Marbles: We have heard that when creating Infunitum, you were actually trying to write a song! Can you tell us how working on a song turned into creating a game?
May & Hazel Co-Creators of Infunitum: We had written a few songs together for fun and one late night in June 2008 while trying to write; hit a creative block. We put the guitar down and tried to find lyrics by clearing our minds. May pointed to a bowl of fruit and suggested we take turns naming fruit. When we exhausted all the fruits and simultaneously said the same fruit name, we both shouted, “Wait, NO repeats!” We tried it with a new category and as soon as we had another identical response, our eyes lit up and we both screamed, “Hey, did we just create A GAME?”
We giggled like little kids as we began jotting down hundreds of topics and how the game would play out. After testing it out on friends and family, we were amazed at the unanimous push to produce the game. So, off we ventured into the land of toys and games. In November 2009 we took our game fresh off the dock to the Chicago Toy and Game Fair where the public voted it “Best Game in Show.” It was magical!
So, instead of publishing a song on iTunes, we published an app, and we’re totally cool with that!
Marbles: What was your reaction to winning the ‘Best Game in Show’ award at the Chicago Toy and Game Fair in 2009?
May & Hazel Co-Creators of Infunitum:
As a team we made a list of dream/goals including “win an award.” When we actually won, we flipped-out and burst into tears of joy. You see, we really feel like little kids that created Infunitum, so when we receive any validation, we soak in those blissful feelings and use that good mojo to set our next dreams/goals.
Winning Best Game in Show is such an honor. We proudly post it on every game because as Chicagoans, winning that award in Chicago was like winning an Academy Award. It’s truly wonderful and is still quite surreal.
Marbles: There are 450 categories in Infunitum! How did you come up with so many? Is there a process you use in narrowing them down?
May & Hazel Co-Creators of Infunitum: With sugar as our muse, we’re kind of unconventional thinkers to begin with. Also, we’re so comfortable with each other we just start blabbing and writing with reckless abandon. We used a rating scale based on which topics inspired more than 5 hilarious answers that could make us laugh out loud. Those topics made the cut. Focus groups also helped as we streamlined the topics.
When we started out in June 2008, we carried topics chicken-scratched on hand-ripped pieces of paper in a snack sized Ziplock bag. And, quite surprisingly, all the topics made it into the final game! We must have been ‘in the zone’ because they were a culmination of our sense of humor, passion for fun and desire to bring people of all ages and cultures together. Our motto is, “If it isn’t fun … it’s done.”
Our creative process is all over the place! We laugh, play, eat, sing, play, keep laughing, eat more and write more. But the safety of giving each other full permission to speak about ANYTHING that comes to mind during the process (even if we go WAY off into another tangent), is a great way to start. And I guess our end process is: play, play, play.
Marbles: What is your favorite part about working with Marbles?
May & Hazel Co-Creators of Infunitum: Marbles was our first ‘dream store.’ We loved the concept of having a store where people are able to interact and test products that help keep your mind fresh and nimble while having fun. Now that Infunitum is selling in Marbles, yet another dream has come true for us.
Our favorite part about working with Marbles has got to be that every Marbles team member we have met loves their job, cares about about their products and how they promote them. They’ve all played Infunitum, pronounce it properly (sigh!) and love it as much as we do. And when you meet people who love and enjoy something that you’ve created, you connect with them at a totally different level. The Brain Coaches have played, care and want to share … that’s amazing!
Healing in the name of fun or is it fun in the name of healing? Either way, we love working with Marbles and we hope they love working with us.
