ByDon Crouse
[Editor’s note: Reaching out with the gospel takes many forms. Don Crouse has created a zoology based card game call Zoocards. Getting from the initial idea into production is a story worth recounting of God’s timely deliverance over a span of 15 years. Don graciously consented to share some of this journey. May it encourage all of us as believers to pray.]
Sometime around 2004 I decided I wanted to play a game. I vaguely remembered a game that had something to do with animals and that I had played at my friend’s house as a kid. It had a board, and I thought it had animal cards… but there was definitely a board. Well, fat chance of finding that game. So I decided to make my own. Brilliant!
I had 3 small daughters at the time, and I thought how cool it would be to make a game we could all play. Dad the inventor! It would give the girls something they’d all remember. I could just hear their fond memories when they grew up… “Hey, remember when Dad made that stupid game, and we all loved playing it? Wonder whatever happened to that game? Actually, what ever happened to Dad?”
I decided I needed to make my girls fictitious memories a reality! Of course I didn’t have any way of making a board for the game… not without a lot of effort and money. And the girls would just spill stuff on it, or drool on it. So I decided to make a card game. No boards! Things were going along swimmingly. Designed a few cards on the computer. Figured out a few rules. Printed some cards on the printer, and Walla Walla Washington, ZooCards™! I honestly don’t remember what exactly happened after that… or if we even played the game after all that effort… because we needed to move. After adding 3 girls to a 2 bedroom condo, things were getting a little tight. On top of that, a boy was on the way. He arrived. And we really needed to upgrade to a house. So we moved. And then we added another son. And ZooCards™ got lost in a holding pattern somewhere over western Washington for the next 4 years.
Then one day I decided to resume working on ZooCards™. Brilliant! Then on another day I thought I’d see if my oldest daughter’s third grade class would like to play the game. She’s 24 now. The teacher was awesome! She let me take over her class. I had thought going in that if just 10% of the kids liked the game, maybe I had something I could market. The game was a huge hit. Every kid loved it! After class my daughter and I went home. And I was totally depressed. No, that’s not a typo. Yes, the game was a huge hit, but I realized after playing it in the class, that there was no element of actual gaming in it. I can’t even remember what the original rules were, but there was literally no point to the game! You were just collecting cards. Apparently that was enough for 9-year-olds. But I had hoped that there’d actually be gaming in the game. And there wasn’t. Years of work, designing, editing, creating, and it was a total flop! A complete waste of time. No wonder the girls called it stupid in their fictitious memory. There was only one thing to do. Take a shower.
So there I was, just standing in the shower, depressed and besmirched (I don’t know what besmirched means, but I hear depressed people say it). I asked God what I had done wrong? Yes, I was talking to God, naked, in the shower, soaking wet. Try it. Then, in my mind, I heard a voice say, how about an auction? Now that may not mean anything to you, but it did to me. It was the answer to my prayer… and the end of depression and besmirchment (whatever that is). I stopped showering, went down stairs, rewrote the rules and scheduled another day at school. It was spectacular! Over the next few years I played the game numerous times at schools and with family and friends. Each time it was a tremendous success. Kids loved it! Teachers loved! Parents loved! Even I loved it! I had a winner.
Now what?
I didn’t have the money to produce it. I wanted to apply for a patent and that would cost me thousands of dollars in legal fees, that I didn’t have. So I wrote the patent myself, and submitted it for around $600 in filing fees, which I had to put on a credit card. Not only was filing the patent a financial strain, but it was also promptly denied, rejected, and besmirched. The patent office even took the time to tell me I was completely unqualified to write a patent, and should have never attempted something so monumentally complex as a patent on my own! It took me two years to write the patent, and two months to get besmirched. It took another two years to get over the depression. I really thought I had something special. Now I wasn’t sure. So I spent a few more years wandering in the desert of doubt. There were a lot more days of doubt in the desert of doubt than days of hope. And I thought the game would die out there, along with my dreams for it. Time for another shower.
