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B C B U S I N E S S . C A
A P R I L 2 0 24
GAME ON
For your rainy-day entertainment consideration:
unique board games, card games and trivia from
B.C. brands.
by Alyssa Hirose
I N V E N T O R Y
5. Gone
Bollywood
Like all of us, Sami
Brar spent a lot of
time trying to enter-
tain herself and her
loved ones during the
early days of the pan-
demic. But Brar's cure
for boredom—hosting
a virtual Bollywood
trivia night—turned
into a business. She
launched retail sales
for Filmi Trivia, the
Kelowna-based Bol-
lywood trivia game, in
November 2022. The
cards include ques-
tions about plot lines,
music and celebs—it's
the perfect (competi-
tive) bonding activity
for Bollywood fans.
filmitrivia.com
2. Snow Problem
Games aren't just for
kids, but Lifts and
Runs was invented by
one. Six-year-old Rio
MacDonald came up
with a snakes-and-
ladders-esque game
that incorporates the
chairlifts and ski hills
of Whistler Black-
comb (he's based
in, you guessed it,
Whistler). Since its
inception in 2020, the
family company has
created several off-
shoots of the game—
there's a mountain
biking version and one
for the heli-skiing set,
too. Lifts and Runs
is available online
and at Home Hard-
ware and Cabela's.
liftsandruns.com
4. You Dim Sum,
You Lose Some
The tabletop gam-
ing world is largely
made up of creations
by white men, but
Vancouverites Pau-
line Kong and Marie
Wong are disrupt-
ing the industry in a
delicious way. Their
company Hot Ba-
nana Games is best
known for Steam Up,
where players collect
tokens that match
the dim sum dishes
in their feast zones. A
Kickstarter campaign
raised over $580k.
Now they're crowd-
funding for a new
game where players
become master rabbit
alchemists and collect
Chinese herbs.
hotbananagame.com
1. Ask and
Answer
What was your last
small act of rebellion?
What's something
that still makes you
nervous, no mat-
ter how many times
you do it? These are
the kinds of ques-
tions that Fluster, a
card game founded
by Devon de Balasi
Brown and Walker
Banerd, dares to ask.
The pair was inspired
by a conversation
that de Balasi Brown
had chatting with
strangers while naked
in a hot spring (as
you do), and then
officially launched the
game in Vancouver in
2018. It's a next-level
icebreaker for both
strangers and friends.
flustergame.com
3. Home Base
After a construction-
related work injury,
Squamish-based Mike
Boyce began wood-
working as a hobby.
He started making
wooden games he
could play with his
three children, then
dove into the world
of engraving and
founded 3 Storms
Creations in 2019.
Boyce designs and
creates crib boards,
euchre boards and
dice baseball games
that are personalized
for each customer
(think engravings of
family names or the
logo of a favourite
team). Beyond games,
he also makes custom
slate coasters, stain-
less steel flasks, wood
bookmarks and more
from his home-based
studio. 3storms.ca
6. In the Cards
Okay, this one's not
a game—in fact,
Vancouver-based art-
ist Zoë Pawlak's Ves-
sels and Muses oracle
cards are designed to
"guide you into deeper
understandings of
yourself." Pawlak is an
adored contemporary
artist with a focus on
abstract painting—
and the 40 oracle
cards she launched in
late 2023 each sport
their own original
artwork. Card names
like "grace," "justice"
and "forgiveness" are
designed to inspire
thought, and the ac-
companying booklet
guides you through.
Divine insight, here
we come. zoepawlak-
oracledeck.com
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