ST. PAUL – It took her over a year of continuous work, but St. Paul resident Sue Warholik has completed her board game - SWITCH-Em.
The board game is focused on strategy and chance, according to Warholik. It is a game played by three to four people and lasts around 30 to 40 minutes. It can be played by people of all ages, making it a “great family game.”
To win the game, a player needs to be the first to fill up their token tray entirely in one colour. This is done with cards that dictate “how you play the game,” explains Warholik. “The cards are the brains of the game.”
According to Warholik, the game was inspired from a dream she had the previous year.
“I had a dream and I believe that dream was from God,” says Warholik. “Because in the dream, it was so detailed, and I could see us playing the game and manipulating the game pieces.”
“It was so unique,” she says, recalling her excitement when she woke up and shared it with her husband, as well as her daughter, Dusty, who is currently living in the United States.
Her daughter supported Warholik throughout the creation of SWITCH-Em.
The mom and daughter duo worked together to come up with different ideas, leading to Warholik forming a prototype of the game.
Inspired by her faith, she continued to work on creating the game.
“I thought I got to pursue it [because] I’ve come this far and I can’t just give up.”
She shared her idea with friends and family, looking for “wisdom and guidance along the way.” She admits that it’s been a journey and has found plenty of help along the way.
Many of her family members and friends helped, including when she was looking for both positive and negative critique. “You have to be open to positive and negative critique for it to work,” she notes.
Being open to that constructive criticism has helped with the completion of the game.
Warholik says the journey to creating the game “stretched me out tremendously,” and she learned many things along the way.
“With my age, I never thought I’d be doing this, but it has been a journey.”
