Mission Statement

To build community through play by providing opportunities for people of all ages to connect with one another and experience the joy and educational value of traditional play.

Mary Couzin on How it All Began…

Before Hasbro purchased Western Publishing’s game group, a friend of mine worked and played for Western. He would bring down games they were preparing to market, like Outburst, Pictionary, and SolarQuest. What fun that was! It was just as fun to hear the “rags to riches” stories about the inventors behind the games. I thought to myself “How hard could it be to come up with a great game?” It’s harder than people realize. It took a few years before my first game, Hollywood’s Reel Schpeel (co-created with June Fobes Keeley), was first published in 1995. To develop, produce and market the game I attended trade shows and networked with many game inventors. These experiences led to the founding of DiscoverGames.com in 1997, designed to be a resource for inventors to help them save time, energy and money. In 2001 I attended the Essen Game Fair in Germany and was amazed at the joy and excitement on the faces of people of all ages, enjoying the thousands of toys and games they were able to play with and test out. In Europe, toy and game designers are more well-known and celebrated. I thought to myself, “Why don’t we have this in the U.S.?” So in 2003 a new venture was born, The Chicago Toy & Game Fair (ChiTAG). Click here to continue the story…