The BigLeap challenge to design low cost educational games for kids is where it all began. I entered a maze racing concept I'd been developing. In a nutshell, kids glue cut up straws into a cereal box to create a maze path. When their maze is complete, they swap it with another team, drop in a marble, and race.
The contest was championed by Professor Silvia Bunge, a neuroscience and childhood learning expert at U.C. Berkeley, and Bill Ritchie, the CEO of ThinkFun games and judged by experts in childhood learning and a renowned game designer. I was absolutely stunned when my simple game idea took top honors and the $5,000 prize! Winning the contest inspired me to pursue a license agreement with FoxMind.