybe it was a little smaller and a little less than most of my friends had.

Even so, I had my own room and was very appreciative to have that space. My parents were always a little behind the eight ball financially and so having less money worries as I grew up was really a primary goal in life besides a driving desire to see the world and eventually to be the boss of my own company.

Having reached the unexpected and surprising situation of being the CEO of a mid tier company, my goals shifted a few years ago to intentionally helping others in their daily lives, and to make a bigger effort to treat people with appreciation and respect. I began to try not to panic as a rule, and to calm down in the face of concerns, as quickly as possible. I am human and not perfect, but I have achieved a lot in the way of being calmer, thinking through situations and trying not to jump on people or a “bandwagon” before I know the whole story. It’s hard and like with losing weight, in the area of self improvement, the work is never really done.

I dislike “ism” of all kinds. Ageism, Sexism, Narcissism, Also – while I am not 20 anymore – (frankly my 20’s were not my best decade anyway) – if I have to be categorized by my generation I guess I am a boomer who works like a millennial and relates best to that group. I think technology and games are the drivers for me there. Frankly I would be proud to be part of the millennial generation if I could. I am most inspired by people who are in that age group and I love the way they think and the way they work. In general they want meaning in their work – and this is something I have always wanted and was lucky enough to eventually find. I can relate to people who want MORE THAN JUST A PAYCHECK – they want to accomplish something and at the end of the day they want to be proud of where they work, who they are working for and the work they are doing.

I don’t know how I got so lucky when I started hiring people and continued to be lucky as I kept hiring people – but when I say I am so lucky to be able to work with the people on my team and my extended teams, I mean it and it is not just lip service. And sometimes I can even get upset or jump the gun and they forgive me for it. I think being able to be human and worried and honest with the people I have on my team is what makes it possible for me to move forward and take on bigger goals. This team draws power from accomplishing hard things, and yet we are able to make mistakes – fix them and get better at it all.

What’s new for 2020? Well for one thing on April 1 we move into a building that has a warehouse which is 103,000 square feet – it is enormous by almost anyone’s standards (except maybe Amazon or other Fortune 500 companies) and it is a daunting and exciting and huge step. We will be working far more closely with Blackbox, helping to make the process of kickstarting and fulfillment and life after kickstarter a more seamless . process for indie designers. It has been the goal all along – but with the support of Cards Against Humanity we are able to accomplish even more. Most of my NJ team and I took a field trip to the new warehouse – and everyone seems excited and positive. Over all I think it is going to be amazing for our company and the companies we work with. Remember the little green turtles you got as a kid? The bigger the bowl you put them in – the bigger they got? We are a company moving into a bigger space and I have no doubt we will grow to accommodate that space. (BLATANT AD FOR WAREHOUSE SPACE and FULFILLMENT SERVICES TO FOLLOW) So it you need warehousing or distribution services, Kickstarter fulfillment, labeling services or need to assemble kits or run a subscription box service let us know!! [email protected]

Blatant Advertising for the new warehouse aside, I am happy to be writing again because it helps me to cement my thoughts and if anything I say is actually helpful to others, then that is an added benefit.

Recently I went to Germany for the 2020 Nuremberg Toy Fair – to meet with some suppliers and see what’s new. At the time I already had a pretty fair idea that it would be my last overseas trip for some time to come. I walked around Nuremberg one entire day. Since it was sunny and relatively warm I was able to walk for hours. I thought about the path that led me there and was able to really appreciate the city, instead of just seeing the inside of a hotel and convention center – which is what I usually do. I went to visit the Toy Museum which I have always wanted to do, (pics below) and I got to have dinner with some designers and others in the industry who I have met over the years since I entered the tabletop gaming world. There is no better feeling than seeing someone you know in that context – in another country in a small restaurant or bar and being able to catch up. It feels like extended family and these are people who are in the same field and have been going to the same shows and it just feels like things come full circle at those times. I cannot express enough admiration and thanks to those in the industry who have helped me, referred me to a professional I needed or referred others to my company. Your support over the years has reinforced my love for tabletop – the people, the purpose and the games themselves. If you are reading this – I want to thank you just for being interested enough to read something I have written. It means a lot to me. Hopefully I will have said something interesting. I know that cons will be cancelled for some time and I look forward to the day when we can all get together again and share our new games with the consumers of the world.

