Wilton, Connecticut – After only a few weeks of opening its online business, Fairfield County’s CategoryTen is branching out into retail sales with its flagship Covidopoly19 board game. During Thanksgiving week, CategoryTen reached agreement with The Toy Chest of both Ridgefield and New Canaan to sell the hot new board game there – just in time for the holidays.
The game has been buoyed by extremely positive press particularly from both The Wilton Bulletin and Good Morning Wilton As reported in the Bulletin “[f]or families looking for something fun to do while being cooped up all day at home during the coronavirus pandemic, there’s a new game in town” (covidopoly19 whose purpose) “was to create something that was not only fun, but was timely and had an educational component as well.”
In the game, unlike the well know Monopoly game, the places on the board are not named after streets in Atlantic City, but rather “reflect areas in the United States and around the world that have been strongly affected by the coronavirus, including New York, Detroit, Spain, South Korea, Navajo Nation, and even Rikers Island. Instead of houses and hotels, players can buy clinics and hospitals. There are no railroads; instead there are leading world hospital cards. Instead of going to jail, players can end up in ICU in quarantine. A key aspect of the game is that certain “Ventilator” or “Mask” card contains facts about coronavirus and COVID, bringing an educational aspect to the game. The “game pieces,” pointed out by the Bulletin, “also reflect the pandemic. There are no top hats or thimbles. Instead, players can choose objects such as thermometers, masks or toilet paper, or world figures such as Donald Trump, Angela Merkel, Andrew Cuomo, Tom Hanks, or Dr. Anthony Fauci.”
In a recent article, Good Morning Wilton pointed out that CategoryTen has created a way to bring some levity to this angst-ridden era, while also stimulating constructive conversation about some important or overlooked aspects of the pandemic.” With the tagline “Staying Safer During the Pandemic,” the game aims to educate as well as entertain.
The game was somewhat prescient in that Vice President Kamala Harris is one of the game pieces. Kari Eisenberg, the Company’s Chief Operating Officer, reports that the Company “takes pride in the deliberate choice to feature female leaders, such as Angela Merkel and Kamala Harris, in the game. Jacinda Ardern, prime minister of New Zealand, is also included as one of the game pieces. In a press release, Eisenberg said Ardern was chosen because “[she] is an outstanding role model for women and everyone” and for her “exceptional leadership during this pandemic” which included some of the most aggressive steps to prevent the spread of the virus of any country in the world.” “While the game pieces of Covidopoly19 provide a snapshot of history, we take particular pride in the accomplishments of these women.”
CategoryTen, Good Morning Wilton pointed out, “sells more than just the board game. Among other things, the product array includes masks (one pays homage to Ruth Bader Ginsburg) and hand sanitizer, which serve to reinforce the “save the world” message often referenced in the company’s marketing.”Coming soon is a 1,000-piece puzzle (shown on the photo below) as an extension of the Covidopoly19 brand which urges “Let’s Talk About Covid”. For any information, please contact shahan@categoryten.com
