From The Long-Islander Newspaper, 11/08/07

Pig In The Attic Or Monkey In A Bottle?

By Tricia Arend

For many families, sitting around the television and heating up a T.V. dinner on your own time is a way of life. For others, family bonding is an essential and necessary weekly activity, and these families know that the best way to have an electrifying and amusing night is to break open a fun family game.

“Just to sit around and giggle and laugh and be together, it’s very important for a family,” said Roni Rosengold, who works at Fantastic Kids, a store in Huntington village that specializes in providing not only fun but also educational toys. “ Family game night is a great way for a family to get together and spend time together.”

“One of Rosengold’s favorite games to recommend is Ruckus, a fast paced, dynamic card game where players make pairs in their hand and steal pairs of cards from other players.

“It’s loads of fun,” Rosengold said. “ I have no problem suggesting it to people because I fell in love with it, and no one is ever sorry they bought it. It’s fun for kids, adults, grandparents, it’s just fun, fun, fun!”

The Ruckus Card Game can be played with two to five players, ages 5 and up. The cards are not numbered and they do not contain generic typical animals or images; the cards are named with unrecognizable, creative new icons, such as “Head Monster, “Fish Man,” and “Elephant Tea.”

Each player is dealt seven cards and must put any matching pairs face up on the table. A player with one card in their hand that matches a pair on the table can steal the other player’s pair. Each player can steal as many pairs a possible, and when the action stops, the dealer deals each participant another card, which elicits another round of matching and pairing and a frenzy of stealing.

When a player runs out of cards, the round is over. Each round takes roughly three to four minutes. Players win based on a point system, and any number of rounds can be played.

According to Ruckus’ inventor and president of Funstreet, Inc. Dan Levy, Ruckus is appealing because of the commotion and excitement it creates.

“It plays very well with a broad range of ages,” Levy said. “You can learn in 30 seconds and play a hand in a few minutes. People will even play the game in restaurants waiting for a meal. It keeps people engaged with its simplicity and speed and it’s highly entertaining.

While the game can be learning in a short matter of time, it is easy to play for hours, as Ruckus is a beneficial mental and social stimulus. Ruckus has also earned many honors, and was the recipient of the National Parenting Center Seal of Approval, iParenting Media Award, Dr. Toy 10 Best Games, Parents Choice Fun Stuff Award, National Parenting Publications Honors Award and Preferred Choice Award, among others.

Since the game is enjoyable for a variety of ages, Ruckus is appropriate for any family game night or social get together. Michelle Akalski, a Ruckus lover, enjoys playing the card game with her six-year-old son, her thirty-three year old husband and her sixty-year old mother as a bonding ritual.
“Lately we’ve been playing Ruckus non-stop,” Akalski said. “Our family loves to get together and play games, and Ruckus is a great game for us to bring to the table. I can’t wait for the whole family to get together and play it on Thanksgiving.”

Akalski added that each family member has his or her own favorite card. Her son likes the “Happy Robot,” while she prefers the “Pig in the Attic.”

Ruckus, which sells for only $9.99, is not only a good gift for the upcoming holiday season but also an energetic game which can be used as a bonding activity. A perfect addition to any family game night, Ruckus will have you swapping and laughing for hours on end.

From The Vero Beach Press Journal, 11/14/07

New card game flies off Vero Beach Book Center's shelves

By Amy Morris

What’s the card game that’s got Vero Beach buzzing? It’s called Ruckus, and the Vero Beach Book Center is having a hard time keeping it on its shelves.

Susan Pezzetti, the center’s children’s store manager, said the game is a perfect fit for the people who live in Vero Beach. “We have a wonderful community of grandparents and young families. When they get a game they like, the word just spreads,” she said. “It’s good family time away from the TV and electronic games.”

To play Ruckus, players put matching cards face up on the table and other players can steal cards if they hold one that matches in their hand. Players steal at will until a pause in the action signals the dealer to add another card to each player’s hand, triggering a new flurry of sets and steals. The winner is the first player to run out of cards. Each hand lasts three to four minutes.

Dan Levy, the game’s inventor, spent more than a decade in the financial industry thinking “what can I do that’s not this” before trying his hand at game-making. He wanted to produce an affordable game that was as much fun to play the 100th time as it was the first. It also had to be easy to learn.