We are fortunate that we can talk online to share our circumstances and gain strength from each other. Keep conversations going and stay positive and strong. Stay home, play games and take care of yourselves.

Giant Train Room

Painted people in the toy city

Of course there are lots of things to distract the players during the 15 minutes, and sometimes one has to yell at the other players to WAKE UP, time is running out! …also much like in real life. This game – unlike life – comes complete with a 15 minute timer so you know how much time you’ve got left to live. Because of the timer, this game is probably one of the most exciting and fast paced games I have ever played. And it was FUN! I yelled a lot. We all yelled a lot. It was so exciting that we had dozens of play tests at PAX EAST with 10 people at a table all excited and hyped and yelling while also doing some very interesting things as I mentioned; distraction in one form or another is baked into this game.

The coming out party for this game was held at the OMNI PARKER HOTEL in the same room where Marilyn supposedly sang to JFK? Or something like that. The atmosphere was very cool. It was our very first BREAKING GAMES game coming out party and about 125 people actually showed up. We had booze so thats probably why and some light food. Here is what the video looks like for the game. Check it out, it;s definitely worth playing and hey, it only takes 15 minutes.

https://breakinggames.com/pages/were-doomed-how-to-play

Also, I just want to say that the designer on this game is Mike Horton, and he was awesome at teaching the game. And thanks to our team: Peter Vaughan, Ian Reed, Alex Hine and Aaron DeMark for knowing a great game when they see one. Super excited for this one, and it’s available now at – you guessed it (or maybe not) – www.breakinggames.com. It only takes 15 minutes, what have you got to lose?

A few weeks ago Mary from Chitag sent me this list of questions about that and some other unexpected questions.  I felt particularly talkative and maybe eve a little inspired that night, and so I answered them pretty quickly.  Here is a reprint of that article.  I am a huge fan of what Mary does with ChicagoToy Fair and greatly enjoyed the competition for young game designers that she has there every year.

 

What do you do in the industry?

I am the CEO and founder of Ad Magic Games, Breaking Games, and Breaking Toys.  Ad Magic is a manufacturer of Card and Board Games primarily, Breaking Games is a publisher and distributor of games, Breaking Toys is involved in manufacturing and distributing toys and electronic game and toy accessories.  I also own Print and Play games, a prototype facility in Vancouver Washington that also does print on demand games.

 

What is your claim to fame in the industry? 

Printing Cards Against Humanity and Exploding Kittens, Joking Hazard, Secret Hitler, Game of Phones, developing and printing Fake News, Expancity, Rise of Tribes and Poop the game. I would like to think my claim to fame is that I work with talented indie designers and help them get their games out to the world.

 

Why and how did you get into the Toy and Game industry? 

I got a call from a team wanting to print a black and white card game.  It was called Cards Against Humanity. That game took off like wildfire.  Prior to that I had been printing custom playing cards for large corporate brands like Applebees, Ford, Symantec, The CIA, Garth Brooks, Journey, Pink Panther, HBO, Working Title and Bad Robot to name a few.

 

What are you working on now?

Today I am designing a box for a new game we are making, meeting with a client at our offices for part of the day, figuring out a flow plan for import orders, catching up on 139 emails from last night, planning a trip to San Francisco for a conference, and trying to figure out dinner at some point.

 

What trends do you see in toys or games that excite or worry you? 

Most of the trends I see excite me.  I love the new electronic possibilities  – I am involved with several including Boogie dice – the worlds first electronic – perfectly balances – self powered – lighted rolling dice that can be started with a clap of your hands and also controlled through a simple phone app.  Also LIMBO – the new mechanical top that holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for longest spinning mechanical top.  Its a fascinating thing to watch and is actually relaxing too. I love the new games that are asymmetrical – with players having different goals – I find the balance of mechanics in those games to be fascinating.  I am also getting more into Stuffed animals and we are even incorporating them into some new game play.

What advice can you give to inventors who are presenting new toy or game ideas to you?

Please present complete and balanced product ideas.  The art does not need to be complete – but for a game the mechanics do need to be complete. 

What advice would you give a young adult graduating from high school or college today?

Try not to turn your hobby into work – see your hobby as a hobby and keep your work separate from it so you always have a way to relax.  Learn to unplug and enjoy nature.  Watch your time carefully and try to have a balance between work and life.

What does your typical day look like? 

