Feature - Games & Puzzles

Playing to win

It’s set to be a big year for the Games & Puzzles category, with landmark moments and anniversaries, film launches and more all bolstering a raft of major new launches. Toy World takes a look at some of the games and puzzles to look out for this year, and speaks to a selection of leaders in the space about what makes their products great.

WWhen this issue of Toy World comes out, it’ll be a little over four weeks till one of Britain’s most exciting events for decades takes place: the coronation of King Charles III on 8th May. The first to take place on a weekend since 1902, when Edward VII was crowned King, Brits will doubtless indulge in celebratory activities – such as completing a puzzle or playing a game created to mark this historic occasion. Winning Moves is releasing a special edition Kings & Queens of Britain Monopoly; Tomy has created a new Best of the Royals addition for its Logo range, while Ravensburger, Jumbo and Gibsons have all unveiled new puzzles. These new offerings are already proving popular, so retailers should act quickly if their shelves are ‘royally lacking’.

“We can’t believe the success of our celebratory puzzle, Coronation of a King,” says Samantha Goodburn, marketing manager at Gibsons. “It launched on 10th February and sold out in just four days. We showcased the puzzle at London Toy Fair, Spielwarenmesse and Spring Fair, and were blown away by the response from buyers. It’s been both a trade and consumer best-seller and we are overjoyed with the reviews it’s received to date.”

Ravensburger has welcomed the award-winning artist and illustrator Eleanor Tomlinson to its adult puzzle portfolio, allowing it to secure her 1,000-piece puzzle, Coronation Capers. Coronation Capers features a typically British scene: breeds of dogs associated with the Royal Family, surrounded by bunting and overlooking The Mall, crowds and London’s iconic skyline from the Buckingham Palace balcony. Katy Fletcher, head of Marketing and Product Development, told Toy World: “I’m a dog lover, so this stunning puzzle immediately caught my attention. It’ll be a joy for puzzlers to piece together and something for fans of royalty to cherish for years to come.”

2023 marks 100 years of Disney, so a raft of Disney licensed games and puzzles has been released. Cartamundi is continuing its Princess Race Home game, part of the Shuffle Disney collection, while Ravensburger is marking the occasion with a Disney Labyrinth 100th Anniversary edition and six Disney 100 300-piece Puzzle Moments.

Disney isn’t the only one celebrating an anniversary: this year, Scrabble celebrates 75 of being ‘fun beyond words’. Keeping the Scrabble brand firmly up to date, Scrabble Vision brings tech innovation to traditional Scrabble gameplay. The app can quickly total scores, verify words, countdown and track turns, and level the playing field for younger players by offering word hints.

“This strategic word game was the first to encourage creative thinking through unpredictable play and is known worldwide for bringing people together in the spirit of competitive fun,” says Kelly Philp, marketing lead at Mattel UK. “Scrabble, along with Uno and Pictionary, is an evergreen classic that I’m sure everyone has played. All these games remain key drivers throughout 2023.”

Somewhat Scrabble’s junior, but nonetheless celebrating its own impressive anniversary, Cranium – billed as the mother of all party games - is 25 this year. Working in partnership with Hasbro, Funko Games is releasing Cranium 25th Anniversary edition featuring 18 new or reimagined activities and plenty of fresh content, plus a modern new board design. This will be followed by extensions to the range including Cranium Big Brain, Cranium Hullabaloo and Cranium Hoopla, all of which Funko expects to perform very well.

Funko’s confidence is not misplaced: numerous contributors in this issue including Tomy and Big Potato have highlighted the ever-growing demand for party games among players both young and not-so-young. This might be down to the current economic climate in the UK, with consumers looking for budget-friendly ways to entertain groups of people. Within the Adult Party Game category, Spin Master has turned a viral social media trend into the hilarious new Tell Me Without Telling Me; Explosm continues to see success with its light-hearted and cheeky adult party game Master Dater, and the drinking/party game Under the Influence is set to launch for summer via VR Distribution.

James Vaughan, head of Game Development at the family-friendly party games specialist Big Potato, has noticed an influx of party games that can be played by smaller groups or solo players, something he says ‘feels like a lingering effect from the lockdown years’. University Games has likewise noticed rising demand for games that can be both single and multi-player. UK-based Big Potato recently signed an international deal with US company Buffalo Games which has seen both companies start distributing each other’s games in their respective countries. For Big Potato, this means being able to bring the best-selling Chuckle & Roar range, as well as Pop-It Pro, Pop-It Pets and Junior Detective, to UK retailers and consumers.

“We really couldn’t be happier,” says Dean Tempest, the CEO and founder of Big Potato, when asked how the deal is going so far. “Buffalo is a strategic retail expert, and I don’t think there’s a better company when it comes to managing the product market fit and productivity with retailers. The fact that we can bring its biggest hits to the UK for the first time is incredibly exciting for both us and our retail partners. With its track record of creating successful titles, and our ability to harness social media to increase the visibility of our products, it should hopefully turn out to be a brilliant long-term partnership.”

Big Potato is also releasing a number of its own new games this year, including You Can’t Say “Umm…” and Get The Ick, which marketing manager Ellie Bavester describes as ‘a small & light party game that came about through research into TikTok trends and ways to engage the alwaysonline Gen Z audience’. She adds: “From a professional sense, it’s going to be a fun project to work on; I’m really excited to see the potential it might unlock for us online. And from a personal point of view, I just can’t wait to play it with my friends.”

