Endless Games Interview

Endless Games strives to offer games with great replayabilty. Our editors met up with industry veteran, Kevin McNultly, from Endless Games. Last year, Endless Games gave us the Floor is Lava, which was one of our favorite board games for kids. We were excited to see what new board games the company is planning for this year.

TOY BUZZ: Can you tell us about Traffic Cop?

KEVIN MCNULTY: Traffic Cop is a follow up to the Floor is Lava. It is a wonderful game of pretend, where one player is selected to be the Traffic Cop and will wear a traffic cop uniform including a vest and stop sign. Watch the kid become authoritarian as soon as he becomes the traffic cop.

Players must cross the intersection while the traffic cop directs traffic. You hit the spinner and it will tell you what to do. Kids will take turns playing the traffic cop. Kids can’t wait to put on the vest and become the traffic cop, halting and starting play. It’s the most fun game of pretend since the Floor is Lava came out last year.

The game is for ages 5 and up.

TOY BUZZ: When does it come out?

KEVIN MCNULTY: Traffic Cop will be available June 1, 2019 for $19.99 from Endless Games.

TOY BUZZ: What is included?

KEVIN MCNULTY: You get foam crosswalk pieces, a spinner, and traffic cop uniform.

TOY BUZZ: Where was the idea for the game born out of?

KEVIN MCNULTY: It is very akin to an old street yard game called Red Light, Green Light, 1-2-3. It’s an old school parlor game. If you go online you will see millions of videos of kids playing games similar to Traffic Cop under a different name. We think it’s a great name for a board game.

We took everything about the game that made it fun, put it in a box, and created a board game. That’s what we did for Trivial Pursuit, Balderdash, Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon,  Name 5, and our smoking hot new game called AKA.

TOY BUZZ: Tell us more about AKA?

KEVIN MCNULTY: AKA, Also Known As, is the biggest game in the building. This packaging may look a little rudimentary but it is a misnomer. The name is a little slashy and a little mysterious.  Here is how it plays. I’m going to give you a category and a clue. You have to give the answer, but the answer is AKA, also known as, the clue.

For example, if I say the category is fruits, the answer has to be a fruit. Here is the clue, “Faulty Car.” What fruit is that? Answer: Lemon. Here is another one. It’s a fruit! The clue is “The New Black.” Answer: Orange. Here is another “Two Socks.” Answer:  Pear. The clue is “Romantic Outing.” Answer: A Date.

It is cut from the same cloth as the great games from the 1980s including Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, Outburst, and Taboo.

It is the cleverest written game ever. It is cut from the same cloth as the great games from the 1980s including Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, Outburst, and Taboo. This has the same kind of original game play that makes it a standout item. The reaction that we have had from retailers is phenomenal.

TOY BUZZ: How many players can play?

KEVIN MCNULTY: It is a party game that can be played in teams or one on one.

TOY BUZZ: Tell me about your board games based on TV shows?

KEVIN MCNULTY:  The card games are Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.  Wheel of Fortune will be played like the game show. We are not going to have a spinner but we are using dice instead. Whatever the side of the dice that comes up will be the money value. The game is played like Hangman. It is a really clever game of transferring the game show to a deck of cards. You’ve got to be a game maven to be able to know how to do that.

TOY BUZZ: Are there any plans for new editions?

KEVIN MCNULTY: We are going to take a look at that after we launch the mother ship. If Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune are being plugged into retailers because they are great, we are going to be doing new editions. You need to have new puzzles for Wheel of Fortune and new clues for Jeopardy. We will do edition one and edition two.

Game shows are different- they are like pendulums. Some years they are hot and some years they are not. Too many people jump on their products when they are at the end of their life. A perfect case in point is Family Feud. We had that for 20 years. Now is the time to retire it and bring it back in 3 years. It’s getting very stale on the counter.

TOY BUZZ: Tell us about Password?

KEVIN MCNULTY: Password is brand new this year. When we did Password originally we had 12 different versions and then we retired it. With game shows, you don’t want to keep the same game on the counter for too long because it gets stale. What we do is that we run them and then retire them. Then we wait a few years, be patient, and clean them up before  bringing them back new. Password is in its new retro package this year and we are doing fantastic. There are two word games that are important in the toy business- Scrabble and Password.

TOY BUZZ: Can you tell a little about the game?

KEVIN MCNULTY: Password is the game of one word clues. If the secret word is “school”, I would say “students.” I would wait for a response and say “building”. I would get another response. Hopefully, it would be “school.” The longer it takes, the lower score you receive. Password is the most clever word association game to hit the market. It is shipping June 1 and is for ages 10 and up.

TOY BUZZ: Tell us about Lucky Lotto?

KEVIN MCNULTY: Lucky Lotto is a combination of lottery play and Bingo. It’s very clever. Everybody gets a lotto sheet and they put in their 6 lucky lotto numbers. Then it is the roll of the die. We roll out six dice and whatever shows up on top- you make combinations. Hopefully, you can match the numbers you have written down. All the numbers are marked off on a master sheet because we are all playing this together at the same time. Whoever gets all the lottery numbers first, wins the game. It’s simplicity at its finest.

TOY BUZZ: Tell us about Let’s Face It?

KEVIN MCNULTY: Let’s Face It is a game of facial recognition that’s fun for young players and the whole family. We lay out a series of pictures on the table. Then player one attempts to mimic a face on one of the cards up front. The other players have to be the first to slap the card that they think matches the card. Whoever has got the most cards wins the game. It’s really a fun game. Kids really love it because they love pictures, especially pictures of babies, which are prominent throughout the game. The game is for players 4 and up.

TOY BUZZ: Last question, what is your most popular game?

KEVIN MCNULTY: My all time best-seller is called Name 5. This has been our number one item for 10 years in a row. It’s the most popular pop culture game on the market. You have 30 seconds, can you name 5 Tom Hanks Movies? You have 30 seconds, can you name five states that border the Pacific? You have 30 seconds, can you name 5 sports teams named after birds? Name 5 breakfast cereals. You got 30 seconds.

Name 5 is completely a crowd-pleaser. It’s been a success through word of mouth. It’s got such universal game appeal. You can play this verbally. It is a true adult party game. Everybody can play it.  That’s the most popular game, Name 5, available everywhere.