IN the multi-billion dollar but notoriously fickle toy and game industry, a new Australian board game is definitely ‘sorting’ its way to the top. SORTS, the game where you put things in order, was released nationally this week and was immediately picked up by several international game companies for release in Austria, Germany, Hungary, Switzerland and the massive US market. And the UK and other European markets are expected to follow.

“We are very excited by the response to SORTS, both here in Australia and internationally” said Gerry Crown, managing director of the well-known Australian games company, Crown & Andrews, and a recent inductee to the Australian toy industry’s hall of fame. “The game has been snapped up by all the major stores.”

SORTS is a fun and clever game that plays on our fascination with listing and comparing things. Try this: ‘Sort these things from shortest to tallest: an emu, a double bass, the Queen, a T-Rex and a double decker bus’. Or what about, sorting your favourite celebrities by their age, the number of Oscars they’ve won, or the number of husbands they’ve had!

“There’s definitely resurgence in the board game market. We think it is driven by families seeking the traditional round table interaction that only board games can bring. And SORTS is clearly hitting the spot. We think it will become an instant classic,” said Crown.

SORTS was invented and developed by Craig Browne from Martinsville, near the Hunter Valley north of Sydney. And it’s not his first.

“In this industry it is quite rare to find one person who can repeatedly come up with fresh and successful concepts. You might be lucky enough to get one, but I think SORTS is Craig’s 6th or 7th game for us. He must be one of the foremost board game inventors in the world today”, added Crown.

Originally trained as a science teacher, Browne broke into the toy industry just over 10 years ago with a board game he invented, Compatibility. Compatibility was picked up the US games giant, Mattel, and distributed in 12 countries and translated into 5 languages. Even today, this is a rare achievement, with only a handful of Australian board games attaining international circulation on this scale.

“It’s funny you know, when that happened, people said I was going to be a millionaire – they even used terms like “the next big thing”, says Browne. “The game certainly did pretty well, selling close to 500,000 copies, it was a dream come true and a very exciting time. It didn’t make me a millionaire, but it did open doors for me as a game inventor.”

Open doors it did. Since Compatibility, Browne has developed a swag of games for the toy store shelves, including successful board game versions of: The Price Is Right, Bert’s Family Feud, The biggest loser and the world-wide smash hit Deal or no deal. And it’s not just a sale here and there, Browne’s Australian and US Deal or no deal board games recently topped sales of over 600,000 units.

SORTS is suitable for 2 to 6 players, ages 12 years and up. It is available in toy stores nationally.

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