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In 1964, Rick Onanian traveled across the greater Boston area for two weeks with 1,000 copies of a game he invented after reading a newspaper article about John F. Kennedy's favorite word game, where players timed how many words related to a subject they could create within a few minutes. Onanian, now 79 years old—then (and still) an avid fan of word games—decided to create his own version, and Facts in Five was ready after several months of researching almanacs, encyclopedias and other reference books.

In the game, players pick five cards, each one representing a different class (e.g., famous people or trademarks) and a list of categories (e.g., pre- or post-1970), one of which is chosen per class. Players then choose five letter tiles and have five minutes to come up with a list of 25 names or items (five per tile) related to the subject matter of the class and category, using the first letter of each tile.

"It's a mistake to look at a game as a test of intelligence like some people are prone to do," Onanian tells PLAYTHINGS. "The fun in the game is not so much in the numbers, but in the facts, arguments, debates and outrageous answers, whether qualified or not."

In 1967, Onanian sold the game's rights to 3M for their bookshelf games line. In 1974, after years of producing the game in a costly, double-boxed packaging, the company sold the bookshelf line to Avalon Hill, which then sold it to Hasbro in 2001, when Onanian reclaimed the rights of the game he invented 37 years earlier.

Shortly after regaining Facts in Five, Onanian's son-in-law overheard University Games' president Bob Moog muse over bringing back it and other bookshelf games while at a party. He then introduced Moog to Onanian's daughter who was also at the party…the result is that University Games is currently shipping its first five bookshelf games, including two of the originals from 3M—Dominoes and Chess—along with Poker, Executive Decision and Facts in Five.

"Things dovetailed for us to bring these back," says Vince Kurr, marketing and merchandising manager at University Games, San Francisco. "It's the format of having games that could actually sit on the bookshelf [that is appealing]."

The University Games packaging is sleeker than the original 3M version. The new games have a magnetic flip (easier for opening and closing) and are lighter. Kurr says the challenge now will be to attract more than just players who remember the games from the 1960s and1970s. "We're going to think older in the initial launch with this, but the line can't be successful if we can't go beyond those who remember it from 30 years ago."

University will use a more grass roots approach to promote the games—with a focus on opportunities for sampling them in-store—and is selling to the likes of booksellers, online retailers and game shops.

Corrine Harrison, owner of Games & More in Des Moines, Iowa, says the bookshelf games speak for themselves in the game aisle. "They're beautifully packaged, and that counts for a lot. And they're good games—there's not much more you need. If things are packaged poorly and it's not a good game, it doesn't sell. The bookshelf games are packaged beautifully, and when you have both, it's a slam dunk."

University Games won't be alone when it comes to marketing bookshelf games. Seattle's Front Porch Classics, for one, is no stranger to the category. The company currently has a number of games in its own bookshelf series, including Valley of the Pharaohs, Raceway 57, WordSpot, Dread Pirate and Shut-the-Box.

"What's great about our bookshelf series of games is that they appeal to such a broad cross section of retailers," says Steve Hart, marketing coordinator at Front Porch Classics. "Specialty gift and toy stores like the bookshelf games because they provide a quality alternative to traditional mass market games."

For Rick Onanian, he'd like the Facts In Five to get around by word of mouth like it did in the early days when he went store to store, but he knows times have changed. "For newcomers, in their twenties to thirties, it's a question of merchant, promotion and word of mouth," he says. "If word of mouth takes off like it did 40 years ago, it should succeed very well. If six people play the game and three think it's good enough to play and buy, then you get the compound effect. The game takes off and takes on a life of its own."