Game Development

Dalene Heck and her husband, Peter, are avid travelers. In 2009, they bought a one-way ticket to South America for a year of backpacking – which then turned into eight years of traveling the globe, during which they visited over 60 countries in all. Eventually, the couple settled back in their hometown of Alberta, Canada – but when Covid first began to spread, their seemingly stable careers in travel marketing entered a dry spell. Heck had long nursed an idea for a travel-focused card game, and the pandemic had created the perfect time to launch it. Thus, Trip Chaser was born. The compact card game tests to see which player is the most traveler-savvy, by tasking them with buying, bartering, and gambling their way to various far-flung destinations. Today, Heck and her husband are focused on scaling Trip Chaser and developing several new games – all while continuing to see the world. Here's our lightly edited Q&A, from The Story Exchange 1,000+ Stories Project. How is your business different from others in your industry? Trip Chaser is based on real-life travel experience, and is also made to be played while traveling. It is compact enough to throw in a suitcase and take around the world! Tell us about your biggest success so far. Only three weeks after launching, we sold out of our entire Canadian stock. What is your top challenge and how have you addressed it? Sourcing a manufacturer. While we attempted first to partner with someone in China, to keep our costs low, but we instead started with a company based in the U.S. who sourced materials on our behalf. They helped guide us through the excruciating process of producing our first and second batches, and we are now much more knowledgeable on how to get it done as a result. What is your biggest tip for other startup entrepreneurs? The process never goes as smoothly as you’d hope! Our biggest hiccups came with clearing the hurdles required for selling on Amazon – sorting through all of those took a good amount of time. Thankfully, we were able to launch in time for Christmas 2023, but it was touch-and-go for a while. We’ve learned – as we are currently working on developing our second game – to build lots of additional time into our projected schedule. How do you find inspiration on your darkest days? If things are moving slower than I like, I remind myself that nothing happens overnight. And when I’m feeling especially stuck, I reopen Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Big Magic” – an inspiring book that really helps get my creative juices flowing. What is your go-to song to get motivated on tough days? There’s no one song! I’m currently obsessed with boygenius, or Wet Leg if I need something “dance-y” to lift me up. Rage Against the Machine never fails to get me pumped. Or, if I’m having a tough day focusing because my (super-cute) cat is too distracting, the cat meditation playlist on Spotify is helpful. Who is your most important role model? When it comes to producing games, we look up to the creators of the card game Sabobatage, Eric Chen, Sophia Chang and Julie Zhan. They created something fun around an amazing niche idea – selling boba teas and drinks – and have been rewarded for it with success. We hope to do the same in the travel space! Instagram: @TripChaserFacebook: @TripChaserGameTikTok: @TripChaser Share your story! Check out our Advice + Tips for entrepreneurs starting-upWatch our latest videosSubscribe to our podcast

Game Development

A Travel-Centric Card Game for Competitive Globetrotters

The Story Exchange

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