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News
For the full story visit Capital Business from the Washington Post: http://wapo.st/dNAysM Chevy Chase game inventor hopes to get her 3-D Roman Town onto toy shelves By Danielle Douglas NEW YORK -- Suzi Wilczynski, founder of Chevy Chase toy company Dig-It! Games, has got her sales pitch down packed. In the 13 months since debuting "Roman Town," she has been to seven trade shows across the country promoting the archaeology computer game. "Our product has appeal across the board. The reading comprehension really intrigues parents and there is a lot of spatial learning," she said, while standing at her booth at last week's American International Toy Fair at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Manhattan. "It really gets kids thinking about the world around them." One of 1,100 exhibitors at the annual trade show, Wilczynski and her two-person marketing team could be found in the educational aisle three levels down, sandwiched between a company selling color-blending markers and another promoting fabric art. In its 108th year, the fair is the largest toy trade show in the Western Hemisphere, drawing industry giants like Hasbro and Mattel and start-ups like Dig-It! Games. Buyers representing more than 9,000 retail outlets signed up this year in search of new merchandise. Wilczynski hoped their search would lead them to her. "There are a lot of distributors roaming the hall," she said, fiddling with the touch screen monitor as it showcased the various levels of Roman Town. The game, aimed at children 8 to 14 years old, immerses players in ancient Rome, circa 79 AD, through an excavation site. Kids are asked to go out into the field, sort through artifacts, study their findings and create a report. Along the way, there are puzzles, activities and quizzes to keep players engaged. There are no kids crowding the booth at this trade-only fair. A few months back at a show in Chicago, Wilczynski said she had a steady stream of tweens testing out the product. They played, asked questions and learned. Very little business got done -- there were more families than distributors that time, but it was heartening to see what amounted to a five-year project find an eager audience. Wilczynski launched Dig-It! in 2005 and began creating the framework for Roman Town. A trained archaeologist and former junior high school teacher, she researched and created the content of the game and hired a team to design the program. The idea for the game came to her in 1997, when a friend asked for help in putting together a project to get her seventh-grade class interested in science. Wilczynski, who was in graduate school at the time, suggested they create a mini-excavation site. The students enjoyed the project, but Wilczynski didn't pursue it any further. Years later a serious flare-up of her Lyme disease made it difficult to continue working in the field and she revisited the idea of developing and selling the game from home. "When you go on excavation sites, there are people who can recreate a site in three dimensions on their computer. I thought, why can't I do that for a kid?" she said. Dig-It! has sold about 600 units of Roman Town through its Web site and Amazon.com, where the individual game is listed at $39.95 and the teacher's edition that includes a 113-page lesson guide goes for $299. While the pace of sales has been steady thus far, it could take off if she can get the game on toy store shelves. So far she's had success in getting picked up by catalogues, but stores have yet to take the bait. Adrienne Appell, a spokeswoman for the Toy Industry Association, noted that the market for new games and toys is fairly fertile, as the industry was largely shielded from the full brunt of the downturn. Sales for the overall toy industry actually grew 2 percent in 2010, though video games registered a 6 percent decline in revenue, according to research firm the NPD Group. Standing in a sea of retailers endorsing their products, the challenge of getting a distributor's attention is not lost on Wilczynski. Yet she's undeterred, especially since she is hedging her bets by targeting specialty toy stores, bookstores and museums. Earlier this month, she was invited to have Roman Town showcased at an exhibit on Pompeii at Discovery Times Square in New York City.
For the full story visit Capital Business from the Washington Post: http://wapo.st/dNAysM Chevy Chase game inventor hopes to get her 3-D Roman Town onto toy shelves By Danielle Douglas NEW YORK -- Suzi Wilczynski, founder of Chevy Chase toy company Dig-It! Games, has got her sales pitch down packed. In the 13 months since debuting "Roman Town," she has been to seven trade shows across the country promoting the archaeology computer game. "Our product has appeal across the board. The reading comprehension really intrigues parents and there is a lot of spatial learning," she said, while standing at her booth at last week's American International Toy Fair at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Manhattan. "It really gets kids thinking about the world around them." One of 1,100 exhibitors at the annual trade show, Wilczynski and her two-person marketing team could be found in the educational aisle three levels down, sandwiched between a company selling color-blending markers and another promoting fabric art. In its 108th year, the fair is the largest toy trade show in the Western Hemisphere, drawing industry giants like Hasbro and Mattel and start-ups like Dig-It! Games. Buyers representing more than 9,000 retail outlets signed up this year in search of new merchandise. Wilczynski hoped their search would lead them to her. "There are a lot of distributors roaming the hall," she said, fiddling with the touch screen monitor as it showcased the various levels of Roman Town. The game, aimed at children 8 to 14 years old, immerses players in ancient Rome, circa 79 AD, through an excavation site. Kids are asked to go out into the field, sort through artifacts, study their findings and create a report. Along the way, there are puzzles, activities and quizzes to keep players engaged. There are no kids crowding the booth at this trade-only fair. A few months back at a show in Chicago, Wilczynski said she had a steady stream of tweens testing out the product. They played, asked questions and learned. Very little business got done -- there were more families than distributors that time, but it was heartening to see what amounted to a five-year project find an eager audience. Wilczynski launched Dig-It! in 2005 and began creating the framework for Roman Town. A trained archaeologist and former junior high school teacher, she researched and created the content of the game and hired a team to design the program. The idea for the game came to her in 1997, when a friend asked for help in putting together a project to get her seventh-grade class interested in science. Wilczynski, who was in graduate school at the time, suggested they create a mini-excavation site. The students enjoyed the project, but Wilczynski didn't pursue it any further. Years later a serious flare-up of her Lyme disease made it difficult to continue working in the field and she revisited the idea of developing and selling the game from home. "When you go on excavation sites, there are people who can recreate a site in three dimensions on their computer. I thought, why can't I do that for a kid?" she said. Dig-It! has sold about 600 units of Roman Town through its Web site and Amazon.com, where the individual game is listed at $39.95 and the teacher's edition that includes a 113-page lesson guide goes for $299. While the pace of sales has been steady thus far, it could take off if she can get the game on toy store shelves. So far she's had success in getting picked up by catalogues, but stores have yet to take the bait. Adrienne Appell, a spokeswoman for the Toy Industry Association, noted that the market for new games and toys is fairly fertile, as the industry was largely shielded from the full brunt of the downturn. Sales for the overall toy industry actually grew 2 percent in 2010, though video games registered a 6 percent decline in revenue, according to research firm the NPD Group. Standing in a sea of retailers endorsing their products, the challenge of getting a distributor's attention is not lost on Wilczynski. Yet she's undeterred, especially since she is hedging her bets by targeting specialty toy stores, bookstores and museums. Earlier this month, she was invited to have Roman Town showcased at an exhibit on Pompeii at Discovery Times Square in New York City.
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Media Reviews
This is the best I’ve seen yet to get the kids attention AND be educational at the same time. I recommend this for anyone age 7 and up - perfect for those who are inquisitive and anyone who has projects on Rome!