Licences are also having an impact on the category this year. The Super Mario movie, starring Chris Pratt, arrives in cinemas on 5th April. Both Epoch and Tomy are on board as licensees, with the former’s Super Mario Route ‘n Go! game joined by Tomy’s new Pop Up Super Mario. Mary Wood, managing director UK & Germany, Tomy, says: “We’re hugely excited about launch of Pop Up Super Mario, which arrives on-shelf in time for the film launch and will attract adult players as well as kids. As a licensed version of the classic kids’ game, Pop Up Pirate, we’re tapping into both an evergreen play pattern and fans of the Super Mario franchise. It’s probably one of the launches I’m most excited about this year, alongside our new party game, The Game of Saying ‘Huh?!’.”

BBC’s smash hit gameshow The Traitors has also been turned into two new games, one of which is Ginger Fox’s The Traitors: The Official Card Game. Vivid Goliath’s marketing controller, Chloe Burrowes, meanwhile, says the entire company is excited for its own offering, The Traitors The Official Boardgame. She tells Toy World: “The Traitors took the world by storm last year and with a UK second series commissioned, and 34m downloads of series 1, we can’t wait for fans of the show to play the official board game and find out who among them are Faithfuls - and who would dare enjoy being a Traitor.”

In terms of themes, unicorns are prancing ahead with both Curious Universe and Orchard Toys releasing new unicorn-themed games for 2023 (readers can find out more about these games in our special Touching Base feature on new launches, starting on p. 44). Music is also hitting the right notes in the Games category this year: Ginger Fox welcomes the official Popmaster Board Game based on Ken Bruce’s popular radio quiz, James Galt is bringing the European sell-out success Hitster to the UK & Ireland, and Vivid Goliath’s Beat Blast offers a new way for players to combine music with play.

Crime and mystery remain popular themes too, and there’s no shortage of new titles to try out this year. Moose brings Hunt a Killer to the UK for the first time, What Do You Meme launches Who Killed Mia?, University Games welcomes Mission: Black Hawk and Murder Noir to its Case Files Mysteries series, and Vivid introduces Lunar Dial for autumn/winter.

“We feel proud to be a driving force in the Crime Games category, from our now evergreen Escape Rooms through to Unsolved Case Files and Lunar Dial, based on the hugely popular Morbid podcast,” says marketing controller Chloe Burrowes. “It shows that consumers really are inspired by so many different media touchpoints and want to re-create their enjoyment of crime and mystery themes by playing these games at home.”

Some companies are taking existing product lines or technologies and turning them into games. Plus-Plus, for example, has created a new Puzzle by Number range utilising its unique construction blocks, allowing kids to piece together impressive pictures that can be displayed around the home once finished, or broken down and used in other builds. Spin Master has done a similar thing with its highly tactile Kinetic Sand, which is a core component of the award-winning Sink N Sand game. Richard Dickson, general manager, Sales & Marketing, Spin Master UK, says Spin Master performed well in the Games & Puzzles category in Q4 (as well as throughout the entirety of 2022) in the UK, driven in large part by the success of Sink N Sand, which earned multiple awards and garnered much media attention.

HoloToyz, meanwhile, has applied its augmented reality technology to a new range of 4D cube puzzles and jigsaws. Seamlessly blending digital and physical play, the range invites kids to complete their cube or puzzle before bringing it to life using the kid-safe HoloToyz app. Co-founders Kate Scott and Declan Fahy say the launch of their new 4D cube puzzles and jigsaws is an exciting development for the company, which also produces trading cards, books, decals, stickers and temporary tattoos.

It's also worth noting that this year, we’ve seen iconic game brands brought to consumers in imaginative new ways. Hasbro recently invited players to solve the murder of Boddy Black via its immersive Instagram experience, and a new Dobble ride, Dobble Tea Party, has arrived at Thorpe Park. As part of the partnership, Dobble will also create a special Thorpe Park Resort edition of the game featuring symbols of the theme park’s rides and events such as Stealth and the award-winning Halloween event Fright Nights. Hasbro is working closely with the retailer Game on strong in-store branding across games including Monopoly: find out more about this, and how Game is taking a fresh look at the Toys & Games market, on pages 34-36.

According to Big Potato’s Ellie Bavester, the company is investigating how it can provide its key retail partners with bespoke marketing plans and tailored, individualised support. She says: “We know that a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t the most effective way at reaching each partner's unique market. Aside from our usual POS offering, we’re also working on some new POS plans for Christmas, and we’re really excited about getting in stores and in front of customers.”

Over at Spin Master, an expert group of ‘Games Squad’ influencers will be creating engaging content for summer that promises to drive footfall to the company’s retail partners. Richard Dickson says Spin Master is also exploring opportunities for in-store game days and demos. And Mary Wood tell us that Tomy working closer than ever with its retailers to maximise joint reach, ensuring it has presence on its social channels as well as online banners during key periods, and driving consumers to retailers via TV tagging as well as social media campaigns.

In the following comprehensive feature, you’ll find all the information you need to know about this year’s biggest and most exciting games and puzzles, plus personal opinion from a raft of major players about the launches they’re most looking forward to.