What’s the Point?

NAU graduate and Flagstaff local invents cactus-themed game now sold nationwide

Sabrina Grimaldi

Ryan Wallace had played every board game he owned when an unexpected life event sent him on a search for something fresh. After a month of hospitalization interrupted his undergraduate degree in computer science at NAU, Wallace went back to school with an itch to create his own game, something that took all of the best pieces of his favorite games and combined them into a new one, unlike anything anyone had played before.

While the card game market is endless, with new games popping up yearly, Wallace knew there was a similar but different market that needed to be filled. Living in northern Arizona, gift shops and tourist stops lined the corners of Flagstaff streets, and he realized there weren’t usually any card games on the shelves there. He could create a game that could be an interesting gift – an activity and a souvenir rolled into one

“I wanted to create a game that would go in gift shops,”Wallace said.“There wasn’t really a market for that. I saw the opportunity, and I took it Most games sit next to other games on the shelf, but my game is unique because they have puzzles and things at gift stores. But they don’t have card games that are also souvenirs, so I ran with that”

With this idea in mind, Wallace began designing the game and creating its gameplay. He wanted the game to be family-friendly, something players of all ages could enjoy. This meant that he had to test the game, using different test subjects to observe how different people understood the instructions and reacted to the flow of the game.

“I can’t stress how much play testing it takes to make a game,” Wallace said “I would go to clubs on campus, and I would ask them to play the game. I did a lot of playtesting on campus, and it was really built around the student’s ideas. They’d come to me and say ‘this card sucks’ or ‘this card is awesome’ or ‘this rule is good’ or ‘this rule is bad’ I would take all that feedback and continue expanding on it.”

Wallace tested the game on whoever was willing to give it a try. He asked NAU students to try it out, offering to buy them a pizza for their service. He had his younger sister and her friends try it out, so he could see how a younger generation liked it He had family members such as his grandparents and his young cousins try it, taking notes and forming the game based on their understandings and reactions. He even would venture to downtown Flagstaff into bars and local restaurants, asking buzzed and tipsy people to try out the game, making sure the rules and instructions were drunk-proof

“There were a lot of times where I would give them the instructions, and they would interpret it completely opposite of how I wanted them to,” Wallace said. “I’d have to rewrite it and rewrite it and test again. Honestly, it took two years of play testing to get the instructions just correct enough to where anyone can pick it up and play it right. Even then, I’m still working on it. Sometimes I add to the instructions to answer questions people have. It’s never-ending, but it’s in a place now that I’m confident that 99% of people can pick it up and play it in the way I intended it to be played.”

Beyond the instructions of the game and the gameplay itself, Wallace was also busy designing the cards, components and packaging.

“I spent two or three years perfecting the game while I was juggling school work,” Wallace said. “When I wasn’t studying or partying, I was working on the card game. I did everything from the box design to the artwork to the game components. Everything. I’m a one-man band.”

When the creation of the game and all its elements were nearly complete, Wallace used the website Kickstarter to launch his game.

There, he raised over $9,000 which helped him fund the first 500 copies of the game

“To be honest, that’s as far as I thought I would ever go,” Wallace said. “I thought ‘500? That will be good,’ and I sold through them so quick They loved it, they loved the artwork, they loved the game design and they loved that it was Arizona made. So, I ordered more and more. Now, as of today, the game is in 150 stores and I have sold over 6,000 copies… I love that I have created 6,000 game nights.”

Since its initial launch in 2020, Wallace has produced over 6,000 copies of the game, with 5,000 more copies currently in production for the 2023 year. With the help of his parents and a few friends, he has nailed down distribution, shipping costs and the business side of things.

What’s The Point? The Cactus Card Game can now be found in 150 stores nationwide, including Flagstaff General Store in town and online. It is offered in numerous noteworthy gift shops like the Grand Canyon and the Space Needle gift shops. The game was created, designed and made in and by Flagstaff through the help of playtesting. Wallace currently is distributing the game from his Flagstaff home. To learn more, head over to https://www thecactuscardgame.com/