Ansagrams (Big Box Edition) | Card Game from TV & Radio Personality Matt Edmondson | Card Game | Ages 12+| 3+ Players | Average Playtime 30-60 Minutes

Product Information

Self-publishing sounded hard, so I went down the licensing route and I was really lucky to meet Big Potato because they are the dons at doing party games. It’s smart – and I suppose it also means you don’t have to necessarily be a trivia whizz to be good at it. Their Wheels vs Doors game is not only entertaining, it’s educational, as you choose which is larger out of two things.

To bring things full circle – you mentioned at the start about having a bad time with a Home Alone 2 board game. I did Richard Osman’s House of Games and when anything came up requiring actual general knowledge, I was bricking it! Without playing it many more times, it’s unclear how much this simple formula will keep your interest in the long term. It has the satisfaction of a good brain teaser whilst also allowing fun, competitive gameplay between friends. Seeing the potential of Matt’s designs, and recognising the worldwide appeal of the game formats, August saw Asmodee follow this up with an exclusive global distribution deal covering the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.Along the way, he also taught himself graphic and packaging design, copywriting and learnt about the games’ manufacturing process – everything needed to bring the games to market independently. They’ve taken Truth Bombs – a great game with a brilliant mechanic – and they’ve put a different skin on it, but at its core is really strong game. Anagrams are words or phrases you spell by reorganizing the letters of a different word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once.

We’ve likened the experience to a couple of guys taking up busking on Monday, then being signed by a major label for a five-record deal by Friday,” said Laurence Emmett, Co-Founder of Format Games.I’ve got a few game ideas that will be coming in the next couple of years that are in that family space that will lend themselves to licensing in a really big way, in a similar way that Dobble does.

I bashed out the questions in a couple of days, but if a graphic designer watched me try and design it, they would’ve found it hilarious.

I also wanted to ask; you’re a TV presenter, you’re a Radio 1 DJ… Do you think being famous has made it easier to successfully launch your own games? I didn’t know what I was doing, but I’ve always been keen to learn, so using YouTube and TikTok I figured out how to make it. Format Games’ credibility as an indie games label has been given the seal of approval by Asmodee, which first signed it up for UK distribution in February 2021.

Also, through people knowing my personality because of the radio or having played my previous games, they trust that I like board games and I know what I’m doing.All three games will launch in other global territories through Asmodee in spring/summer 2022, along with a fourth new game, Noggin, which will also be available in the UK next year. Matt came out of lockdown with a raft of game ideas, ready to bring to market and – thanks to last year’s success with Ansagrams – Asmodee could see the potential of our whole portfolio.