Bunches of Family Fun
If you like word games but go bananas waiting for other players to make their moves, this is the game for you.
It’s called Bananagrams. There’s no paper or pen required, no board to play on, and no agonizing wait for your turn. Instead, everyone works independently on their own crossword-style puzzle, rearranging already formed words at any time to create new ones. You can even exchange hard-to-use letters for different ones. The goal is to use all your allotted letters before the other players do. When you’re done playing, the letter tiles zip into a cute banana-shaped pouch that’s portable enough to take anywhere – all you need is a flat surface and between 2 and 8 people to play.
The inventor of Bananagrams is 80-year-old Abe Nathanson, who was inspired after he lost a marathon Scrabble match to his 11-year-old grandson. Abe decided it was time for a fast-paced anagram game, and his family helped him come up with the catchy name, simple rules and clever packaging. Since then, Abe has relied on word-of-mouth instead of mass marketing to sell his game, and shuns big-box retailers in favor of small, more personal toy stores. The game is great for younger kids because you don’t have to know BIG words to win, yet still challenging enough to keep adults in the game. It’s bunches of fun for all ages.
Abe
I’m Abe Nathanson, the Top Banana here at Bananagrams. I’m very excited to have our game featured as today’s Grommet.
From my beginnings as the son of a fruit peddler to creating a word game that has taken the nation by storm, two things have remained vitally important to me, my family and my values.
Bananagrams was created at my beach house in Narragansett, RI with the help of my family after a two hour long game of scrabble with my grandson. I decided that we needed an anagram game that was so fast it would drive you bananas! Anagrams…Bananas…Bananagrams!
My daughter Rena, and my two grandchildren Aaron and Ava who live in London, England as well as my ex-wife Sandy all played a role. After spending nearly a year working out the details, from the tiles to the rules, our friends encouraged us to market it, and we did just that.
It has continued to be a priority of mine to keep the little toy stores in mind while still selling to bigger stores.
I’m going to stop in later but Shauna will be answering the majority of the questions for me.
We’d love to take any questions or feedback you have.
I hope you have Bunches of fun playing Bananagrams!
-Abe Nathanson
Top Banana
Shauna
12/17/2009 12:06 PMHi! I’m Shauna Parsons. I work here at Bananagrams in Providence, RI. I’m very happy to be at the Daily Grommet answering questions on behalf of Abe. I hope you are all as excited about Bananagrams as we are!
Lynn
12/17/2009 12:42 PMJust have to say we (me and my family) are passionate Banangram fans. We play it, we give it, we love it. Our grandson, who is nine, wanted to try. I was pretty skeptical, but he did well! Why do I love this game? It's fast. No two hour sessions! It can be played by all ages, in teams or alone. You can learn a lot. But mostly, it's just fun if you love words. I think I had one of the first games. But I keep giving them away! Last summer we had a guy visiting from Italy. He needed help with English so we played with him. He loved it. Guess what, the one I'd bought because I'd given another away to a friend in the hospital, is now in Milan! Oh, also like it because it's small and portable. Took it to SF last week in my tennis shoe inside my overnighter. You can tell I love this game. And no one paid me to say so :)
Gayleen
12/17/2009 1:02 PMI was having my 50th birthday celebration in the San Juan Islands with family and friends. We sent my parents out to buy a Pictionary game and they came back with Banagrams. We weren't so happy until we played, and played and played. We couldn't stop. Everyone bought a game before they left and took it home. Now I give it out as a great gift. My parents are VERY Grommet COOL!! Thanks for the game!!
Joanne
12/17/2009 1:02 PMI was just introduced to Bananagrams and love it! It's brain powered (no batteries required), portable and you could even change the rules a little for variety if you want (for example, all the words have to be "proper names" or whatever you choose). Do you have any other games?
carol
12/17/2009 1:05 PMcan you explain the family 3 pack?
