Tim Walsh
- President of Patch Products - Invented Tribond and Blurt!
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By
Mary
Bellis
It sounds like fun playing board
games for a living. According to inventor Tim Walsh it is; lots of fun
and hard work. Tim is the inventor of Tribond and Blurt!, and in the last
year TriBond passed the one million mark in sales, and Blurt! blazed through
the ranks of the top 15 best-selling adult board games. We have interviewed
Tim Walsh, trying to bring you a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the world
of board game invention. You also have a chance to play Tribond and other
board games on-line, but first let's take a look at the history of Tribond:
In 1987, Dave Yearick, Ed Muccini,
and Tim Walsh were about to graduate from Colgate University. In the spring
of that year, they heard a rumor that two of the creators of Trivial Pursuit
had attended Colgate. Through a mutual friend in the athletic department,
they found that John Haney and Ed Werner had indeed attended the upstate
New York school. In a discussion about the phenomenal success of Trivial
Pursuit, the three friends concluded that the game was too hard for many
people because "Either you know the answer to a trivia question . . . or
you don't." This realization led them to the idea of making a game where
the questions are actually clues, and could be "figured out" by people.
A more user-friendly thinking game.
 Tribond
The three friends never really did
anything with their idea until two years later, on a trip to Florida. Therefore,
it was in the summer of 1989, in a one-bedroom apartment, that the friends
created a prototype that would become "TriBond." On December 1, 1989, the
three entrepreneurs formed a company called Big Fun a Go Go, Incorporated.
By raising money through family and friends, they hired Patch Products
to print the first 2,500 TriBond games. Soon the three men would try to
achieve their ultimate goal of licensing the game to Milton Bradley or
Parker Brothers. Both companies rejected the game. In fact, Mattel, Tyco,
Western Publishing, Games Gang, and Pressman rejected it too. In October
of 1992, Tim Walsh contacted Patch Products, the printer of the game, and
convinced them to meet and discuss the possibility of joining forces. Tim
quickly became the Vice President of Marketing for Patch, and together
they sold 2,500 games for the remainder of that year. 1993 was TriBond's
breakthrough year. In January, TriBond was featured in mass-market stores
for the first time. With no T.V. advertising to back it, this was a risky
move, but TriBond rose to the challenge. With continued guerrilla marketing
efforts, Patch sold 148,000 copies of TriBond. Some of the same companies
that had initially rejected the game came back and tried to acquire TriBond,
but Tim and his friends stayed with the Patch brothers. Against incredible
toy industry odds, this ragtag team of underdogs sold their millionth TriBond
board game in December of 1996! (reprinted from Patch Products)
Inventors
Guide, Mary Bellis interviews Tim Walsh, inventor of TriBond and Blurt!
Board Games
Q: What board games did you grow up
playing?
A: Monopoly, Go Fish, War, Scrabble.
Q: When and where were you in life
when you first started writing board games?
A: In college - I attended Colgate
University in New York. Two friends and I found out that the inventors
of Trivial Pursuit also went to school at Colgate. We were so intrigued
by this that we came up with our own idea for a board game.
Q: Milton Bradley, Parker Brothers,
Mattel, and Tyco all turned you down. Why?
A: They said that we were coming
off the trend of Trivial Pursuit and that people in America did not want
to buy something "That made them think."
Q: What did you approach them with?
A: A TriBond prototype.
Q: Did anyone offer you a deal you
had to say no thank you to?
A: Walt Disney.
Q: How did you protect yourself with
the show but no sell situation? Did you sign a prior non-disclosure?
A: Yes, I signed a non-disclosure.
Q: What precautions did you take
and would recommend to others who approach manufacturers with ideas?
A: Protect yourself with proper documentation,
and attain trademarks.
Q: Now that the shoe is on the other
foot are people approaching you with game ideas?
A: We have people from all over sending
us their ideas. The game business is very competitive and it is difficult
to make a hit.
Q: You said that after the big companies
turned you down, you went on to become a game expert yourself and market
two successful products (Tribond and Blurt!). How was that experience?
A: I learned that the most successful
games actually came from independent inventors, like me, rather than research
& development departments at big toy companies. Monopoly
was created by an engineer, Pictionary by a waiter and Scrabble by an architect.
Q: Did you have any prior marketing
or business skills?
A: I graduated from college with
a Biology degree.
Q: Patch Products and Keys Publishing
are two companies you are involved with. Can you tell us about both?
A: Patch is the company that printed
our first run of TriBond. After being turned down by all the major toy
companies, I approached Fran & Bryce Patch (brothers and owners of
Patch Products). I asked them to hire me to sell and market TriBond.
Once they agreed, the first thing I did was contact radio DJs throughout
the country. I asked them to play TriBond with their listeners in return
for games to giveaway. This has proven to be one of our most successful
promotions for the game. Keys Publishing is the company I formed myself
when I invented Blurt! on my own.
Q: What are the struggles involved
in creating a board game?
A: Raising money to produce the product.
It is difficult to come out ahead.
Q: Have you seen changes over the
years that someone trying to develop a board game today needs to be aware
of?
A: It may sound obvious, but games
need to be fun! All of the products we develop at Patch are fun and also
educationally based. We feel that is very important in creating our family
products.
Q: For those who don't know. Can
you explain TriBond and Blurt! to us?
A: In TriBond, you are asked the
question, "What do these three have in common?" for example, Florida,
a locksmith, and a piano? The answer is - they all have keys! Blurt!
is a fast-paced word definition game. Players race to be the first
to blurt out the correct answer to a definition like "The hair on a man's
upper lip." The first person to Blurt - mustache would move along
the board. Blurt is a great vocabulary building tool for kids and a fun
party game for adults.
Q: Who writes all the questions?
A: Myself. Also, we get letters from
people all over the place that have their own clues. We consider them for
additional versions of the games.
Q: How does it feel to have over
a million copies of TriBond sold?
A: Incredible. I think back to all
of the challenges we had to overcome and all of the companies that rejected
us. It makes the success that much more rewarding.
Q: What other board games have you
made?
A: TriBond Kids, Bible TriBond, Bible
Blurt.
Q: Is the game industry moving away
from physical board games, opting for computer and network games instead?
A: Both will be able to co-exist
for some time.
Q: Where do you think the toy industry
as a whole is heading?
A: The industry is leading towards
more interactive and family games.
Q: Where are you heading?
A: We will continue to expand our
family game line and also more interactive games.
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