Let’s Play is daring college students and adults to try to play their newest game without cracking a smile. PokerFace is a game for mature audiences, a sort of Cards Against Humanity meets Apples to Apples, that asks players to combine outrageous phrases without laughing. Break the rule? Face the consequences.
Let’s Play pitched their idea at November’s Hatching and took home the grand prize proving that the public loves to laugh, or at least, try not to…
Founded
Connor Sisco
Caroline Deak
The Problem Being Solved
Connor and Caroline want to offer consumers a new product that will eventually become the perfect, game night, sensation.
Consumers are constantly looking for a new game, or form of entertainment for a family game night. We feel like we are going to be able to provide a new product that is going to be the perfect game night sensation.
Opportunities and Worries
Within the game industry, there is a lot of competition. “There are so many new games coming into the market every year,” says Connor and he knows that to make any sort of product will need to stand out. But, he also knows that the game industry brought in $75,000,000 in 2013. “There is definitely money to be made there.”
Where the Idea Came From
PokerFace was born after a distracted day in class. After Connor thought of the idea (in the middle of class) he texted Caroline for her opinion. She loved it and, that night, designed the cards and boxes. From then on, the bulk of their time was devoted to the development of PokerFace.
They took the idea to the Student Accelerate Michigan Business Competition and made it to the finals.
Target Customer
At the moment, the mature nature of the game requires an older target market- college age towards to adult. But, in the next few years, Connor says they are open to potentially creating a family-friendly version of the game so all ages can get the PokerFace experience.
Biggest Challenge
As two broke college students, the biggest challenge for Let’s Play has been finding funding. “It’s hard when you’re two broke college students to invest your own money into your startup, so that’s why we are so grateful to win the Hatching this month.”
They also have a Kickstarter currently running and are planning on competing in as many business competitions as possible.
Surprises
During this experience, they have learned what makes games like Cards Against Humanity so successful, “It’s simple, it’s cheap, and it’s edgy.”
Funding
They’ve received funding from the Hatching, are working on a Kickstarter and will continue competing in competitions in order to get the funds to start production.
The Future
“Within a year,” says Connor, “Our main goal is just to see people playing our game and enjoying it. That’s what we want the most out of this whole thing. Imagining people playing PokerFace, laughing and having a good time is an extremely gratifying feeling.” In a few years, he adds, with the success of PokerFace, they would like to continue expanding it and maybe even start working on some other projects.
Advice
Connor’s Advice? “If you have an idea, make it happen. What started out as a silly idea could become the next world sensation.” His idea started in class and then ended up in the Hatching. “You never what could happen so it can’t hurt to get it out there.”
