Talkative Board Games, LLC
Austin, TX
TalkativeBoardGames@gmail.com

I am Brad Smith and I actually created Talkative over 25 years ago. I was working at a grocery store in Seattle at the time and Rob Angel, the guy that invented Pictionary, would come through my check-out line.  As we were all very happy to witness Rob's tremendous success, I also became very motivated. Was there anything in my life, that could be gamified?

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I was also working as an actor at that time, taking a lot of acting classes and was really fascinated by the idea of improv, performing, even public speaking. It’s a challenge to think on your feet, but what if you were also being timed? What if others might have an effect on that time? With this simple premise in mind, I developed Talkative.

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I played with family and friends, and felt like it was gaining some momentum. I even had the game evaluated by and independent board game consultant. The results were really positive and he recommended that I pursue both mainstream and educational settings, I just needed to get that first run completed.  However, back then, funding options were much more limited, life got in the way and the game went on a back burner.

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Fast forward 25 years, everyone is lost in their phone, how do I get these kids talking again? So, I literally took the game off a shelf in my garage and started playing with my kids and their friends. They loved, it! This lead to informal focus groups, game revisions and more focus groups.  Now I feel that after 25 years, Talkative is a game whose time has finally come!

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On a professional level, I have been a successful, producer, director and project manager for over 20 years, To me, this is not just another project to take over the finish line, this time it’s personal. I’ve already got my printer lined up, my supply chain is in place, and I am asking for your support to help make Talkative a reality, and get people talking again!

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