I get up and have coffee or another warm drink with my fiancé and we talk about things for a bit. Then I check my emails for a while.  After that on a good day I take a shower (he he).  After making myself as presentable as possible I head over to my office. On Tuesdays we have a team meeting.  Now – with the completion of my new office – I have two offices. I spend time at both. I meet with team members about daily questions or concerns, Much of the day is spent responding to questions and emails.  Some days are spent meeting new clients, testing games, taking phone calls or Skype meetings and then winding down I sometimes break open a new project that was sent to me and try to figure out the rules or the electronic downloads required to work the item.  I try to get in some exercise as well – riding a bike in or outside of my office on a nice day – doing some core exercises or if I can get away – I have a gym I go to.  Most of my days are extremely packed with people and things to be done.  I travel at least once or twice a month right now as well.

What’s your workspace setup like? 

My original office is filled with years of projects on all the walls and shelves.  My new office is nearly empty with a couple of bins of current projects and a lot of open space.  I have a loft upstairs in the new office where I hope to do yoga and have bean bag chairs – a place to get a break for a few minutes as needed.  Not sure if I will actually DO the yoga but that is the intent. I have a stationary bike desk in there – two couches and my desk.  Very simple.

What is the most rewarding part of your job? 

Seeing the games printed and breaking one open to play is the most rewarding part and then seeing it on the shelves in a store is like icing on a cupcake.  I get the same feeling from seeing ANY product I have been involved in manufacturing.  As soon as a sample comes in – its like Christmas morning.

What is the worst job you’ve ever had and what did you learn from it? 

Making poker chips for Michael Jordan.  That job nearly killed me.  I was under a tremendous amount of time and mental pressure.  The client was not reasonable and they did not listen when I explained the time frame. I had 6 months of verbal abuse.  I learned not to deal with abusive clients, to explain time lines as clearly as possible along with all potential pitfalls, and that I STILL loved the product even after all of that because in the end the product and seeing it is still its own reward.

What’s a problem you’re still trying to solve? 

We are investing heavily in programming for all of our sales channels to make as much of our work as possible automated and non redundant.  I want us to connect and report to our clients as seamlessly as possible and support them with reports and dashboards that help them to make good decisions.

What and/or who inspires you? 

My team mates are all amazing, my clients are all brilliant, people in the industry are busy and exciting to be around – I am inspired by the new technology and ideas that I get exposed to daily – my family and friends inspire me. My daughters constantly inspire and amaze me. My fiancé is always coming  up with something new and exciting and he inspires me to push forward. Traveling inspires me – seeing beauty in nature and in cities worldwide inspires me.  Speaking Spanish challenges me and inspires me to improve.  A better question might be what does not inspire me.  Almost anything that is positive in life inspires me – I am easy that way – I wake up happy generally.

How do you recharge or take a break? 

I hang out with my daughters, or my fiancé. I play piano and sing, or play guitar or ukulele. I write songs, read audio books and of course I have been known to binge on a streaming show once in a while. Sometimes I just organize things and I find that is really relaxing.  In the winter I ride snowboard and in summer I try to wakeboard or something off the back of a boat.

What was your favorite toy or game as a child? 

I loved Etch a Sketch and my stuffed animals. Game wise I really loved Scrabble and still love word games.

Where were you born?

New Jersey.

What was your life like growing up? 

I had a group of girl friends and kids in the neighborhood – and I played with friends in the woods making a house there – waking the trails. In the summer we played kickball at the top of the street – we stayed out until it got dark.  In the winter we rode a sled train down the hill. I led it once and we crashed – that did not go so well   I rode my bike all around – walked home from school with my friends – put the dinner in the oven so it was ready when my parents came home.  I had fun just watching TV with my parents and going wherever they went pretty much.

Where did you grow up and how did that influence who you are today? 

I grew up in a small town in NJ where we had a pretty similar group of people from Kindergarten through High School.  It gave me confidence – because I excelled and I knew who I was.

What is one mistake you’ve made, and what did you learn from it? 

I should have bought the warehouse that used to exist across the street – it would have been nice to have that location.  I finally bought another warehouse – but I learned that you need to seize opportunity even if  it requires more bravery than you feel you can muster.  Sometimes you just have to go for a big leap earlier than you might want to.

What do you read every day, and why? 

I read the news – I read my social media – I read a piece of whatever book I am reading at the time and I read some sort of inspirational quote every day if I come across one.  I like a mix of information – and there is certainly never a lack of that.

