Winning Hands
When former cruise director Julien Sharp turned her passion for games into a new career pursuit, she created something colorful. Literally.
Funnybone Toys’ first three card games -- Spectrix, Array and Cubu -- take inspiration from the color spectrum. Spectrix is similar to rummy; players use their color cards to make moves such as three of a kind or a straight of sequential colors. Array challenges players to match colors. It’s like dominos, but with a geometric twist that lets players branch out and make color connections that extend in many directions from the 16-sided cards. With Cubu, each card contains 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 boxes, and no two cards are alike. The color and position of the square and rectangular boxes determine how Cubu cards can be played. All three games challenge players to be the first to get rid of all their cards.
Together with her design-oriented co-founder, Julien is working to create toys that give your brain a workout while you’re having fun. From a play standpoint, Funnybone Toys’ card games are challenging and innovative. On the graphics front, they have a modern, minimalist vibe that’s a refreshing change from typical game aesthetics. All together, it’s a winning hand.
Julien
Hello everyone! We are really excited to have Funnybone Toys featured as today's Grommet. My name is Julien, and I became a game creator after years as a cruise director, where I played all kinds of games with the passengers! I also love being an entrepreneur, which I have been for over 15 years. Funnybone Toys was founded in 2011, and we just started shipping our first products this past summer, which are the games featured in this Grommet. These three games make up the “Art of Card Games” series, which combine art, retro-color design, and both classic and original game play. We have a lot of games and toys in process in our design lab, but we decided to on these products first because they are so much fun for all ages – from kids to adults. With these and all our new products coming out next year and beyond, our goal is to build toys for children that stimulate your creativity and give your brain a workout – while having fun. I’m here and very pleased to be able to answer any questions you may have for me today!
Laurie
9/18/2012 2:41 PMI love these games! I have all three of the games. I found them at Beyond The Blackboard when looking for card games that worked for a variety of ages. I find that they are not only attractive when left out on the table but encourage quality family time. ;-) Great holiday gifts and the special price of $40 for 3 is a great deal!
Amy Beechboard
9/18/2012 2:49 PMI bought all three of these beautiful games at Barnes and Noble and they are awesome! My three kids (ages18, 13, 12) love them too. They would make a great teen gift or teacher gift!
Julien – Special Guest
9/18/2012 2:55 PMThanks Laurie! Thanks Amy! So glad you are enjoying the games. --Julien
Alex
9/18/2012 2:57 PMThese games are a beautiful to behold as they are to play. Not for kids alone, we have had many hours of enjoyment playing these gorgeous games with our friends a lazy weekend evening. But watch out how many cocktails you enjoy, as these games require a sharp mind!
Anthony Dalton
9/18/2012 3:01 PMClever, creative, fresh, innovative games everyone can enjoy!!! Perfect for gifts on any occasion!
I highly recommend these games as a must have!!
Julien – Special Guest
9/18/2012 3:15 PMHi Alex and hi Anthony! That is such great feedback! Thanks! We wanted these games to be good fun for adults as well. Alex- try playing Speed CUBU after a few :) http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zCQV52tO-6w
Lila Sharp
9/18/2012 3:33 PMCreative and FUN!
Julien – Special Guest
9/18/2012 3:40 PM@ Lila Sharp Thanks Lila! --Julien
Marco
9/18/2012 4:24 PMThese games are well designed and seems like loads of fun. We can't wait to get our hands on Array to start splicing, slicing, splattering, and slammin'!
Julien – Special Guest
9/18/2012 5:14 PM@ Marco Haha - thanks! Sounds like fun! -- Julien
Rob C.
9/18/2012 5:45 PMThese games have the colors of each season and the best of all ...they can be played in all seasons, even though we know Julien is partial to Winter.
Julien – Special Guest
9/18/2012 6:34 PM@ Rob C. Ha ha - you must have seen our "few" references to the coming snow on our Facebook page. Well, we are a Colorado based company so.... :)
Susan Fairgrieve
9/18/2012 6:25 PMThe greatest and most creatve games ever! Fabulous fun for everyone!!! Love them all! A great gift for any age since they are so unique!
