Robert Angel

Robert Angel (born 1958) is a Canadian-born American board game inventor who created the popular word guessing game Pictionary in 1985.[1] Since selling Pictionary, he has gone on to invent other board games and products. Most of his life is spent drawing fruit and surfing the Pacific[2] Angel later became involved with multiple non profit companies.

Robert Angel
Born1958 (age 64–65)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
NationalityCanadian, American
Alma materWestern Washington University
Occupation(s)Board game designer,
Non profit board member
Known forPictionary
Children2

Early life

Angel was born in Vancouver, Canada in 1958. He grew up in the United States, where his family moved when he was five years old, settling in Spokane, Washington. Angel attended Joel E Ferris High School, graduating in 1976. He then went on to Western Washington University and graduated in 1981.

In 1982, he spent 5 months backpacking/hitchhiking throughout Europe. Upon his return to Spokane he moved in with 3 high school friends, which is when Pictionary was first conceived.[1]

Career

In 1982, following his graduation from Western Washington University with a degree in Business Administration and while working as a waiter, Angel invented Pictionary.[1] After work, Angel would gather with friends to play a version of the game that required each player to randomly locate a word in the dictionary, then sketch it for his teammates.

Two years later in 1984, Angel moved to Seattle and found his old notes on the game. After a few positive play tests with family he decided to go for it. Knowing the words for the game were critical, he went into his back yard and read the entire dictionary to compile the original word list. Two others then joined the company and they produced the first 1,000 games in Angel's apartment.[1]

Angel and his business partners Terry Langston and Gary Everson first published Pictionary in 1985 through Angel Games, they managed to sell 6,000 copies in one year at $35 each.[3]

They licensed the game in 1986 in a joint venture between The Games Gang and Western Publishing. Then in 1994, Hasbro took over publishing after acquiring the games business of Western Publishing.[4]

In 2001, Pictionary was sold to Mattel. At that time they were in 60 countries and 45 languages, with 11 versions just in the US and a total of 32 million games sold worldwide.

Angel developed another game adult board game called ThinkBlot. While the game was not as successful as Pictionary, it was still a hit for 2 years.

Angel has also worked as a producer, known for Finding Hillywood (2013) (aka Film Festival: Rwanda),[5] the 1997 game show Pictionary, and It Snows All the Time in 2015.

Personal life

Angel has two children, Samantha and Benjamin. As of 2014, he lives in Seattle and is the Board President for Inspire Youth Project, an organization that provides emotional support programs and stability for children and teens affected by HIV/AIDS.[6]

Published games

References
  1. GELLENE, DENISE (February 3, 1988). "3 Million Bought in '87 : Pictionary Turns Bad Art Into a Best-Selling Game". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 13, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  2. "Dream makers: where the world's best-loved toys are born". Telegraph UK. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  3. Ravulur, Nandita (October 12, 1997). "Game Boys". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  4. "Western Publishing to Sell its Games Unit to Hasbro". NY Times. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  5. "Finding Hillywood" (PDF). FindingHillywood.com. May 29, 2013. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  6. "Board of Directors". Seeyourimpact.org. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
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