What is your favorite gadget, app or piece of software that helps you every day?

I have several.  Once is my ancient thickness gauge.  I love being able to measure the thickness of things.  For an app I love Evernote – it is very handy and also has the info I need and is shared across devices.  For software – I love Adobe illustrator – that’s my go to for designing.

How do you jump-start your creativity when you find yourself stalled on a project?

I run ideas by team members – or I think about it before I go to sleep and usually wake up with the answer.  It is amazing how many times that has happened.

When is the last time you laughed out loud? What caused it?

At dinner last night – I found out that one of my text messages was read aloud in a car to a group of people. I got a kick out of that.

Are you named after anyone? 

I am named after my mothers dad and one of her cousins.

 

Do you have any kiddos? 

Yes Two daughters. 

 

Do you have any pets? 

We have two Maine coons  Leo and Lacey.

 

Do you have any guilty pleasures? 

Yes – I love eating pie.  Pumpkin and Apple. I try not to do it that often.  I also love getting a massage.

 

Do you play any musical instruments? If so, which one(s)? 

Guitar, Electric Bass Guitar, Piano.

 

What’s your favorite cereal? 

I like steel cut oatmeal.

 

What’s the first thing you usually notice about people? 

Good question – I usually notice the way they carry themselves and the way they speak.

 

What is your eye color? 

Blue.

 

Do you prefer scary movies or happy endings? 

I prefer movies with CLEVER endings.

 

Summer of Winter? 

Summer.

 

Hugs or Kisses? 

Hugs.

 

What’s your favorite TV show? 

Game of Thrones – is that a TV show?  alternately I love Handmaid’s tale right now.

 

What is your favorite night out? 

Seeing a new movie in a theater with great chairs.

 

Favorite movie of all time? 

Tough one – I like The Time travelers Wife for some reason.

 

What’s the furthest you’ve ever been from home? 

China and New Zealand – not sure which is actually further.

 

Do you have any special talents? 

I sing and play guitar and bass – I write songs.

 

What are your hobbies? 

I like to write music and play music and I like to ride snowboard and do water sports when the weather is nice.

 

What do you want to be when you grow up? 

I want to be me.

 

What’s next? 

Next I go to San Francisco – and after that I go to Essen and after that I go to Chicago Toy Fair and then Philadelphia.  After that I continue to work with my team to grow our businesses and continue to work on localization of the games and toys for countries worldwide.

 

 

In my case I fell into printing – loved it – and then they closed down the place I was working and had me finish some jobs.  That’s how I started my first company, IMAGICS.  It wasn’t long until I met a Macintosh computer and was lost to my love of Graphic design and printing forever.  With 1800.00, a MAC CLASSIC and a laser printer I designed my first professional item – a deli menu for the Full Belly Deli.  Then I embarked on a NJ Diner Menu – with no paste up or layout skills and elmers glue on a large piece of oak tag – I laid out one of the most difficult menus ever – and most of it printed straight!

Then I printed a bunch of promo items for years – sandtimers and magnets and all kinds of things – if you listen to the first (and only)  Ad Magic radio jingle which I will try to attach here – you can get an idea of the variety of things I was making right from the beginning of my business.

Then I fell in love (an appropriate amount) with playing cards which morphed into manufacturing large scale corporate playing cards for everyone from Applebees to Ford – and finally it turned into card games and then board games and then prototyping and then publishing and now warehousing and worldwide shipping.  It’s been a lot in a short amount of time.  There were years of traveling and then people – first 4 then 5 then 6 and now 20.

20.  25.   26.  And that’s when you have to shift into a version of the thing you maybe did not like that much when you were starting it all – a company that has clear rules – boundaries – strategies – bottom lines – managers – Human Resources – in other words – entrepreneurs wind up building companies – not free spirited idealistic bands of world wanderers.  Which – when you get down to the work of it – becomes – hopefully – a version of corporate that is somehow better than anything you ever worked for – has all of the things you always wished for (bosses that listen – a company that cares more about its people than most- a culture of caring and a culture of feeling secure and safe in your Job even when functions change.  Man that is a high mark to shoot for.  Every day the mark gets higher and every day it takes a ton of energy to get out the mental weapons to even shoot for it.  Add in major league honing of interpersonal skills – being a good listener – having patience – working when you don’t feel like it – spending quality family time – and the result becomes a puzzle of the highest complexity.  Dealing with clients whose perception of what you do for them is sometimes  inaccurate at best – dealing with employees whose sense of self worth ranges from high to low  – dealing with prima donna behavior, ineptitude, brilliance and amazing perseverance in people all require adaptive skills that somehow, somewhere, I needed to pick up along the way because I know that I never studied this in school or read exactly this in any book.

