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Game of Words – Have Fun with Words!

By yyogiraj on 19 Comments / 1559 views
  • Do you have a knack for learning new words everyday?
  • Was “Rattofy” your key word when it came to learning new words?
  • Do you enjoy playing with words?
  • Do you like playing cards? Like Rummy or Solitaire or Bluff?
  • Would you like to carry a game with you anywhere, anytime?
  • Would like to spend “quality” time with family and friends?

The answer is “Game of Words” for exam aspirants, Words-Lovers and card-based game players alike.

gme1 

Time Travel:   

While working on creating educational games for my clients using management lessons such as economics, leadership, ethics, social media ethics etc. and after creating over 60 games, I developed a hobby of “gamification”. Since then, I have created games on Entrepreneurship, Science Subjects (Animal and Plant Classification) and several other topics.

 

Present:

The “Present” is – “Game of Words”, a creative gift you can share with your loved ones who love to play with words, learn words, love to play cards or preparing for competitive exams such as CAT, GRE, GMAT etc or simply hangout with friends and family.

 

“Game of Words” is an indie idea, executed and designed with love for games; a card based game using words and their synonyms. Each pack has 52 cards with one primary word and three synonyms that follow the dynamics similar to regular playing cards. One can play games such as rummy and solitaire or invent their own games using these cards and play with friends/family or play solo. It can be carried anywhere being a pocket sized pack, can be played at a dining table, coffee shop, office, classroom, in a bus or train – and can eventually make learning words fun. Game of Words comes in different packs, such as pack of one/three/five based on players’ appetite for learning words.

 

Have a look at the game here:


Not So Distant Future:

While this concept sat in my laptop for months (being a Scanner personality 🙁 ), with little push from fellow scanners and friends, I made the prototype that you have seen in the video. Many people have shown interest for playing or gifting purpose, so I decided to go for a Crowdfunding campaign and will be going for a print run for orders booked. Although there are many more ideas around this concept, but one thing at a time 🙂

 
gme2

If you find the idea interesting and would like to feel it/support it, you can follow the crowdfunding campaign.

 

Above all, I really would like to learn your feedback, suggestions for improvement being the Rodinhooders!

Share your energies at www.gameofwords.in (redirects to Facebook page)

I tweet at @dervishyogi

And yes, you can also make House of Cards 🙂 

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19 Comments

  1. wow yogi!

    this is so intriguing!! i am a word lover and used to play word games like scrabble intensely!!!

    i still haven’t really caught on to the concept but i’m super curious!!

    all the best for the crowdfunding. i’m gonna follow your progress and share this all over 🙂

  2. Thank you Asha for kind words! 🙂

    I will be happy to send across the first print out to you soon.

  3. Concept is really good.

    You may also focus on corporate orders where such customized products are in demand. May be you have to customize the cards to gel with their products/concept. But I’m sure you will get orders in bulk numbers.

    Go through the link below and their main source of business is from corporates.

    https://www.playing-cards.co/index.html

  4. Wow… nice… best of luck!

  5. Many thanks for kind words! The thought of corporate orders is indeed helpful. I was thinking possibly coffee shops such as CCD or Starbucks might be interested. I am trying to reach out to them.

    Thanks again for the link, the examples mentioned there spark more ideas. 🙂

  6. Many thanks Alok! It is encouraging!

  7. Star Bucks I don’t think they will entertain.

    But CCD you can definitely try. That will be a volume business for you. They are based at Bangalore. https://shop.cafecoffeeday.com/

    Also try Dr. Reddy’s in Hyderabad. Meet the purchase manager ask him to connect you to some Brand Manager there. You may also approach Brand Managers directly. Try to meet all the Brand/Product  Managers there (they may be having more than 50 brand / product managers there). I’m sure in next 30 days you will get your first order from them.

  8. Thanks a lot!

    I am curious about specific mention of DRL. I can think of DRL potentially using this as a corporate gift, any specific reason why Brand managers…just for my knowledge..I will reach out to them.

  9. Because they are the people who create strategy and select inputs (gifts) to achieve the desired results for their Brands. But the real challenge of any Brand Manager in the area of gifting lies in choosing (getting) the right gift that reflects the brand values and product attributes of their Brand.

