Dec 1, 2023

Ken, what’s your interest in comparing SKUNK’D with Farkle?

Let me begin with a little backstory. Long before modern board games, people were rolling dice in various forms for both recreation and divination. The origins of these dice games are thought to trace back thousands of years to early civilizations in Mesopotamia, India, and China. Dice games with six (sometimes five) 6-sided dice, where 1's, 5's, and 3-of-a-kind are scoring dice, have a rich history, providing excitement and camaraderie.

There are, and have been for a long time, numerous variations of six-dice games, each with its own rule twists and quirks. Some of the names are etched in the annals of gaming history: A game known as 10,000 seems to have the deepest roots, tracing back at least several hundred years. Dice games which are the same as, or very similar to, 10,000 have emerged over the years. You may recognize some of these games: Cosmic Wimpout, Greed, Hot Dice, Squelch, Zonk, Ten Grand, Dix Mille, Reload, Cargoose, Zilch, Foo & Lewis' Dice. These games have been enjoyed at gatherings of family and friends, creating cherished memories and friendly rivalries. The mid-20th century saw the emergence of Farkle (then later Farkel), which has had enduring appeal to this day.

A game reviewer shared the following with me recently.

“All but my youngest players called this game out right from the start, remarking how similar it was to the published game Farkle. However, SKUNK’D diverges and creates its own space with its many different ways of scoring and different ways to play.”

“There are many Farkle derivatives, including Zombie Farkle and Dragon Farkle. There is nothing wrong (with) taking a tried-and-true game and making it into a family classic. Hell, we do that all the time with Monopoly. I challenge readers to prove they have played Monopoly using the standard rules. Every family has its take, and SKUNK’D is a brilliant example.”

I’d love to hear your take on SKUNK’D compared to Farkle. On the one hand, I find it kind of exciting that our funky family game is being compared to Farkle. After all, Farkle is among the most popular dice games in the world, alongside the widely recognized game of Yahtzee and the casino game of Craps. On the other hand, in the age of ‘sound-bites,’ we’d like to avoid the scenario of a potential customer on a quick read concluding that SKUNK’D is just Farkle with a “skunk theme.” With my marketing hat on, I am looking for any thoughts you may have on how we can best differentiate SKUNK’D from Farkle and other dice games on the market.

Ken