Katherine – Grommet Team
12/17/2009 1:12 PM@Carol - the 3 pack is if you want to buy three of these games. With the three pack you receive free shipping!
@Lynn - I love that you stick it in a shoe in your overnight bag...that space is always extra space!
@Joanne and Gigi - love your stories. Thanks everyone for stopping by!
Shauna
12/17/2009 1:51 PMThere are actually two other games. Appletters and PAIRSinPEARS, you can learn more about them on our website. www.bananagrams.com
Marianne
12/17/2009 1:52 PMDo you typically need a "banana" of letters for each player? Is that the reason for the three pack?
Katherine – Grommet Team
12/17/2009 1:58 PM@Marianne - the reason for the three pack is if you want to give as a gift to more than one person or stock up for birthday gifts. One Banana has a recommendation for up to 8 players. For larger groups -- you will want an additional banana or two!
Katherine – Grommet Team
12/17/2009 2:44 PM@Joanne - Banangrams has just come out with two new games. We tried to get them, but unfortunately they are sold out for Christmas. We plan to feature these in the New Year, so sign up onour mailing list and we'll let you know when they are available.
Shauna
12/17/2009 3:09 PMThank you for all your comments and feedback. It's great to hear from people who love bananagrams as much as we do!
Kristen
12/17/2009 4:18 PMI gave this game to my nephew (Alex Domeniconi) last Christmas. It is a great way to add on to a gift card. Just slip the gift card inside this game - better than a gift card holder... and a great game.
Kimberly
12/17/2009 6:37 PMWE LOVE BANANAGRAMS. Got it last year and it goes everywhere with us. It has a permanent spot on the game table on the sun porch so that we can start up a game at any time. We also challenge ourselves after the game to try to make each person be able to use up all the tiles they have. It is great fun and we all get involved in it. Thank you for creating this game.
Jessica
12/17/2009 10:45 PMI love this game. We played it recently at an event where there was a contest among 6 tables. Each table had 10 minutes to use Bananagrams to write the words that best described the person being honored. The person being honored selected the winning table.
Jules – Grommet Team
12/18/2009 7:37 AM@Jessica I loved this idea you describe of what happened at your event. What a quick and inexpensive way to create some entertainment and connection at an event like a shower, birthday party, retirement party, bar mitzvah etc. SO smart. You could use it at a corporate event too, to warm things up or generate ideas or feedback.
nancyb
12/18/2009 10:11 AMi live in senior public housing and several of us enjoy bananagrams so very much..helps to keep those brain cells working and our minds off the bone chilling weather.
Kirk
12/18/2009 11:06 AMI love playing Bananagrams, it is a great way to have fun with family and friends, but my girlfriend beats me all of the time.
Katherine – Grommet Team
12/18/2009 11:09 AM@Nancyb @Kirk - and all commenters. It's wonderful to hear stories of the diverse crowd that has a blast with this game! Looks like Abe created a real winner here!
ilycul
4/18/2010 5:25 PMI bought Bananagrams because I love word games and I wanted something to keep my brain flexible. My only problem is that the kitty doesn't play nice. She keeps hitting tiles to the floor!
Katherine – Grommet Team
4/18/2010 11:12 PM@ilycul - she must have been losing!
joanne – Grommet Team
6/9/2010 2:53 PMEveryone here at Daily Grommet was saddened to hear of the passing of Mr Nathanson today. His inventive mind and spunk inspired us.
Dennis
9/5/2010 11:57 AMHi Shauna. It's Dennis. Now that I looked up the Banana Grams game up online and I showed my friends, they were like ooh i so want to play that game.
Katherine – Grommet Team
9/7/2010 10:08 AM@Dennis - it is a ton of fun! I have forwarded your note on to Shauna so that she knows that you have stopped by!
Dennis
12/24/2011 9:26 PMHi. I'd just like to give a shout out to Shuana Parsons. She's the best and I'm glad i knoe her cuz she's super sweet and a great person. Go Bananagrams!!!