Tony tells us about Telestrations

Are you stuck in the house because it is cold and snowy outside?  If you haven’t played Telestrations yet, then this is just the game for you to play away your winter blues! When you play Telestrations the results are unpredictable and hilarious!  Check out our interview with Tony, who was part of the brains that came up with Telestrations!

Marbles: Telestrations is such a great game and we love it here at Marbles!  Can you tell us how Telestrations came about?

Tony: An internal group meets regularly to test play all sorts of games, and one day we took a break to do a creative exercise to help switch from some of the types of strategy play patterns we were testing. The exercise involved paper and pens, and a category for everyone to choose something from (book title and movie title were among the first rounds). Each player had a stack of paper squares that would get sent around the circle alternating between sketching and guessing (think Telephone meets Pictionary) until it came back to the originator. Needless to say, after over an hour of laughter, tears of silliness and downright playful fun the early stages of Telestrations was born. The premise and playfulness of that first exercise is what drove the whole development process, and what almost everyone experiences when they play what we developed into Telestrations, we call it the Telestrations Effect. (check out TelestrationsEffect.com)

Marbles: What was your reaction to winning the 2010 Best Party Game award?

Tony: WOW! We are so thrilled, and humbled. Of course we know and believe this game to be a winner, but the validation from others is rewarding. For a company to create an “in house” game that receives such great response, sell through, press and reviews is wonderful, but somewhat unprecedented to happen so quickly. Though there are other games out there that have really caught on and gained popularity in play and sales, it has taken much longer for the grassroots efforts to really help get those games into the hands of enough people to really help start spreading the word and moving the needle in sales. Everyone who we show the game to or play with not only has a blast but they embrace the game as their own discovery and share it with their friends. The game play experience really does sell players on the game, and therefore why so many people do see it as their go-to for a party game now and why it is winning awards.

Marbles: You have an example of a Telestrations game where “Kick Ball” becomes “Swiss Cheese” on your website.  Do you have any other memorable rounds that still make you laugh?

Tony: Many, some of which are not suitable for print, however there are some that make me giggle still that I can share: “Santa’s Sleigh” becomes “Road Rage” or “Justin Bieber” becomes “Grandpa” or  “Mother Goose” becomes “Angel of Death”. A beautiful thing about the game is that it is different each time you play, therefore if you were to play the ”starting word” as “Mother Goose” it is highly unlikely that your group would end up with “Angel of Death” but likely something just as funny.

Marbles: What do you like best about working with Marbles?

Tony: The format of the Marbles store “…collection of hand-picked, expert-tested, certifiable fun ways to a healthier brain” is a perfect fit for some of our games, and the passion that the staff have for the products offered in stores is genuine and thorough. One of the more growing means by which many people are shopping is through recommendations from friends or store staff.  Since the Marbles staff play and test the products they sell, they’re prepared to make sound recommendations that are perfect for any shoppers needs. This is fantastic for the customer that comes into Marbles looking for a gift to fit a particular person or new item for him or herself. Wish we had Marbles in San Diego!