SLUMBERKINS
FEELING ADVENTURE
Games are an incredible tool for learning, so when Slumberkins wanted to create their first ever board game to teach social-emotional skills, they hired the Wild Optimists to consult on the project.
The team from Slumberkins shared their goals for the game as well as the positive affirmations, reflections, and movements they wanted to be present.
The Wild Optimists took all of that information and synthesized it into a game that is fun and engaging for pre-schoolers. Slumberkins Feeling Adventure has now won multiple awards including Top Holiday Toy from Toy Insider.
"Staying on the cutting-edge is no easy task. It's a joy to find a partner like the Wild Optimists who are truly committed to evolving with the market and delivering an informed and inspired solution every time. They create the sort of experiences that often leave the market racing to catch up with them."
Joe LeFavi, Genuine Entertainment
ESCAPE ROOM IN A BOX:
TIME DRIFTERS
KIRA'S STORY & ISABEL'S STORY
mattel
The Time Drifters two-part series of Escape Room in a Box games is a thrilling puzzle-solving hunt with a twist: finishing both games unlocks a bonus 60-minute game that can be played remotely!
The story is this: Isabel and Kira are time traveling adventurers. When a rip in the space-time continuum opened, their time machine ripped in half, trapping them in different locations and points in time. Now, players must work on their own or with up to 4 players to gather clues and solve the puzzle box.
Once Isabel's Story and Kira's Story (each sold separately) are completely solved, a third extra game is unlocked with more time travel mysteries! The third game can be played remotely using an online video conferencing system. This exciting board game brings big, curious fun to any game night and makes the perfect gift for puzzle-solving enthusiasts ages 13 and older.
“Working with the Wild Optimists has been an absolute pleasure. They bring a creative vision and expertise to the table that makes the development process not only productive but fun! There’s always a fresh idea ready and a work ethic to go along with it that puts them on our list of great partners that we want to work with again and again.”
Scott Gaeta, Renegade Game Studios
Crimes & Capers:
High school hijinks,
lady Leona's Last Wishes &
The winner is dead
Renegade game studios
We partnered with Renegade Game Studios to create Crimes & Capers. This is a new line of games that is a modern reimagining of the classic Murder Mystery Party Game.
In Highschool Hijinks, players travel back to high school in the 90s. They take on the roles of the leaders of the senior cliques: the jock, the nerd, the goth, etc. Romi, the school’s fixer, has been framed and is about to be expelled! Players need to share information from their personal journals, solve escape room style puzzles, figure out how to unlock more information, and use everything they have uncovered to ultimately clear Romi’s good name!
In Lady Leona’s Last Wishes, players travel back to the Langford Estate in 1919. Lady Leona has died and absolutely no one is sad about it. She was forever threatening to write people out of her will. Now that she is finally gone, her closest family and favored servants have gathered for the reading of her will. But Leona always loved two things: Puzzles and Making Life Difficult. Players will take on the roles of polished high society folks and hard working servants who need to collaborate to solve the mystery and find Leona’s treasure.
In And the Winner is...Dead, you are a nominee at the 67th Annual Music Awards! Unfortunately, you won’t be winning anything tonight. Mannie, our host, America’s Sweetheart Pop Star is dead. We are asking that you remain in the green room for your safety. While there, try to open Mannie’s purse to look for clues as to what went down at rehearsal that led to her murder.
"The Wild Optimists are more than just expert game designers and puzzle-crafters; they understand the inner workings of experiential FUN better than anyone we've had the pleasure of partnering with. And they are great fun to work with too!”
Arcane Wonders
HELLO NEIGHBOR:
THE SECRET NEIGHBOR
PARTY GAME
Genuine Entertainment brought us in to design a social deduction card game based on the massively popular video game series from Tiny Build. We were thrilled to take one of our favorite genres and give it a whole new spin! Inspired by the creative use of objects in the video game, we introduced a trading mechanic for this card based game. Doing so allowed us to level the playing field and give all players a chance to gain special powers. Additionally, no narrator and no deaths means everyone gets to play the whole time.
"5-10 players take on the roles of either one of the neighborhood kids, the treacherous neighbor or even a secret neighbor. As one of the kids you will need to use your items wisely if you are to locate the keys and unlock the door to win, but beware as not only are the neighbors at the table trying to trick you into voting to let them use a key, but one of your fellow kids is actually a SECRET NEIGHBOR!"
arcane wonders, tiny build
"[Escape Room In A Box: The Werewolf Experiment] was one of the best forty minutes of gaming I have ever experienced."
Jamey Stegmaier, Stonemaier Games
ESCAPE ROOM IN A BOX:
THE WEREWOLF EXPERIMENT
Mattel
Escape Room In A Box: The Werewolf Experiment was the first tabletop escape room game on the market. It launched to incredible success on Kickstarter in 2016, funding in 14 hours and raising seven times its funding goal. To date, the Escape Room In A Box line has sold over 300,000 copies.
ERIAB was then licensed by Mattel winning Game of the Year in 2018 and has gone on to launch an entire Escape Room In A Box series from Mattel.
"For game enthusiasts who are looking to host an unforgettable night of fun, ESCAPE ROOM IN A BOX is a 60-90 minute cooperative game where 2-8 players solve puzzles, crack codes, and find hidden clues in order to unlock an antidote to thwart a mad scientist's plot to turn them into werewolves."
Original Kickstarter Video
Mattel Amazon Video
"Juliana and Ariel created a tabletop escape room before that was a thing. They were ahead of the curve in capturing the joy and moments of an escape room in a box and facilitating that play without a gamemaster. Much of the tabletop escape room market is still catching up to them."
David & Lisa Spira, RoomEscapeArtist.com
ESCAPE ROOM IN A BOX:
FLASHBACK
Escape Room In A Box: Flashback, the thrilling sequel to Escape Room In A Box: The Werewolf Experiment launched in 2019. Taking the elements that made Werewolf Experiment successful and adding a three track structure to allow for replayability, Flashback has garnered equally high praise as its predecessor. To date, the Escape Room In A Box line has sold over 300,000 copies.
"To beat this exciting escape room game, you and your friends have 90 minutes to decipher clues, solve puzzles, crack codes and flee the mad scientist werewolf, Doc Gnaw! Escape Room in a Box: Flashback challenges your team of 2 to 8 players to work together and solve 19 puzzles, including 4 real combination locks, to escape your fate."
Mattel
"The Wild Optimists are powerhouses of creativity, brilliance and game design. Their enthusiasm and prowess is as contagious as it is effective. Was a real pleasure to see them at work and work with them on a complex problem, hope to get the opportunity again."
Jared Krause, Thrive Marketplace
VAMPIRE.PIZZA
RAVEL MEDIA
Born out of the global pandemic, Vampire.Pizza brings the magic and mystery of an immersive gaming experience into player's homes.
Players order a pizza with a little something extra on the side: a ticket to a vampire revolution!
Players start by creating a vampire profile, telling the story of their immortal lives. Then it's time to puzzle through a series of unique challenges to prove they are worthy to join the revolution. If they are, players craft their very own #fangforce badge from provided art materials to show off their new allegiance.