Then everything that made you innovative is examined and some of it – well a good bit of it –  doesn’t even fly anymore. And that is what this is all about.

I don’t think that people get to keep utilizing every skill that earned them the entrepreneurial title – they somehow have to change their skills to become CEOs. It’s like someone saying to you – I am going to clip your wings now – but they will grow back longer and better.  Yeah – about that, honestly I am not so sure.  I am looking at choices now that will change how we grow and it’s a bit different and yet somehow the same as I might have guessed it would be.  There are choices.  When you are growing fast and “entrepreneuring” (so to speak) it seems like there are no choices – you just do what you have to do.  When you are CEO’ing – there seem to be harder choices.  But if I am being honest – I do feel capable of making them – just not alone and not in a vacuum.  I can not do any of this alone.

So now I have to learn compromise too.  For example – I did not initially care much for “all in” company meetings and now clearly those are a necessary thing.  Now I look forward to them.  I don’t like to tell people no but with people – no is going to happen.  I have thought about it  – and I guess I simply want to grow into a role I like.  I like it right now – because I still get to do the crazy stuff for CAH, design boxes with our artists – design rules and pick new games for publishing.  I still get to go to cons – and I still enjoy them.

Most of all I still enjoy playing games.

I try to keep the managing of people from taking out the fun.  I try to be fair – but sometimes I have to do things that people may question. Mostly I still love everything about working with  the art the most.  Watching it turn into products.  That’s my thing.  I love that and I want to never stop doing that part.  And finding games and helping them become products.  Seeing them on shelves.  Wow that is seriously the best.

Last year I went to a young robotics team meeting – kids in middle school –  where they were developing a game – and some of them were even Breaking Games clients – which means they played Poop- and some of the other games -besides our client games – like Exploding Kittens.  And we worked on their game together – (I worked on the rules with them because the rules are my thing) – and its going to be a good game.  I even donated to their club for this year.  And I saw young designers in Chicago last week who were amazing – hell – the big guys are looking to the kids for game ideas now – its an exciting time to be in games.

Hanging out with the kids – that was fun- and helping them develop a socially conscious game.  I think I would have been in that club  – if we had that when I was a kid. But I was lucky enough to fall into it in my second childhood

I think that an entrepreneur can become a CEO – maybe even a good one – but I need data now in order to make good decisions in ADDITION to my gut.  The data is part of the difference (to me anyway)between being an Entrepreneur and a CEO.  I had nothing but a gut feeing of what to do in the beginning but now that work has produced data.

It kind of reminds me of writing songs (everything about this industry reminds me of music)  – sometimes you get the melody out of thin air and its good just like that.

And sometimes you use your theory to craft a song.

Entrepreneurs use their passion to ignite growth.  CEO’s use theory to craft and grow a  scalable business model.

Combining the two is probably the best anyone could hope for.

Thats all I am saying here.  I am not trying to get out of making a perfect game for anyone – or make excuses – I am just speaking from experience and sharing my observances.

Remember before you got married or engaged or started dating, you had this notion of the perfect person for you? Then you found them and for a week or a few months, or maybe even a year or two, they were perfect. Then one morning you woke up to the toothpaste cap missing, the towels crooked, the toast burnt, the dishes unwashed, THEM unwashed, and you realized this is not my beautiful car, this is not my beautiful wife (to paraphrase the TALKING HEADS) and you had to decide… live with imperfection, be human, be accepting and be a true partner – and work at the relationship – or leave because of the imperfection(s) of your partner.

Remember that song from Frozen “Let It Go, Let It Go”?

(THAT IS A RHETORICAL QUESTION OF COURSE). Besides the great musical hook, why was that song so popular?

Because it resonates on some level with truth for people. Letting go is a good thing, even if you are a frozen ice witch type of person. Well, especially if you are that.

I cannot tell you how many times I have had to realize WHEN to let it go during the growth of my tabletop game manufacturing / publishing companies (AdMagic and Breaking Games of course). Sometimes you have to just stand back and let the people you hire take the ball and run with it and accept slight deviations from YOUR initial vision of “perfection” because reality is not perfect… it is complicated and messy and generally it develops differently than you thought because you can neither be an expert in EVERY area, nor can you control EVERY thing.

