PM: That's quite a story.

MR: See? It’s a relationship thing, like I said. That, and some luck. And, of course, good product.

Years later, Alton, my producer buddy asked me to extend some hospitality to Ray Thompson who was involved in some movie deal. Santa Fe can be difficult to find last minute accommodation, so I put Ray up in my place. Ray saw the ‘Oops’ puzzles there and put together a business deal to buy the rights to ‘Oops’ and produce them as sports balls under the name ‘Smarts Pyramid.’

Dean was also instrumental in the implementation of my ‘Whitewater’ puzzle by Channel Craft.

PM: Whitewater is another GAMES 100 Award Winner. How did this puzzle develop?

MR: Originally this concept was called ‘Muddy Roads’ and occurred to me in 1973 while driving my 1959, P544 Volvo down some dirt road, ‘riddled’ with pot holes, in what was then a back water town in Colorado called Telluride.

I drove my car at five miles an hour and tried to avoid getting a single wheel in any of the rain filled, muddy holes. You see, it was my luck that I’d just washed the car. See, luck again. (But not dumb luck! There is a difference.) Anyway, I came up with the concept of that puzzle there and then.

For the road, I used a half inch thick flat board, about 18 inches by 6 inches. Then I stuck 4 pencils through 4 holes in a small piece of wood, about the size of a deck of cards, to represent the car. I used this setup to draw a very convoluted ‘course’ across the flat board. I drilled and routed out holes everywhere except where the pencil lines were. These I erased.

Now the object of this ‘manipulation puzzle’ is to maneuver the ‘car’ -- a small piece of wood with 4 holes, with a small steel ball in each hole to represent the wheels -- from one end of the board to the other without dropping any of the balls in any of the holes. Not easy.

Dean had the good sense to extend the design as a kayak attempting to traverse a raging river course without dropping any of your shipmates into the river. He had the intelligence to call it ‘Whitewater.’ Dean also had the ecological sensibility to donate a percentage to one of the local wild rivers support groups. I can’t say enough nice things about Dean and his company.

PM: In your experience, what puzzle-based toys and games have been most successful?  What do you think made them a success?

MR: Success? How to measure it? I’m still alive, I’d call that success.

The only unifying theory I ‘sense’ about success in any pursuit seems to me to be luck and perseverance. That, and I see every relationship full of unknown potential.

As far as making a judgment call on what puzzle or game might become a success, I think this only occurs -- with any accuracy or hope -- as a gut feeling, what is now referred to as ‘emotional intelligence.’ I get that feeling with rare occasion concerning my own stuff, as well as others. Howard is much better at it than I am.

I’m a Darwinian when it comes to business. For all I know, my ‘Oops’ puzzles have been a success for the last 16 years because of the bright colors. I do not possess a ‘design aesthetic’ to any degree, can’t make things ‘pretty.’ I just make stuff that I’m inspired to create. Really, I can’t help it. Sometimes it seems less a gift than an affliction. Most of my inspiration comes in the form of visions. I ‘see it’ as opposed to ‘think it.’

What I’m getting at here is that things don’t always work out the way they do in the song. But they seem to work out if I just keep creating and producing. It’s an artistic approach. Not for everyone. I’m not recommending this life style. This is not an endorsement.

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