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November 29, 04 Reader Services |
Dr. Ifay Chang, inventor of the card game Scrammble, says the past year has taught him just what it takes to develop a new game, from concept to distribution. For game inventor, fun is in the cards Ifay Chang goes beyond child's play Dr. Ifay Chang hasn't left the high-tech world from whence he came. He still runs the most-viewed medical search engine on the Internet, Medical World Search (www.mwsearch.com), as well as an internet-based phone service, IPO2U.com Inc. But over the past year Chang has worked hard within another industry, as the creator of a game that combines word play, speed and the portability of a deck of cards. Chang's "Scrammble" game came out just around last year's December holidays (Business Journal, Dec. 29, 2003). In the 12 months that have followed, Chang has sharpened the game's presentation and distribution, in hopes of finding the sort of success enjoyed by games like UpWords and Cranium, not to mention classics like Scrabble. "This is harder than the high-tech stuff, and the payoff may not be as much," said Chang, a retired IBM research scientist and Polytechnic University dean. Gone is the simple clear plastic container that held all the game's 136 cards when Scrammble came out last year. In its place is a green plastic box that holds not only the cards, but a new plastic game board Chang developed, featuring illustrations of smiling green aliens, as well as the tokens players now move around that board. The game itself, however, hasn't changed. Players take turns flipping a card from the deck, then trying to form a word from the exposed letters. The first player who forms a new word collects points - but loses them when the next player takes a card and forms a larger word using that letter and the others. Play continues until every card in the deck is flipped open. The one with the most points is the winner. Each "Scrammble" card or "tile" features a letter of the alphabet and its point score. The most commonly used letters like E and T appear on more cards, but command fewer points than letters like X and Z, which appear in the deck only once.
DOLLARS AND SENSE Evolving to a board game, Chang said, was a matter of dollars and sense. In the toy retailing industry now concentrated in just a few chains, card games can only sell for $3 or $4. Board games, by contrast, can command triple that price or more, with Scrammble to sell for $14.99. To get the game known to children, Chang has persuaded public libraries in Mahopac, Mount Kisco and Somers to let him teach Scrammble to children. In Somers, Chang will offer two demonstration sessions on Dec. 28. And recently, Chang found his first retailer interested in selling his game, Family Discount Center, which operates stores in New Rochelle, Harrison, Rye Brook and Bedford Hills. Chang, a Katonah resident, was driving down Route 117, stopping at several stores, when he came across Family Discount's Bedford Hills store, 719 Bedford Road. He arranged an appointment with owner Steve Rotker, who took a liking to the game. That appointment was the fruit of a day that saw many more rejections by store owners. Then again, a word game called Scrabble had a similar problem a half-century ago, until the then-chairman of Macy's ordered it stocked in each of his department stores. Now, Macy's isn't even among the top 10 retail chains that dominate toy sales. The 10 accounted for nearly all of the $20.7 billion worth of toys sold last year, half of that during the last three months of 2003, according to the Toy Industry Association Inc., a trade group in New York City. "The whole process is rigged against the little guys. There's no way to compete unless you take a grass-roots approach, if you're smart enough to do so," Chang said. Chang predicts his approach will catapult Scrammble to victory in the toy wars: "I'm confident that this game is going to beat Scrabble."
WINTER COMES EARLY TO NORTHERN WESTCHSTER Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco found an original way earlier this month to raise more than $600,000 for its planned new emergency room, by turning a portion of its campus into an extraordinary Russian winter wonderland setting that dazzled nearly 1,000 guests. Husband and wife designers Steel and Tricia Swift of Bedford, owners of Pleasantville-based Tangram, created the wintry setting of "Northern Lights, Russian Nights," within a 22,000-square-foot white tent pitched on the hospital's front parking lot. Attendees were encouraged to don some faux fur and many obliged, with boas and hats suitable for the chilly evening. Even the heavens registered approval of the gala theme, as a light covering of snow glistened outdoors. Honorees for the Nov. 13 gala were Dr. Alan R. Schadlow, of Katonah, an internist and former president of the hospital's medical staff; and Thomas O. Ryder, chairman and chief executive officer of The Reader's Digest Association Inc. in nearby New Castle (Pleasantville address). Nine days later, Ryder had something even better to celebrate, the global publisher inked a $59 million sale-leaseback of its 114-acre campus to a pair of developers from South Norwalk, Conn., a venture of Greenfield Partners, L.L.C. and Summit Development, L.L.C. Frank Brosens, chairman of Northern Westchester's board, and Joel Seligman, the hospital's president and chief executive officer, expressed clear delight with the crowd's enormous support and display of enthusiasm. The hospital hopes to capitalize on that interest with the new emergency room, one of several new construction and renovation projects in the works (See Doing Business in Mount Kisco). Joining the Swifts as event co-chairs were Ashley and Vincent Andrews of North Salem, and Tracey and Scott Gerber of Pound Ridge. Former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) served as honorary co-chairs.
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Copyright 2004, Westfair Communications Inc. |