Hence the title of this blog. GAME DESIGNERS! You crazy, brilliant, wonderful, frustrating perfectionists! You need to hand over your art to your tabletop game manufacturing company and then LET GO (a little)! So don’t let it ALL go – really – you still have to stay involved – but sometimes obsessing over really excruciatingly small details (although not something I consider a bad trait as the details are VERY important – details are EVERYTHING in what I do) – but maybe just one of those details can be slightly different that your original vision or a slight delay can be absorbed into the overall time frame without causing a major emotional earthquake.  How you deal with the unexpected is part of how you deal with life in general.  Sometimes just going with the flow is the only way left to go that makes any sense.

Trust the people you have hired to make your card or tabletop game and let them do their jobs. Try not to hound them constantly about that one detail, and while you are at it – try not to beat yourself up or obsess over slight change or slight imperfections that no one really notices but you. That’s all I am saying here.

Learn when and how to let it go.

A friend of mine who has also been my bookkeeper for years always said “Let Go Let God.” I never got that saying really – as I felt had to control “everything”. I never let go. Then one day – it was after one of the first trade shows that I DIDN’T attend – I realized things went fine without me there. I had let go a little. So I tried a bit more. That is not to say that mistakes were not ever made – they were – and usually by others I had delegated to, but little by little I learned to trust people to learn to do their jobs and was able to let go more and that is how our company began to grow.

Let go and grow. Maybe you grow as a person. Maybe you grow your game because you allow a bigger team to do the work and you steer it more than micro-managing it.

Yes, you still have to be diligent, you still have to figure out the details – but have a little more fun. It is your dream after all – you should try to enjoy it. Designers – you HAVE to realize that if your game gets huge you are going to HAVE to depend on others and you may have to even compromise just a little.

Learn how to play nice, not just at the game table but in life.

Be nice to your customer service people, your tabletop game manufacturing company, and your project manager. Yes I am talking about us. People like me and my team. Believe in them and trust them a bit. If they know what they are doing they will be honest with you – and sometimes honesty means asking – does that really warrant holding up production or re making that entire thing?  These are tough questions and sometimes the answer is decidedly yes.  But – once in a while – the answer is – no – leave it as it is – it will be absolutely fine like that – it will work out well.  It will keep the schedule – it will be a good product.  Maybe not exactly to the hundredth degree what you were thinking but very close. Designers, your game can become a huge hit but if the end result has a tiny difference from your original plan, well, maybe sometimes its right to just let it go a little. If it doesn’t affect game play and it is basically fine – that is all I am saying. Things will be fine. Someone I work with and who I appreciate very much told me that, and I believe it.

In tabletop game manufacturing, all people are different but one thing is always the same…

Either clients come off to others as nice in general or they come off as not nice in general. In the past five years I find myself being far more patient and kind (in general) on the phone and in person than I ever was before.  (email is hard but I try really hard to rewrite several times so as not to accidentally offend anyone). With people I have to deal with in life now – people I hire to do things for me and people I meet, I really do try to be kinder and I try much harder not to accidentally or intentionally send someone to a bad place mentally.  I am not saying I am perfect at this BTW – I still have moments where I am not as nice as I probably could have been – moments where I forget or stress takes over.   Moments where people call me out on this even.  But I remember more each day to thank people and tell them I appreciate them. It’s a work that’s always in progress.

After years of being in the tabletop game manufacturing business and after experiencing both the feeling of being treated with respect by some of my biggest clients and treated questionalbly by some of my smallest clients, I find it ironic that those who grow the largest seem to be consistently nice and respectful even when something does not go exactly as they had planned.  I actually think there is a simple and direct correlation there – learn how to work with people and grow. Be demanding and not quite as respectful as you could be and grow less – or more slowly, or worse, not at all.

I could be totally wrong here, but isn’t it worth a try?  Say something nice to someone who is trying to do a job for you today. And maybe the universe will smile on you and that job will come out even better than you anticipated.