At this juncture I should probably mention that all showers are not the same. Sometimes they get me immediate results, and sometimes they don’t. But they are my favorite place to pray. There aren’t a lot of distractions in the shower. No kids running in to disturb me, no phone calls, no texts, no deliveries, no emails… so I can just focus on God. I took a lot of showers during those two years, trying to figure out what God wanted me to do. And to be honest, I wasn’t really sure what He wanted me to do. But while other doors were closing, the ZooCards™ door always remained open. And I enjoyed the showers. So I stayed with ZooCards™, hoping something was on the other side of the door. What I wanted was some sort of confirmation that I should move forward with the game.
Then about two years ago I casually mentioned the game to a family member. And he said, “I’ll help you”. Well, not exactly in those words… because I can’t remember what he said two years ago. I just know he wanted to help. He’s a Christian. And one of the best men I’ve ever known! With his spiritual and financial support, life came back into the idea of producing the game. All those showers finally paid off.
Initially we toyed with the idea of producing the game in China. See what I did there? But in the end we decided on the good ol’ U S of A. Because I thought, “Hey, I don’t know anyone in China, even though there are 1.4 billion people living there!” And then I thought, “I have a friend in the offset print industry; why not have him help me?” So I contacted him and we got to work. There were lots of issues to consider, but we finally agreed everything should be environmentally friendly. So we went as green as we could. I mean, come on, we’re trying to save wildlife. It doesn’t make much sense to destroy the environment while you’re trying to save it. So we used environmentally friendly vegetable dye inks, printed on recycled or FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified paper. Then I made sure everything was made in the good ol’ U S of A… because of the high degree of environmental standards required here. China isn’t really known for that. In the end it cost more to do it that way, but we’re supporting workers in this country and making the world a more livable place, not just for us, but also for the wildlife we are striving to conserve and protect. Brilliant!
Today I’m working on the final details to launch ZooCards™ into
the market place. God willing, by next year the game will be in production
and sold in the United States. In the interim, we have manufactured 1300
sets for marketing. While those sets are designated as samples for schools,
wildlife institutions and retailers, we will be selling some to the general
public to get additional feedback before the actual game rollout next year.
You can reach us at
Since we are currently in the marketing and distribution phase of the game, we welcome ideas on the best way to get ZooCards™ in front of the public. We have some ideas of our own, but we also welcome your thoughts on ways to sell our game.
There are still a lot of things that need to be done before the actual marketing of ZooCards™ can start, but I’ve gone from dying in the desert of doubt, to hope for tomorrow. Hope for tomorrow is better. I can see the opportunities. New avenues for outreach and ministry are on the other side of that door. The world isn’t used to Christians leading the way in the conservation arena. Maybe we can change that impression, and a few hearts in the process.
Well, now that I’ve told you about the creation of the game, I’ll tell you a little bit about the actual game.
ZooCards™ is a fun, energetic, educational game that adds an exciting new approach to wildlife conservation and education. I’m always saddened when I hear about an animal that is on the verge of extinction. Most are unknown to the average Homo sapien. So I thought the game might be a way to heighten awareness of those endangered animals. Perhaps even save some from going extinct. So I designed the game to promote preservation of wildlife through education and funding. ZooCards™ has lots of great, unique features - but its hallmark is the support of wildlife. We are financially committed to helping wildlife, and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of ZooCards™ will be donated to organizations and field conservationists that actively conserve wildlife.
ZooCards™ cards are both a collectible and a game. As a game, ZooCards™ can be used by educators as a teaching tool, or it can be played by families and friends for hours of educational fun. But be careful—once you start you may not be able to stop! Game play revolves around players collecting animal cards to create their own zoo. The player with the best zoo at the end of the game is the winner. Game rules reward players for making skillful trades, and buying and selling wisely. Players that do the best job of managing their resources have the greatest chance of success. And if you don’t like to play games, you can just collect the cards. They’re pretty spiffy.
There’s more. But that’s enough. I’ve taken up too much of your time. Thank you for being so gracious, and I appreciate your prayers and support,
Don Crouse