A Family Affair

Front Porch Classics, which has become known in recent years for its decorative and nostalgic coffee table and bookshelf games for adults, is bringing those same design sensibilities and quality to a new line, Front Porch Kids, which debuts this month with nine new offerings at Toy Fair. Front Porch will also unveil its first titles based on an existing intellectual property: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Discovery Edition and Adventures in Oz, which use themes, characters and artwork from the beloved book series.

"We've managed to maintain the design quality of our coffee table games within the Front Porch Kids line," Steve Hart, marketing coordinator and creative envoy for the Seattle-based game maker, tells Playthings. Like the company's popular adult games, Front Porch Kids will feature "natural materials, nostalgic themes, decorative aesthetics and classic game play," Hart says. "These hallmarks support the current trend for families to create designer decor for children's rooms."

Each of the new games for kids ages 4 to 10—which will be available to specialty retailers as well as Barnes & Noble stores beginning on June 1—are packaged in one of three ways. Travel-size, wooden-boxed games with magnetic lids priced at $19.95 include Adventures in Fairyland, in which players collect tokens to mark their encounters with mermaids, unicorns, dragons and elves; Adventures in Oz, a similar match game in which kids play Oz characters and collect illustrated tiles; and WordSpot Jr., a kid-friendly version of the popular word-search game.

New tube games with roll-up playing boards priced at $9.95 include Piggies and Winks Tiddlywinks, Fairyland Tiddlywinks and Dread Pirate Tiddlywinks, each a funny twist on the classic game of dexterity and coordination, featuring stickers with which kids can decorate their own winks.

Games packaged inside soft yet durable cloth bags priced at $14.95 are Zoo Bingo, which features animal tokens and illustrated bingo boards; Fenced In, a farm-themed twist on the classic strategy game; and Bowling Knights, in which the object is to "save the princess" by rolling a ball to knock over wooden miniature knight-pins, without knocking down the princess-pin.

And later in 2007, a tenth title will join the Kids line when Dread Pirate: Walk the Plank ($19.95), another wooden-boxed match game, is released.

"What makes Front Porch Kids so appealing is that these games resonate with parents too," Hart says. "These games are not outside a parent's comfort zone, which is so often the case today with new technologies and licenses. If parents are unfamiliar with the context of a game or the game play itself, they will be more reluctant to sit down and play with the child. During the development of Front Porch Kids, we were very cognizant of our brand mission, which is to connect families—meaning multiple generations—through play. The Front Porch Kids line features parent-friendly designs and familiar game play." Front Porch hopes this new Kids brand—plus its just-announced merger with New York-based Sababa Toys—will expand its reach much further into the kids market, beyond its traditional customer base in catalogs, online, and at book, gift and home furnishing stores.

Hart says he expects Bowling Knights will be just one of the new titles that appeals particularly to young boys, since it features a familiar "kinetic element" tied to a medieval theme. And for little girls, the fantastical Adventures in Fairyland game was designed specifically with them in mind. "Players roll dice and race across the Fairyland board to collect beautifully illustrated fairy tiles," Hart says. "The artwork is gorgeous and will hold special appeal to young girls."

Meanwhile, the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Discovery Edition ($27.95), in which kids work together to defeat the Wicked Witch and help Dorothy return home to Kansas, will also debut at the show. Included are sculpted character pieces, colored gems and 100 illustrated cards. "Taking America's most beloved children's tale and translating it into a board game was a natural fit for our company," Hart notes.