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Out of the Box Publishing

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Out of the Box Publishing Inc.
Company typePrivately Held company
IndustryToys
Founded1998 (Madison, Wisconsin)
HeadquartersWindsor, Wisconsin, United States
Key people
Al Waller
(President)
Brad Carter
(Vice President of Sales)
Leah Osterhaus
(Vice President of Marketing)
Bridget Stitgen
(CFO)
Max Osterhaus
(Director of Product development)
Derek McCoy
(Sales and Warehouse Manager)
Number of employees
8
Websitewww.otb-games.com

Out of the Box Publishing is a Wisconsin based Publishing Company specializing in family, card, and party games. As of December 2008, they have published over 45 titles.

Out of the Box Publishing is best known for games that are innovative, easy to learn and quick to play. The company has received numerous awards including Mensa Select, Toy of the Year and National Parenting Center.

History

Out of the Box Publishing was established in 1998 in Madison, Wisconsin by Mark Osterhaus, Alan Waller, Cathleen Quinn-Kinney, and John Kovalic. The first game published by the company was Bosworth, a four-player chess variant which has since been retired. In the summer of 1998, Out of the Box Publishing acquired the license for their most well-known game, Apples to Apples, from inventor Matthew Kirby. Apples to Apples was redesigned into it's current form by Mark Osterhaus and the content was created with help from his family: Ellen Winter, Leah Sugar, and Max Osterhaus. Over the next ten years, Out of the Box grew into a leading American game company, supplying games to thousands of specialty toy stores, Target, Walmart and Toys R Us, as well as distributing games worldwide. In 2007, the company sold the licenses to Apples to Apples, Blink, Snorta and Qwitch to the Mattel Corporation, several owners retired, and several new owners (including children of the previous owners) were invited to join. Since the sale Out of the Box has new growing games, such as Word on the Stree, 7Ate9, and Snake Oil.

Games

Out of the Box Publishing is best known for games that are innovative, take less than 5 minutes to learn, and less than a half an hour to play. All Out of the Box games are family-oriented and appropriate for kids and adults. Out of the Box accepts game submissions from new inventors as well as established inventors. The company receives over 600 submissions a year and publishes about 2 new games per year. Instructions for submitting a game are located on the company’s website.

List of published games

  • Snake Oil (2012)
  • Bug Out (2011)
  • Word on the Street Junior (2010)
  • 10 Days in the Americas (2010)
  • Word on the Street (2009)
  • 7Ate9 (2009)
  • Super Circles (2009)
  • Backseat Drawing Junior (2009)
  • Letter Roll (2009)
  • Ninja versus Ninja (2008)
  • The Chain Game (2008)
  • Backseat Drawing (2008)
  • Rock! (2008)
  • Zen Benders (2008)
  • Party Pooper (2008)
  • My Word (2008) rerelease
  • aBRIDGEd (2006)
  • 10 Days in Asia (2006)
  • Cineplexity (2006)
  • Cover Up (2006)
  • Mix Up (2006)
  • Pepper (2006)
  • Qwitch (2006) rerelease
  • 10 Days in Europe (2005)
  • Blink (2005) rerelease
  • Easy Come, Easy Go (2004)
  • Harry's Grandslam Baseball (2004)
  • LetterFlip! (2004)
  • Squint Jr. (2004)
  • Wallamoppi (2004)
  • Apples to Apples Party Box Expansion One (2004)
  • Apples to Apples Party Box Expansion Two (2004)
  • 10 Days in Africa (2003)
  • 10 Days in the USA (2003)
  • Basari (2003)
  • Cloud 9 (2003)
  • Fish Eat Fish (2003)
  • Gavitt's Stock Exchange (2003)
  • Tutankhamen (2003)
  • Whad'Ya Know (2003)
  • Wildside (2003)
  • Apples to Apples Party Box (2003)
  • Snorta (2003)
  • Gold Digger (2002)
  • Squint (2002)
  • Apples to Apples Custom Cards (2002)
  • Apples to Apples Kids (2000)
  • Shipwrecked (2000)
  • Apples to Apples (1999)
  • Bosworth (1998)

Distributors

Out of the Box Games are distributed by:

  • ACD
  • Alliance Game Distributors
  • Premier Hobby Distribution
  • Brown Box Distribution
  • GTS Distribution
  • David Westnedge LTD (UK and Ireland)
  • Pegasus Spiele (Germany)
  • Northbridge Trading Company (Canada)
  • Universal Distribution (Canada)
  • Everest Distribution (Canada)
  • Karmatex (India)
  • PS Games (Netherlands)
  • Swan Panasia (Taiwan)
  • Wargames HK (Hong Kong)
  • Ventura (Australia)
  • Jayz International (New Zealand)
  • Korea Boardgames (South Korea)

Trivia

The artistic director and one of the founders of Out of the Box Publishing, John Kovalic, was also the illustrator for Munchkin and Dork Tower.

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