The Chick Game

The Chick Game, which is subtitled Girls’ Night Out in a Box, consists of 222 thought-provoking questions on color-coded cards. Point values are assigned depending on their difficulty. For example, one point is awarded for answering an easy question, such as, “What is one thing that you are willing to splurge on for yourself?” Four points are given for more difficult questions, such as, “If you could go back and confront one person from your past, who would it be and what would you do or say?”

A player can opt to pass on a question, but she will lose points. And, according to the rules, “other chicks have our permission to harass you for passing.” Keeping score is optional.

Gina Sauer came up with the idea for the game in June 2002 while stuck at a traffic light. “It was a gray, overcast day and I thought, ‘What would be a good thing to do on a day like this?’” Sauer said. “I thought back to college, when I used to sit around with girlfriends in a dorm and talk for hours and hours. But those conversations usually don’t happen until about 3:00 in the morning when you’re too tired to enjoy them. I wished there was something that could prompt you to have those discussions. So I got back to work and said, ‘Is this a totally crazy idea, or does it have some potential?’”

Kari Jensen Thomas and Colleen Walz, Sauer’s colleagues in William Mitchell’s career services office, thought the idea had potential. The three women began spending evenings and weekends working on the concept. It took nine months to get The Chick Game from daydream to store shelf. The women formed a corporation called the Squirrelly Girls Inc. to produce and market the game.

Jensen Thomas and Sauer are attorneys with marketing backgrounds. Walz, who studied communication and design in college, came up with the logo and created the Web site, which can be found at www.thechickgame.com. To date, they have sold more than 1,000 games at about $16 apiece. They recently completed a supplemental deck priced at $8.00, and they are working on additional games for mothers and daughters, teens and couples.

The women had some help from a Walz family friend in the game industry, but they assemble each game by hand at home.

To get the game into stores, the women sent postcards and letters to retailers who carry similar items. “We got a huge response,” Walz said. The game is now sold in two dozen stores in 11 states and via four online retailers. Locally, it can be found at Just Grand in Victoria Crossing South, at Patina stores in Highland Village and Minneapolis, at Sleepyheads at the Mall of America and at TBM Gifts in Minneapolis.
The three women have been doing their share of marketing via personal appearances as well. They have appeared three times at Dixie’s on Grand, including the recent Men Hunt/Women Gather shopping event, as well as on FM 107 and Drive 105 radio stations.

Jamie Young, a partner in Dixie’s, hopes the Squirrelly Girls will continue to work with her on upcoming events. “They work really well together,” she said. “I have no doubt that the game is really going to take off.”
The friends acknowledge that the word “chick” can be off-putting to some women. “I know that there are some people who think that it is politically incorrect and demeaning, but we’ve reclaimed the word ‘chick,’” Sauer said. “To us, a chick is someone who doesn’t take herself too seriously, someone who is all about having fun, connecting with her female friends and enjoying chick things—going for girls’ night out and things like that.”
Even the company name, Squirrelly Girls Inc., started out as a joke among the friends, who have a tradition of bringing squirrel-related gifts back from trips. Only later did they realize that squirrels are terrific at problem solving, a talent the friends called upon in their quest to bring their product to market.

“That’s kind of the history of The Chick Game,” Sauer said. “We knew nothing about what we were doing, but we wouldn’t stop until we figured out the most creative way around the problem.”

The Chick Game rewards players for spilling the intimate details of their lives, but it also gives them options to play it safe and answer less revealing questions—and score fewer points. Here are some examples of questions:

What’s the most important item in your makeup bag?

If you could carry one designer brand of purse, what would it be?
 

When have you laughed the hardest, and why? (Earn one bonus point for every other player you make laugh while telling your story.)

Have you ever disliked or disapproved of a friend’s spouse or boyfriend? Why did you dislike the person? Two bonus points: Did you ever tell your friend how you felt?
 

We all know you’re not supposed to have a favorite sibling, but if you had to choose one, who is it and why is he or she your favorite?

Describe an outrageous, daring or unusual thing that you secretly want to do that would shock or surprise people who know you.

Who is “the one that got away” for you—a relationship that you let end, or that you never pursued but wish you had? Bonus point: Do you know where that person is now?

Have you ever been “busted” while hooking up with someone? What happened? (If “no,” pass the card to any other player, and if she answers, she gets your four points.)