Storyastic Launches New Games to Help People Reconnect

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HOLLAND, Mich., July 10, 2021 – Technology and screen time have eroded people’s interpersonal communication skills, and after well over a year of pandemic-induced worldwide shut-ins, people need help relearning how to be together again. Pervasive binge-watching and the pseudo-relationships of social media and telecommuting have conditioned individuals to default to technology but it’s making people lonely. STORYASTIC, makers of multi-award-winning THE RANK GAME, is making three new innovative card games available for pre-order today on Kickstarter via StoryasticGames.com. 

Designed by “Disney couple” Dana and Chip Brown, a Walt Disney Imagineer and a Disney Studios Producer, and parents of three, these three new games offer a simple and interactive way for any group to put their phones down and engage each other in real life. 

“Many people who discovered THE RANK GAME in the last 18 months have been asking us for more games, and fortunately we had already been developing and play testing several concepts over the past five years,” said Chip. “It was important that we make what we call ‘all-together’ games, in that they bring people together, and also that everyone plays all together at the same time––there’s no waiting around for someone else to take their turn. That fosters the community dynamic.” 

The design for the new games—DRAUL, BETCHA SWITCHUP, and SWIPE SWAP SWINDLE––comes from Dana Brown’s Imagineer background, having spent countless hours creating intentional experiences that millions of people around the world have enjoyed. 

“Everyday life is a lot like amusement parks, in that most of our time together is actually not the euphoric rides, but rather the potentially boring moments between the more interesting events in our lives,” added Dana. “We have the opportunity as parents or leaders to make those otherwise monotonous moments more meaningful and memorable––That’s what we did with these new games. They’re simple, accessible and fun, so they instantly create robust game nights––and they’re each packed tightly into the boxes so you can take them on the go. Anyone can reclaim time back from tech and pull their group together for endless hours of fun.” 

Each of the new games is unique and creative, but leans into the game mechanics of classic card games and poker games, so they’re time-tested but feel very fresh: 

The gameplay in all three games balances strategy and luck, and features dramatic lead-changes and come from behind victories, so any player could win right up to the end. Each game is richly designed and includes high-quality 300gsm playing cards, bright-colored hardwood components, score pads, 4-color instruction booklet and Hierarchy of Hands charts to make it easy for players to know how to win. There is even a magnetic game board in one of the games to prevent an important element from accidentally tipping over during gameplay. The high quality materials necessarily makes for high cost of goods, but Dana and Chip wanted to break the rule that consumers can’t have good and fast and cheap. 

“Our cost of goods went up 39% simply because we wanted the colored wooden pieces in an exact order in the interior tray, to match the order of the logo colors and to give our customers an elegant aesthetic and sense of order when they first open the boxes,” said Dana. “There is enough chaos in the world and people’s everyday lives—their experiences playing together and building memories should be a respite from all that.” 

“At the same time, we wanted to give as many people as possible the opportunity to get world class games at a really, really low price, which also helps us create discoverability for the games, because they’re brand new, and Storyastic is a relatively new brand,” said Chip. “So the excellent quality and super-low price gives consumers ‘good’ and ‘cheap’—The ‘fast’ part is that we will be shipping the games to backers of our Kickstarter plan right after the campaign ends, unlike most crowdfunding campaigns that send products out three or four months later or even longer. Our backers will get their games before they’re at retailers.” 

All three new games DRAUL, BETCHA SWITCHUP, and SWIPE SWAP SWINDLE, as well as the best-selling, award-winning THE RANK GAME are available right now, exclusively through KICKSTARTER. To pre-order, visit Storyastic’s Kickstarter page via StoryasticGames.com. Each consumer can purchase up to 36 games at the special low prices, so they can get their gift-giving shopping done early, giving very nice gifts at very low prices. 

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About Chip and Dana Brown

Dana was a Lead Designer at Walt Disney Imagineering for two entirely new-concept parks: Disney’s California Adventure/Paradise Pier and TokyoDisneySeas/Mediterranean Harbor. This role included the responsibility of creating the interactive and magical experiences in-between the rides, in open spaces, restaurants and retail, where consumers spend most of their time. Chip has spent more than 25 years in the media and entertainment industry, including TV, film, internet, live theatre, radio, animation, music and publishing. He helped lead Disney’s Tony ® Award-winning The Lion King to become the largest financial opening in Broadway history.

About Storyastic

Storyastic cultivates meaningful human connection in the age of tech and screentime through the creation of fun, interactive experiences and tools simple enough for everyone to play. Founded by Dana Brown, former Lead Designer at Walt Disney Imagineering and Chip Brown, former producer at Walt Disney Studios and publisher for HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Storyastic is an imaginative toy, game, and entertainment company whose debut product is THE RANK GAME, named Favorite Pick at Toy Fair NY, the largest toy and game convention in the Western Hemisphere. 

CONTACT: Chip Brown, (310) 497-7400, chip@propermedia.com