Each year the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association organizes a Convention for manufacturers and retailers to meet. ASTRA is the largest association for companies in the toy and children’s products arenas, and aside from providing outstanding support for the industry, every year they review and judge games for their Best Toys for Kids awards. We were very happy to find out that four of our games Top That!, Kaboom, Vroom Vroom, and Dr. Eureka were finalists for the ASTRA Best Toys for Kids 2016 Awards. Yesterday, after collecting thousands of votes from retailers all over the country, ASTRA announced Dr. Eureka as the winner in its category!

June 5th through June 8th, our sales team took a trip east to the ASTRA Marketplace in Denver, CO.  We always treasure our time with our retailers, and this year was no different. We especially enjoyed showing off five great new games. They are still in the making, but they’ll be coming soon to the market before the holidays. Read more below about those clever Blue Orange findings. But unlike our releases during Toy Fair, you might find that these games are for the more mature crowd and jammed with strategy, abstract though, and some good old fibbing.

Six Making

[box]This Gobblet-like game was welcomed by retailers as a fantastic mix of chess and checkers.[/box]

Chess players loved breaking their brains over this new wooden strategy game at ASTRA. The height of the tower defines the move set that tower can take. A one-piece tower makes a pawn, two pieces make a rook, three make a knight, four a bishop, five a queen, and six you win the game! The color at the top shows which player controls that tower. There are also special pieces that can add more fun and complexity to the game. Our sales reps and retailors loved battling out their wits in this new twist on a strategy game.

Cup of Bluff

[box]Everyone enjoyed the bluffing fun in this teen-adult party game![/box]

Our sales reps were hard pressed to put on their poker faces as they tried to bluff it out with visiting shop owners. Cup of Bluff is an uproarious party game with sly looks and some sneaky white lies. The point of the game is to trick your opponents. Roll the dice in your cup of bluff and peak inside to see the number. Then pick your target and say the dice’s true value or lie and pick a different number. If they find the truth, they get the points, but if you trick them, the points are yours!

U-Turn

[box]Players loved the brain teasing conundrum just as much as the game’s colors and affordability.[/box]

This game flexed and folded minds up with complex geometry as players searched tried to latch on shapes to wrap their colors around orange and green dots. U-Turn challenges players to build elaborate and complex structures by three dimensionally surrounding dots to capture them in a two dimensional way so that when you look down at the dot, the color surrounds it. Tricky right? We created awesome 3D sculptures at ASTRA while snapping on pieces to capture dots in this three-dimensional puzzle strategy game.

Vikings on Board

[box]This viking themed game wowed players with it’s elaborate set up and reasonable price.[/box]

Our sales reps set sail against retailers as they battled in this elaborately crafted strategy game. Vikings on Board is a big box, family strategy game in which your objective to set sail on a ship best equipped for the voyage. However, your viking brethren are masters of sabotage and would soon switch the parts on your ship then have you sail out of the harbor. The sales team enjoyed this brilliant battle of wits against the retailers, while the crowd marveled at the 3 dimensional boats and the board’s masterful illustrations.

Boss

[box]The game was applauded for its American style theme and beautiful artwork.[/box]