    If you position your product correctly (you have to customize your product based on their strategic intent of the Brand) and if they see value in gifting your product to doctors then they will incorporate your product in their marketing plan. 

  10. Makes sense 🙂

    Doctors’ gifts have hit ceilings these days. Although new government regulations aim to curb it, it needs to be seen how companies react to it.

    Anyway, in this case, I will reach out to some people per your suggestion and keep you posted 🙂

  11. I tried making a “how to” video for playing Rummy using Game of Words …..used PowerPoint to make this video, so quality may not be that good….will try a better one…but hope this explains one of the game you can play. I will make one for solitaire soon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsiLc_vA6DA

  12. Thanks for all the support. I started to get response from the Pub/Restaurant owners (20-30 copies of game ordered).

    I modified the concept to suit it to the Pub audience – made it simpler and whacky using Urban words. Will soon share the copy here.

  14. awesome news yogi! many congrats!!

  15. Many thanks Vijay 🙂

  16. Thanks a lot Asha! And for all the support! Happy to share the karma back 🙂

  17. Hi yyogiraj,

    Am I little late in time to notice this discussion?

    I come from a family of Printers. Words and Proof Reading was my beginning.

    Playing Cards itself is a big industry and keeps growing.

    Indians have a quest of knowledge and learning and it never will end…

    Pardon my Grammar.

    With Android keyboard suggestions my spellings brain cells have too become lazy.

    On web the Google even dares to suggest the grammar… and now offers prominent regional languages at the touch of the mouse.

    Scrabble like games without the IP rights allows time to google the right match from many websites.

    For me Learning of Words is quickly changing with tech and internet.

    You must see the Kindle ad where a child pokes his nose on the kindle while eating and uses the dictionary…

    My humble input to your extraordinary effort would be like Sudoku to create a supporting digital mobile platform with use of internet data. 

    The advantages are known in public domain so no repetition.

    In scalability do not limit the Game of Words to only 52 and also limit the same physical plane? 

    Possibilities are infinite. (rodinhooders must know How to SHOW THE MONEY)

    My Best Wishes and Good Luck

  18. Hi Vinod,

    Many thanks for your valuable feedback! Certainly digital/mobile version is a promising idea. Infact, that would have been first preference since I was running a mobile app business for over a year and have developed several games for clients.

    There are few challenges that I experienced that made me reconsider the digital option. The first option is to have a technical partner, who could join to direct the app development. It is often difficult to find a partner who is equally committed to the idea, several of my product ideas fizzled out with time and it drains lot of energy. Also, it is difficult to find the “quality” I have been seeking. Most of the products didn’t match the expectations. They all look good at the graphic and design level, but things such as games really need a strong technology to be appreciated by mass.

    The second choice was to commission a vendor with app development. However, budget is the obvious challenge.

    Since I had learned some skills on creating games, I did a personal assessment to identify ways where my dependency is less even if the scale at this point is not as it can be. A classic decision we often make in real time scenarios.

    I will also be honest that I am doing this along with my job, so I have limited bandwidth. Any effort, whether a card or app, needs significant marketing – the product itself doesn’t guarantee success. With my investments going up through technology or any other expenses for that matter, the risk of dissatisfaction increases if necessary time and energy is not spent. Especially when we know what could possibly be done and not able to do it.

    I completely agree that 52 words is too less, even if I have a 5 pack set, it is still 260 words, where the possibilities are many. That is probably one of the reasons I am positioning the product differently.

    I learned in 30 days of limited marketing efforts that the product does have an appeal and those at my workplace who have tried the game like the “touch and feel” part of it, while casually playing with words whenever they want to break out at work. Therefore, it seems like a good gifting option (with its learning value) apart from the aficionados who would like to “own” the game.

    Further, I have improvised the game with more “fun, urban” words with some explicit content to suit the party settings in pubs or between friends. So it makes the time spent together more interesting.

    While an app will enable the scale, it also restricts it to individuals, or people playing online with other unknown users. A card game, however, will also improve the social time offline and possibly spend some quality time.

    I wanted to share my thought process, as in how I have arrived to what I am on to right. I am certainly looking at all the possibilities you so kindly outlined. Hopefully with time, it will evolve.

    Thanks again for all the kind words.

    Regards,

    Yogi

  19. Just to update, it was funded 100% before the due date. Going for print run, will share a copy soon 🙂

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