San Francisco, CA, – The grand prize winner of the 2013 National Young Game Inventors Contest™ (NYGIC) is 7 year-old Franklin Wright of Frisco, TX for the Conveyor Belt board game. “Wow, this is a real surprise,” said Franklin. “The judges really had fun playing this game. Conveyor Belt introduces a new mix of luck and strategy to board games. Franklin Wright is the first Wright in 100 years to reinvent an industry,” said Bob Moog, Chairman of University Games.
Franklin Wright wins a $10,000 Savings Bond toward his college education, a $200 Toys R Us gift card, and a trip to San Francisco including a stay at The Prescott Hotel, a NYGIC sponsor and part of the Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group. In addition, Moog announced the big news, “We have decided to publish Conveyor Belt and distribute throughout the U.S. in 2014.” Some of previous years’ winners include The Great Jungle Adventure Game, a strategy game about racing through the jungle to rescue a friend by Mary Carville of Lancaster, MA, Take a Hike!, a nature game about hiking through the forest by Derek Nelson of Germantown, Tennessee and Munch Math™, by Martin Schneider, which challenges players to solve math equations to fill up their “food cards,” one bite at a time.
Ingenuity and imagination is the spirit of the NYGIC, as 5–12 year old children from around the nation invent, design and submit their own board game. University Games created the contest in 1993, and is the only board game invention competition of its kind in the world. “The concept behind the National Young Game Inventors Contest is to encourage imagination, creativity, critical thinking skills and social interaction through board game invention,” says Moog, “and all of the nearly 200 entries amazed us—the diversity of the themes created gives us great insight into what excites today’s kids. It makes sense that kids know what makes a great game.” Prominent themes presented by the entries this year include animals of all kinds, math, strategy, racing, fantasy and magic.
This year’s contest was sponsored by Toys R Us, Scholastic by Scholastic Parent & Child Magazine, and The Prescott Hotel in San Francisco. Judges included: Moog, Alecia Reid – Reporter, KRON 4 News, Maggie Weiss – Assistant Head of School, Lower School of The San Francisco School, and Lily Moss – Manager, The Prescott Hotel.
University Games produces more than 200 products across 6 divisions: University Games (board games/travel/card games), Great Explorations™ (science and learning/novelties/Glow-in-the-Dark products), Bepuzzled® (puzzles), Front Porch Classics® (upscale high-end tabletop games, My Studio Girl™ (arts and crafts for girls), and Colorforms™ (vinyl stick-on play sets, board games/travel, floor puzzles).