Philly dad invents tabletop game that brings all ages together
PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- "I'm from the Olney section of Philadelphia, born and raised," said Steve Stotts. "I went to Roxborough High and I always had a dream to invent."
As a 12-year-old, Stotts had an idea to create hair clippers that sucked in trimmings before they fell to the ground. But despite his ambitions, his dreams remained dreams for quite a while.
"I did not know what to do from there," Stotts said. "So, I was discouraged and went on a 20-year hiatus."
Stotts studied business in college and dabbled with a few inventions here and there, but it wasn't until earlier this year when his big idea for a tabletop game took shape.
"All of a sudden, my mom was teaching my daughter how to play jacks," he said. "And my thing is, I don't see things for what it is. I always see things for what it can be."
Thus, Stotts invented Cubix the Game. A derivative of jacks or knucklebones, the tabletop game puts players head-to-head with colorful cube-shaped pieces. Each are worth a certain amount of points and designed to be picked up in a strategic order. Like jacks, as the rounds increase, players increase the amount of cubes they collect on each bounce. The player with the most points after 10 rounds is the winner.
"I said this will probably be a great tool for the classroom and also outside of classrooms," said Stotts, "To help not only their hand-eye coordination but being able to count in their head as well."
Stotts has brought the game to school focus groups in addition to family, friends, and neighbors. And next month, he will host the first annual Cubix Tournament. The event takes place on July 29 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm at Barnes & Noble on 2300 Chemical Rd, Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania.
And while Stotts hopes that event will be the first of many, it's not his only goal with getting kids around the world to play Cubix.
"I want to be the one to encourage not only my daughter and neighbors, my friends... even the world that they can be inventors, too," he said.
To learn more about Cubix the Game, visit their website.
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