– Shari

First  I went to meet electronics people in Hong Kong – as we were all (and still are) super excited to say that Breaking Games is the worldwide Distributor and Manufacturing Partner in Boogie Dice – the world’s first sound activated electronic dice.  These dice are really amazing – but the manufacturing requires precision and so I went China along with the designer Nimrod Back from Tel Aviv –  to be sure that they are going to be manufactured perfectly.  They are still being developed but now they are getting very close to being put into production. As a matter of fact Nimrod was starting off 2017 by heading back over there to fine tune some of the Boogie Dice manufacturing elements.  WAIT until you see the phone interface for the Boogie Dice gaming system!!

While there – the Hong Kong Toy Fair was going on – and I was also excited to meet and have great dinners with the plant owners of two of our plants involved with aspects of Cards Against Humanity, Exploding Kittens, Secret Hitler and Joking Hazard.  Secret Hitler required some special care  – as it was being prepared for manufacturing – so the timing was perfect for working on that game as well.  Since then close to 100 thousand Secret Hitler games have been shipped out.  I have finally gotten to play a few games of Secret Hitler in its entirety – previously every time I had tried to get in on one – I have always been too late and the tables had been completely filled up.  It is – by all accounts – simply amazing and it was on my New Year Resolution list its for 2017 along with working out more and biking more. I finally got to play it on the JoCo Cruise.  Amazing game – kudos to the Secret Hitler team.

At the the giant Hong Kong Toy Fair – which I had always wanted to see –  I met with the Klask guys – KLASK is an absolute blast – and we now carry KLASK in sports bars, cafes and trade show locations all over the world _anywhere there is a trade show and a table.  This game is ridiculously fun and cool and I just love it.  I am – as per my usual – not the greatest at it – but I do win from time to time which keeps me coming back for more.

Also I was lucky as I mentioned – to have traveled with one of the most brilliant people – Nimrod – the inventor and lead partner on Boogie Dice.  We met with electronics people over in Hong Kong and China  – which was a new area for me – and another important reason for the visit.  After the super success of the meowing boxes for Exploding Kittens – I am now very excited to get into more electronic game parts and I can say that we have quite a few new electronic games in the midst of development at this point – and I find it very exciting!!

Then my plant managers wanted to drive us to Shenzhen after Hong Kong and honestly I had missed seeing them. They are the sweetest people and they wanted to make sure I was looked after in China  – for one thing they know where to eat to keep me from getting sick  – (they only eat at certain places which is the way to go in China as otherwise you need to sterilize the chop sticks and bowls with boiling water which is a pretty tough (but possible) thing to do in the middle of a restaurant – they also taught me that.  Otherwise I generally live on superfood bars with bottled water and tea while traveling in that part of the world.

The people from my plant are a very warm extended family. I have been working with some of them for over 10 years.  One of the very talented ladies over there – who overseas the making of some of our really cool boxes – was pregnant at the time –  so I wanted to see her – and she has since had a sweet little baby girl.  I would love to say I have been avidly studying Mandarin with Rosetta Stone since my trip – however it is simply not true – My Chinese is still really not great –  even though I  tried to work with a Chinese Tutor.  Now – if only Chinese were actually Spanish !!  I am great in Spanish!

Even though the flight is enough to beat you down and mess up any sense of time – over 32 hours in travel including airport – the extended trip really is a give and take between seeing great people and the very long trek of getting there.  I wanted and needed to go and at the same time – I don’t ever look forward to the actually steps involved in getting there.  I will say that once I am in a foreign country I am always amazed on a daily basis and in awe like a little kid traveling for the first time.  Differences and similarities in cultures world wide never cease to amaze me.

I also went to Essen Germany, Australia and New Zealand.  Those trips were based around trade shows rather than manufacturing facilities and were both a lot of work and a lot of fun.  After Essen I got to finally see Amsterdam and that was a place I had always wanted to visit.  After Australia I got to see New Zealand – one of the most beautiful countries in the world – and was lucky enough to pass through one of the loveliest of places – days before the earthquake there.

I have a ton of pics to post – but I will say that in 2017 I am planning to spend most of the year staying put in NJ.  I have a lot of things to do here – since we just got our new warehouse – and plenty to keep me busy right in my own office.   Thats the plan. Plus I have a new office to move into and a lot of things to organize in a growing company.  All good – and all requiring my personal attention – so if you don’t see me at a trade show – that is why.

Looking back on last few years and all of the world traveling I did to build the brand and get some unique projects off the ground gives me a great sense of accomplishment.  I am lucky I got to see all of those places.  I promise to post some pictures!