College Times

Issue date: 8/27/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Ryan Ruiz The team at Twisted Entertainment pours over the final proofs of their new card game 'Obama Nation' at Nello's Pizza in Oldtown Scottsdale

Paul Brown was sick of the government spending his paycheck and tired of the escalating price of games, so he decided to do something about both.

Armed with knowledge gleaned from decades within the gaming industry, Brown and three cohorts started up Twisted Entertainment, a Phoenix-based gaming company dedicated to fun on the cheap, something Brown says is a necessity in times of financial hardship.

The company's first card game - the stimulus-slamming "Obama Nation" - is set for release in October to Spencer's Toys and Gifts and various game stores and at twistedrules.com

College Times: How do you play Obama Nation?
Paul Brown: Most people probably remember the game Go Fish, and they also remember the game Old Maid. This kind of puts the two together. The game is really simple. On your turn, you're going to be asking another player for a certain card, and you're going to try to get a match out of what is in your hand already. And if they have that card, they have to give it to you, just like Go Fish. If they don't, then you dive in the pork barrel and you draw the top card. If you happen to get your match, you lay it down. The matches in the game are government spending programs. You might be trying to get a bailout for a bank, for example, and if you get the card, boom, you lay it down. And you just spend, 60, 80, 100 billion of US bailout cash. And since that's the whole point of the game, to spend as much government money as you possibly can, you're on the road to winning. The Old Maid element comes into it with the Bernie Madoff card. If you get stuck with the Bernie card, you lose all your cash, sorry.

Is there room for updates of current events?
Absolutely. The game that's on the press right now is the limited first edition. Once that game sells out, some of those cards will never be seen again, we'll be updating the deck with new events.

Is there any irony behind Obama's stimulus plan intending to help stimulate small businesses, and your small business growing by making fun of Obama's stimulus plan?
Front and center. We have a card in the deck which is our company, Twisted Entertainment. The text right on the card says, 'You don't think we'd print this with our own money, do you? It was printed with one-hundred percent recycled US bailout cash.' And we're, right now, applying for an SBCA small business loan. Thank you Uncle Sam!

What is the artistic inspiration behind the artwork on the cards?
We were trying to parody American culture in every possible way. So we tried to draw from a wide variety of influences. Our art department, directed by Steve Crompton, he just basically put the word out to a large, large number of artists with a large variety of styles to see who would be attracted to the project, and we got everything from photorealism to pure cartoon back, and that's what we wanted.

Why are board and card games still so popular?
Because games bring people together. It's social group. It's just like a meal. Sitting down with your friends and having a meal is never going to go out of style. It's always fun, it's always rewarding, it always feels good to do it. It's the same thing with a game. You sit down, you have a few laughs with some friends, and suddenly everything feels better.

Is Obama the most marketable president ever?
I would say that, right now, Obama is the number one celebrity in the world, bar none. It's not just in the United States, it's worldwide. He is, by far, the most well-known and popular person on earth today. I've already told you, I love the guy… It's not about getting down on Obama, it's about the fact that the government just spent a trillion dollars.

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