Julien – Special Guest
9/18/2012 6:34 PM@ Susan Fairgrieve Hi Susan! Thanks so much! Really appreciate your comments!
Mike
9/18/2012 7:39 PMYes! These games are beautiful! My friends and I love playing these!
Julien – Special Guest
9/19/2012 8:41 AM@ Mike Hi Mike - so glad you and your friends are having a blast with these. --Julien
Kaitlyn Rush
9/18/2012 7:50 PMFunny Bone has the most innovative games! I really love a new game, and the Art of Card Games series satisfied my search for a different approach to card games. Thanks for creating such an awesome game!!
Julien – Special Guest
9/19/2012 8:42 AM@ Kaitlyn Rush Hey there Kaitlyn - we really tried to offer something "different" - I'm so pleased you like them. --Julien
Bruce
9/18/2012 10:38 PMWow, great to see games that appeal to the design snob within! Very cool.
Julien – Special Guest
9/19/2012 8:43 AM@Bruce Bruce - you made our day - we want to appeal to that because that is the center of creativity! -- Julien
Suzy Costello
9/18/2012 10:42 PMThese toys are unlike any other! Creative, fun and entertaining for all. Get in touch with your creative side! These games will put you to the test to be innovative and become inspired while having fun.
Julien – Special Guest
9/19/2012 8:43 AM@ Suzy Costello Hi Suzy - this is EXACTLY what we were going for - innovation and inspiration. Powerful words. - Julien
Alix
9/18/2012 10:58 PMLove card games! Love color! Love design! I played 10 rounds of spectrix last night and will do so again tonight!
Julien – Special Guest
9/19/2012 8:44 AM@ Alix Wow - superlatives like that make our day!
Keith Houlihan
9/18/2012 11:58 PMThese games ROCK! From the moment you see them you can tell they are different. The presentation and quality mirrors that of a company in Cupertino. Simple yet elegant design with colorful pieces help keep my kids excited and wanting to play more. Other games just don't it for them. Heck, they keep me wanting to play more.
American creativity is at it's best with Funnybone Toys. These are the new classics!
Julien – Special Guest
9/19/2012 8:45 AM@Keith Houlihan we can think of no higher "design" comparison that that "company in Cupertino." WOWZA! Thank you thank you thank you! -Julien
Julien – Special Guest
9/19/2012 8:47 AMWe have so enjoyed this opportunity to be featured for an entire 24 hour period on Daily Grommet! Thank you so much for the incredible comments and feedback! --Julien Sharp, President, Funnybone Toys
Michelle
9/19/2012 8:53 AMWill your next product launch be a single game or a group of games?
Julien – Special Guest
9/19/2012 9:03 AM@ Michelle Great question! We have five products coming out in 2013 - 3 in January and 2 in June. These products will be more "standalone" products, different from the "color series/art of card games" set that was the 2012 offering of Spectrix™, Array™, and CUBU™. We will be sharing more about that closer to January.
(ps - our Facebook fans will get advance "peeks" - http://www.facebook.com/funnybonetoys :)
Julien – Special Guest
9/19/2012 9:11 AM@ Michelle To further answer your question, we have three games, a design toy, and a fun gift coming out in 2013 - all distinct products. The toy and games will continue to be perfect "crossover" products in both the toy/game and gift markets, and all of the new products will be as focused on good design as the ones we offered in 2012. --Julien
Rick Griffith
9/19/2012 9:38 AMIs being a toy company CEO as fun as it looks?
Julien – Special Guest
9/19/2012 10:40 AM@Rick Griffith Fun question! It's the best job in the world - at least for me. Imagine if everything you do professionally is about "play!" -- Julien
Suzanne
9/19/2012 10:23 AMThey are so attractive to look at and leave out on your coffee table. So different from anything out there now!
Julien – Special Guest
9/19/2012 10:41 AM@ Suzanne Thanks so much! That is what we strive for in everything we have already designed and will be designing in the future - "different" from everything else out there. YAY!
Evan
9/19/2012 2:16 PMThese games are both fun and great to look at.
Julien – Special Guest
9/20/2012 1:38 AM@ Evan Thanks! We've worked hard to make them both of those things so we really appreciate your noticing and commenting on that! --Julien