“Usually if people can’t get a solid grasp of a game in under two minutes,” he said, they’ll push it aside and grab the next one.“

At first, Ruckus was a wildly different game. But Levy, who lives in Northfield, Ill., gave it a few tweaks after he played it with his daughter and showed it to focus groups. Though other games are in the works, Ruckus remains his favorite. He estimates he’s played thousands of hands.

“This game requires a pretty heavy dose of luck and some strategy,” he said. It’s not easy to get bored with, which is one of the reasons it’s a best-seller.”

From The Patriot Ledger Newspaper, 11/24/07

By Dina Gerdeman

Eight-year-old Alec Denver loves playing the card game Ruckus for one major reason: He doesn’t have to wait his turn.

As soon as Alec’s mom Julie deals the cards to her sons, their hands start grabbing and stealing as the boys scramble to match cards.

“It’s such a fun game,” said Alec, who lives in Hanson. “It’s not like Go Fish because you don’t have to wait. And I can beat my mom.”

The chaotic card game Ruckus, which sells for $10, is being snapped up by hundreds of families this holiday season. The game can be found at smaller specialty toy stores, including Rhyme ‘n Reason in Pembroke and Hanson as well as The Village Toy Shop in Canton and North Easton.

Chris Kusy, owner of Rhyme ‘n Reason, said the game seems to be gaining popularity through word of mouth. “It’s the best-selling card game I have,” he said. “It’s a mega-hit.”

Dale Nesh, manager of Rhyme ‘n Reason in Hanson, said parents have been coming in asking for it.

“People buy it for sleep-over parties or family game nights or as a game they can take with them when they travel,” she said.

Colin Bain, 11, of Hanson recently played Ruckus for the first time with the Denver family and said he’d like to add the game to his Christmas list.

“It’s fast and challenging,” he said.

Rita Mohr, 57, of Braintree bought the game for her 6-year-old granddaughter, who can’t seem to get enough of it.

“It’s the first thing she wants to do when she plays at our house,” Mohr said. “When you have to pull her away from the toy to say, ‘Dinner’s ready,’ you know it’s pretty good. We’re glad to have the game in our repertoire of toys.”

Dan Levy, President of Funstreet, Inc. and creator of Ruckus, said he knew he had a hit on his hands when his daughter, who was 10 when he invented the game, couldn’t get enough of it.

“She asked to play it constantly,” he said. “Everywhere we went, I kept the Ruckus deck with me.”

Ruckus consists of cards bearing quirky images such as Monkey in a Bottle or Fish Man. Players are dealt seven cards and immediately place all sets of two or more matching cards from their hand face up on the table. As soon as they hit the table, they’re worth points but can be stolen by any player with a matching card in hand. This is where the “ruckus” tends to come in.

The game is played fast, with each hand lasting only a few minutes and players grabbing cards from one another. The game is over when the first player gets rid of all cards.

Levy said he purposely marketed Ruckus to smaller mom-and-pop ships.

“It’s the best launch pad for a new game,” he said. “If you were to take a product and were fortunate enough to get it into the mass market stores, if no one knows about it, it’s not going to move. When you sell it to specialty toy stores, you have toy store owners who become enthusiastic about the game.”

It also doesn’t hurt that Ruckus has won accolades in the toy industry, including Dr. Toy’s 10 Best Games, Parents’ Choice Fun Stuff Award, ASTRA Best-for-Kids Toy 2007, and the National Parenting Center Seal of Approval.

Plus Kusy said he believes the game has widespread appeal because children of varying ages – as well as their parents – enjoy it.

“If you play Candyland with your children, as a parent you’re thinking, ‘When is this game going to be over?’ because it’s geared only toward the kids,” Kusy said. “Ruckus has a lot of movement, a lot of action, and it appeals to a lot of ages. It stands out in the sea of games and puzzles.”

All four of Julie Denver’s sons ranging in age from 13 to 8, love the game. When the family first got Ruckus, they played it as often as three times a week.

“It’s a very fast-paced game. There’s usually a lot of laughing,” said Julie Denver, who works at Rhyme ‘n Reason. “and sometimes a lot of pouting when you have most of the cards and then someone else steals them right back from you.” http://www.tillywig.com