Mary Sue & Loretta Rue

THE PRODUCT:

Mary Sue & Loretta Rue is a mystery card game series that follows the detective Mary Sue and her adorable pup, Loretta Rue, on adventures around the globe. The games consist of case files gathered by Mary Sue & Loretta Rue. The player must read through the case files and clues they gathered to uncover the mystery and find out “who did it.”

Each card is beautifully illustrated by yours truly and the physical card game includes interactive digital elements. In order for players to make sure they are on the right track, the game is divided  into 3 chapters or “stopping points”. At each stopping point, a user can use a QR code that directs them to the Mary Sue & Loretta Rue site, where they can get a hint or determine if they are truly solving the puzzles correctly.

STEP ONE: RESEARCH

When I first had the idea to make Mary Sue & Loretta Rue, I had been searching YouTube videos about people who created brands and sold items on Amazon under Amazon’s FBA Seller program. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a lot of “play money” to mess around with like some of the successful entrepreneurs on YouTube had. I needed a product that had a niche market that would be fairly cheap to produce. Due to personal values, I also wanted to avoid producing something where someone’s labor could potentially be exploited. 

I came up with the idea for Mary Sue & Loretta Rue after purchasing a mystery game for myself. Since I was a child I’ve been obsessed with mysteries. I’ve been an avid Nancy Drew fan and customer of her computer games, and I LOVE escape rooms. I noticed the market is saturated with games that are for teenagers and adults. Most of the mystery games today revolve around very sinister topics, like murder. If it’s not Nancy Drew, the game most likely has topics that are not suitable for children. After doing some competitive research, I found the mystery game market for children was mostly untouched and that with the rise of phones, there’s been a push from parents for schools to teach more critical thinking skills. What’s a better way to teach children critical thinking skills than a classic case file game set-up? 

It dawned on me that a mystery card game may fulfill exactly what I was looking for:

• A niche market

• Low cost to produce

• It could be produced in the United States, where I would be confident in the labor laws in place.

• SEO - there needed to be organic interest already on Amazon for the product so that I wouldn’t need to invest too much in advertising. 

When developing the story and game system set-up, I researched and ordered other mystery games to garner inspiration from. One I was particularly inspired by was Unsolved Case Files. The puzzles resembled puzzles from an Escape Room, but the game followed a narrative that unfolded as you read through each file included in the case. After doing some research, I found that games that follow similar structures garner positive reviews online and tend to sell more. For these reasons, I decided to structure the game as a set of files and clues that Mary Sue & Loretta Rue gathered. As the user, and newly hired detective at Mary Sue’s firm, it’s your job to read through the files and solve the case.

After conducting research on suppliers within the United States, I found that making a mystery game on playing cards would be the most economical option. I considered different options for the format of the game, such as a board game or printing out photos for clues and materials that I could assemble into an actual folder. However, after researching printing methodologies and suppliers, I found that collated printing, which is a method of printing that uses technology to put pages or cards into a certain order, would require the least man-power for a one-man shop like my own. It would be hassle free from my end because the machine could order the cards a certain way. I decided a card game format made the most sense for someone who works a 40 hour week and has little money to invest.

When writing the outline and concept for Mary Sue & Loretta Rue, I considered pain points that parents and children playing the game could face. I read multiple reviews on competing games to uncover what these pain points could be: 

• Puzzles being too difficult or too easy to solve for their age

• Complicated story line

• The cards becoming out of order

• High price point for a game that you’d get one use out of

• Small font size

Based on the pain points I uncovered from my research, I made sure to place numbers on each card in case the cards ever became out of order. I tested out different prices between $14.99 and $19.99 and I made sure that the font size would not be smaller than the average font found in a standard, American Bible.

From my research and lessons I had taken as a college student, I recognized how important it would be to enter the market with a solid brand. Rather than entering the market with one Mary Sue game, I found that launching two games at the same time would build credibility around Mary Sue & Loretta Rue and make it less likely for a consumer to realize that the game is created and sold by Jackie Guthart from her kitchen table.

STEP TWO: IDEATION & DESIGN

Through my research, I found that children’s games with characters tend to sell more and build brand equity overtime.

The idea for the character Mary Sue and Loretta Rue was inspired by my childhood. I wrote a few stories about “Mary Sue” as a child for fun and I decided to resurrect this fictional character I had created as a kid and use her for the game. When writing stories about Mary Sue as a child, I had been inspired by my grandmother’s name, Mary Lou (Known to us as Grandma Lou), and by my aunt’s name, Sue. The character, Loretta Rue, was also inspired by my real life. Loretta Rue was the name of a neighbor’s dog, and in all honesty, when it comes to children’s games and toys, dogs sell. I decided to bring these two beloved characters from my childhood back to life and put them into a new story line. 

