Innovating Children's Games

In this chapter, the speaker discusses their frustrations with traditional children's games and their desire to create more engaging and meaningful experiences through game design. They explore the process of designing games with their daughter, fostering family bonding while ensuring genuine competition. The chapter also examines the logistics of game production and the transition to a fully integrated in-house team, leading to innovative solutions and unexpected success.

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Elan Lee (@elanlee) is the co-creator and chief executive officer of Exploding Kittens, a leading gaming and entertainment company. Under his leadership, Exploding Kittens has expanded its portfolio to nearly 30 different games with more than 20 million games sold in more than 50 countries since its founding in 2015.

Before founding Exploding Kittens, Lee was the chief design officer at Xbox Entertainment Studios, where he led the Interactive Entertainment Portfolio. Prior to that, he was the founder and chief creative officer of Fourth Wall Studios and co-founder of 42 Entertainment. He began his career at Microsoft Games Studios as a lead designer on the original Xbox.

Lee has won a Primetime Emmy for the series Dirty Work; Game Innovator of the Year for Exploding Kittens; a Peabody Award for the world’s first alternate reality game, The Beast; and an IndieCade Trailblazer Award for a distinguished career in interactive entertainment, among others.

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[06:00] Poetry For Neanderthals and collaborating with creative cohorts.

[16:41] Kitty Test Pilots and core gameplay loops.

[22:21] Crowdfunding, alternate reality games, and internet archaeology.

[25:54] Matthew Inman and The Oatmeal millions.

[32:18] The perils of operating faster than the speed of Gmail.

[34:06] Converting casual fans into superfans.

[34:51] What not to do when your Kickstarter goes better than expected.

[36:51] The budget of production needs to fit the fun.

[43:01] Does size matter?

[44:44] From direct-to-consumer sales to being featured in big box stores.

[47:07] Building a game from scratch quickly.

[52:26] Guiding principles.