Special Feature - Format Games

A winning format

The brainchild of TV and radio presenter Matt Edmondson and his business partner/brother-in-law Laurence Emmett, Format Games took a major leap forward recently after striking a global distribution deal for its titles with Asmodee. Rachael Simpson-Jones talked to Matt and Laurence to find out more.

Matt, some would argue that becoming a games designer is an unusual career move considering your TV and radio work. What prompted this, and how have you found the process?

Matt: It might seem like a departure, but I’d argue there’s actually a lot of crossover. I run a TV production company, requiring ideas that are simple to explain, easy to understand, and have a clear format. It’s the same with my first game, Obama Lama (made with Big Potato), which was conceived as a TV show, but the idea was just too good to waste while I waited for that to happen. I had to find another outlet for it, so the boardgame was created.

When you’ve done anything once, you become convinced you can do it again. More successful game ideas came through, and more are waiting in the wings.

Laurence: The pandemic gave me some free time to play with, so we thought ‘why not give designing another game a go?’ Ansagrams was the result. While Matt learned product design, I embraced the manufacturing and distribution side of things, and the first shipment sold out in just weeks.

Following this success, you’ve landed a major distribution deal with Asmodee – what does this mean to you both?

Matt: It’s very exciting. We enjoyed a smooth ride with Ansagrams, which opened numerous doors for us: our meeting with John Lewis about stocking it, our meeting with Amsodee about distributing it. Everything has happened rapidly. Laurence describes the process as busking on Brighton Pier one day and the head of Sony Records offering you a contract the next. We’re only just scratching the surface of where we could go with Format Games.

We’re learning quickly and have all the necessary mechanisms to really go places. Our deal with Asmodee will no doubt be a big part of our future success.

What do your latest games, Egg Slam and So Wrong It’s Right, offer players and retailers?

Matt: My favourite games tend to be the ones you can place in front of a friend you know doesn’t really ‘get’ games, because you’re sure they’ll love it. So Wrong It’s Right is a trivia game, something I’m not normally a fan of unless there’s a twist - and this game has that twist. The trivia isn’t tricky; players are asked one question they will almost certainly know the answer to. The challenge lies in the different ways you might have to answer. If the answer to the question ‘Who sang No Woman, No Cry?’ is Bob Marley, maybe you’d have to say ‘Marley Bob’, ‘Ob Arley’, ‘Mob Barley’ and so on – it’s a test of whether your brain and your mouth can keep up. You can take it anywhere, pick it up and put it down again whenever you like, and it’s great for parties because it’s hilarious.

Egg Slam fits into the Snap/Dobble/pairs bracket. I designed it with the help of my five-year-old daughter. We call it a ‘Pizza Express’ game: you’d play it with your family at a restaurant while you’re waiting for your doughballs to arrive, then simply put it away again when they do. It’s a perfect stocking filler.

I have a strong social media following, so retailers who stock our games can benefit from a ready-made audience of players. I have a head-start on other start-up games companies; I’ve made games before so I’m not a complete newcomer to the category, and I have followers that will buy them. Those are two strong reasons to stock the Format Games range.

If you were to pick up one of our games and turn it over, you’d be treated to a little taste of the gameplay with a breakdown of the mechanics and an example question. I love buying games, and I know the sorts of games I like: the ones with personality. If you’re in a store looking for the perfect party game, something like Ansagrams is going to draw you in. Word of mouth is also very important. Every game I’ve ever enjoyed has been recommended to me, and I would hope people will recommend our games too.

What can we expect from Format Games in 2022 in terms of growth and portfolio development?

Matt: We’ve got a backlog of game ideas yet to be revealed, one of which will give players a meatier experience: more content, more components, and a mechanic with all the personality I mentioned earlier.

The greatest game I’ve ever played, Noggin, is out for spring/summer. You would expect me to say it’s the greatest as I invented it, but I can promise you it’s like nothing else out there, and once you’ve had a go it’ll be the only thing you want to do all day. I came up with the idea on a rainy holiday and played it with some friends who aren’t really boardgamers, and they just couldn’t stop. Noggin deserves to be the biggest game in the whole world. If I hadn’t come up with it myself, I’d have been furious. Luckily, I did.

Laurence: We’ve all been completely absorbed by this game. It’s quick and easy, but very clever. Noggin is part of the catalogue Asmodee USA was interested in, and it has such confidence in it, it’s ordered twice as many units as it has of all our others. From a business perspective, the fact Noggin isn’t language driven makes it hugely accessible and suitable for a wide range of global marketplaces.

Matt: We’re also looking at several family-friendly game ideas around the Egg Slam price point, which provide the same level of fun combined with mechanics that aren’t just a rehashed version of pairs. One in particular is a character-driven game that will lend itself well to licensing later down the line.

What else should our readers know about Format Games?

Matt: Laurence and I really want to meet people. Whether you’re a buyer for a major grocer or an indie with a single shop, we’d be delighted to arrange interactive Zoom play-throughs of our games and answer any questions you have. Drop us a line at hello@format-games.com – we’d love to talk to you.