When it came to deciding on a plot for the mystery game, I thought through ideas for story lines that would be generally marketable.  The idea to make the first game revolve around the Mona Lisa and for it to take place in Paris seemed like a simple one.  Paris is an iconic city and products with French elements, like the Eiffel tower, tend to sell in the United States. Paris also is the home to the Mona Lisa, the most famous painting in the world. I wanted to market Mary Sue & Loretta Rue as a fun pastime that not only teaches children critical thinking skills, but also other things, like history or geography, and the idea for the Case of the Missing Mona Lisa seemed to do just that.

In order to get started, I made an outline for each “chapter” of the game and planned out what part of the larger story the user should solve at each stopping point. Each stopping point in the game is designed to lead to the ultimate question of Who Dun It? Piecing together clues and puzzles that users need to solve at each chapter, while also weaving together a story line, took a considerable amount of ideation, research, and outlines. I gathered inspiration for puzzles from Unsolved Case Files, Nancy Drew computer games, Escape from the Museum, and the internet.

When it came to designing the actual cards, I created an illustrative style with bright colors that would be appealing to children. I sketched everything using my finger on my Ipad using Procreate. To immerse the player into the story and make them feel like they were Mary Sue’s fellow colleague at her firm, I made certain cards look like they came out of Mary Sue’s notebook and used a fun font that resembles handwriting. 

STEP THREE: EVALUATION

User Testing:

Before printing out the game, I wanted to test the product and see if any potential consumers had any feedback on it. Since my business consists of me, myself, and I, I didn’t have the most resources at my fingertips and had to do with what I had. I took a deep breath and bravely shared the game at a family reunion with my two older brothers and their partners.

This was not ideal because the game is for children and both of my brothers are in their 30s. But hey, it’s better than nothing! My brothers and their partners gave me valuable feedback that I addressed. They highlighted pitfalls in the story line that could deter the user from finding who dun it or cause a user to consider other possibilities. They also gave valuable feedback on aspects of the designs of the cards.

After having the game tested by my older brothers, I spoke to my close friend about my predicament. She volunteered her two siblings, who were conveniently between the ages of 7 and 10, to test out the game. From them, I was able to pinpoint what puzzles in the game were too easy or needed to be a bit more challenging.

MVP In-Market Testing:

When ideating through different scenarios, I wanted to make sure the final product I would initially sell would be considered a minimal viable product (MVP). I wanted to first see if I even had a shot at selling the two games before investing further into it. As such, I sold my first two games in plastic wrapping and did not invest in a card board box for the packaging. I know, RISKY, but I didn’t want to spend more time or my personal cash on something that was not going to work. In order for me to invest further and beyond the MVP, I needed a few success metrics to be hit:

• At least 5 positive Reviews

• Revenue of at least $100 in a one month period

• Interest from influencers who would be willing to post about the game if I sent it to them for free

After getting 10 sales organically and meeting all the criteria I outlined, I decided Mary Sue & Loretta Rue passed the test! I found there was a real, organic interest on the Amazon platform for Mary Sue & Loretta Rue. As such, I caved into building and designing cardboard boxes for the games to be sold in. 

STEP FOUR: EVOLUTION/REFLECTION 

Since selling the game online for a year and receiving reviews from consumers, I’ve reflected on how to improve the overall Mary Sue & Loretta Rue brand. Unfortunately, some of my ideas are a bit out of reach, considering my business is a sole proprietorship.

• Tests with the right age group - If I had more investment money (and time) to play with, having a proper game test with children between the ages of 8 and 12 would be considerably helpful. It would allow me to gauge which puzzles need to be more challenging or less complicated

• Website - Since I followed a MVP approach, I didn’t spend too much money or time on the website. The QR codes on the cards take the user directly to certain pages that help the user get a clue to solve a chapter. However, outside of that, the user does not need to interact with the website. If I sold more Mary Sue & Loretta Rue games, I would have more thoughtfully designed the website.

• Influencers - Because I had a very limited budget, I couldn’t access some of the influencers that may have really made a difference in my sales

• Investing in imagery with real children - I used stock imagery and photo-shop to show children playing the game. However, having a real photo shoot with my target demographic could improve the Amazon page drastically

In conclusion, I learned a lot from creating, designing, and producing Mary Sue & Loretta Rue. I followed invaluable UX steps in the process and learned how much I love creating things. If you’re interested in playing the game, let me know! I’d be happy to ship one to you, free of charge :)