The pull of the mighty board game
Many of us love board games – from Monopoly, to Scrabble to Trivial Pursuit. But for our guest this week on the Suffolk Money Podcast, they’re something of an obsession. John Mariani is a games developer and a highly successful entrepreneur from Ipswich, who spends his days thinking up new ideas and researching thousands upon thousands of fiendishly difficult quiz questions.
Kevin Burch went to meet him and find out more about his passion for board games and trivia. With his Italian heritage, John not only speaks Italian, but is also fluent in Spanish and speaks French and German too. His love of board games came in his early 20s, when he became involved in writing trivia questions in Italian for Trivial Pursuit.
Having now been in the board games industry for 35 years, John knows what makes a good game. He was quick off the mark to gain the world rights to Who Wants to Be A Millionaire and has also invented countless others, including family favourites such as The Logo Game.
John’s love for the traditional board game seems to be shared by us all and, despite the swift advances of modern technology, board games still have the power to draw a family round the table.
