Triplica

by:  Rev. James G.W. Fisher - Editor / Product Evaluation Specialist | The Toy Man®

Product Evaluation Summary Date:  02/01/2010

In Triplica, players compete by placing cards down to line up three of the shapes in a row to match their secret goal. The first player to score five goals wins the game. Triplica can also be played as a solitaire game where all 36 goals must be scored using a single pass through the Play Cards deck.

   Evaluation Summary - Category Ratings

	Critical Evaluation Information These icons represent important attributes with which this product / service is associated, contributes to, or encourages development of. Select any of the unique icons below to learn more about the specific attribute it represents.

	Trade Industry Sales Types Industry Memberships Wholesale  Retail  Reseller  Online

	Safety / Quality Classifications

CE Marked	UL Approved	JPMA Certified
	(Not Applicable)	(Not Applicable)
ASTM Compliant	eco-Friendly	eco-Conscious
(Not Applicable)

CPSIA Compliant	Independent Lab Tested	Independent Lab Name
	(Unconfirmed)	Specialized Technology Re
LeadSafe™ - Surface Coatings/Paint (Complies with 16 CFR 1303/CPSIA 101)	LeadSafe™ - Content / Substrates (Complies with CPSIA 101)	PhthalatesSafe™ (Complies with CPSIA 108)
		(Not Applicable)

BPASafe™ (Complies with CPSI EN71)	Soluble Heavy Metals (Complies with ASTM F963/CPSIA 106)	Mechanical/Physical (Complies with ASTM F963/CPSIA 106)
Flammability - Solids/Textiles (Complies with 16 CFR 1500.44/CFR 1610)	Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials (Complies with ASTM-4236/16 CFR 1500.14(b)(8) )	iWatchDog™ Approved (Complies with ICCS™ Certification Standards)

There are games which people just play a few times then are tossed into the closet, and then there are games which are absolutely fascinating and motivate a player to develop an unrivaled strategy to beat.  Triplica is one of those games which takes game Play to a new level of experience. Triplica accomplishes this by rousing a player's competitive nature to develop an inimitable strategy to solve a challenge in their game Play. 

As explained in the introduction, when playing Triplica, players compete by placing cards down to line up three of the shapes in a row to match their secret goal. The first player to score five goals wins the game. Triplica can also be played as a solitaire game where all 36 goals must be scored using a single pass through the Play Cards deck and this is just the start.

One of the first things which we identified besides the fact of it being a game which is NOT designed to cater to the interest of a specific niche of interest and use. Triplica can be used in a vast variety of applications which include consumer recreation, educational application, and Special Needs therapy use, just to name a few. With cards which have a higher grade of thickness than many other card games on the market today, Triplica game cards are designed to withstand an extensive period of Play and wear and tear in general from its portability.

"Absolutely stimulating!" That statement came from a gent from our UK office who was visiting with us during the evaluation of Triplica and other products. He is generally quite reserved and tends to express comments of such nature quite seldom. We were all caught by surprise by his unexpected statement; a powerful validation to confirm our own opinions and evaluation results.

Often times, "Play" is recognized as recreation activity but in this case it is so much more in relation to games. With Triplica you have a game that goes beyond the idea of being a "hybrid" game for Play, (applicable to home and educational use). With Triplica we discovered that is great for use in parties as an ice-breaker. As we stated earlier, it can also be used as an alternative to the traditional game of Solitaire and this is just the start.

As you will read in the excerpts from our independent evaluators, Triplica is not just another quality gameit crosses multiple boundaries of application and functionality, well beyond what the average recreational game may be able to establish.

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Independent Evaluator Reports

Obtaining An Independent Perspective...

In this section we will cover "Triplica" from the perspective of an individual who is qualified to provide an extensive analysis of Triplica in his own evaluation. He is a top level industry professional who know his stuff and has the credentials to prove it.

Our professional and independent evaluator has formed his own opinions from extensive analysis and produced a detailed, in-depth product evaluation report connected with his study and evaluation of Triplica. The information to follow is comprised of excerpts from that same report which have been paraphrased in order to encapsulate the primary points of Triplica, presented in a more easy to understand format.

PRODUCT: Triplica MEDIA PLATFORM: Non-Traditional Card Game MEDIA CONTRIBUTION: Skill Development & Improvement / Encouragement of Recreational Play PLAY TIME: Group - Avg. 15 minutes  Individual: Variable TARGET AGE GROUP: 7 years and up

"Although Triplica is a game which is designed for players 7 years and up, the symbols which have been incorporated into the game narrative also serve well in the pre-primary to primary level age group. The Triplica cards can be applied as flash cards or other use for development of a learning method.  More to point of validation, I introduced Triplica into therapy with a group of SN chilren ages 5-9 years of age. There was a dramatic shift in their response, activity, and attention span while the physical therapist and I studied their level of comprehension with the use of the game. This study was over a short term of 3 days yet still produced a substantial measure of results for our study.

Triplica incites the use of inductive and deductive reasoning in the process of the development of strategies to leverage an advantage in each game. Just as in geometry, inductive and deductive reasoning are used to establish an assumption of the next logical step to bring it to an intended conclusion.  This demonstrates an intended or unintended educational influence."

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Consumer Hands-On Evaluation

Nothing is more powerful than hands-on experience by a consumer with a product when it is being evaluated. Based upon that fact we put every single product we evaluate at the mercy of consumers in a hands-on evaluation where anything goes. Shall we see how "Triplica" was seen with consumers?

Triplica was part of a consumer hands-on evaluation performed in a number of busy public areas in the Los Angeles Downtown area, along with generous number of other products. This included a Senior living facility and a pre- school. Having several products available for consumer evaluation all at once provides a more well balanced and unbiased evaluation of the products. Many of them had two or three copies available to provide a larger base of opportunity for consumer evaluation yet Triplica managed to pull plenty its share of the attention and fun.

It was a unique experience for us with Triplica with this portion of our evaluation. The objective of our consumer hands-on evaluation is to not only have consumers give feedback on products, but have a generous number of people having experience with the products. The challenge which occurred was that the consumers wanted to play Triplica repeatedly.  Our challenge was to get the people who were playing the game repeatedly to allow others to join in on the next game or relinquish the game to others to play.

The situation with the desire to replay the game again and again provided very solid and uncontestable evidence of the value of the game right there in itself.   Another important point which buyers will find of interest is how virtually all feedback forms from the consumers made mention of how the game reminded them of dominoes, making matches and seeking the most of them.  Along with that, it was also stated how the players felt a familiarization with the game even though it was just being released.

In completion of the reviewing the feedback forms which the participants filled out, we had such great enjoyment reading the variety of comments from each of the hands-on evaluation participants who played Triplica. There was more than sufficient evidence of positive response on the feedback forms to demonstrate Triplica proving itself worth our time to bring it to this hands-on evaluation event, it passed this segment of evaluation without hindrance.

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A Sampling Of Category Ratings

A small sampling of the individual category titles & rating scores from the complete product review itself for this product are featured here. The categories which have been selected to be featured in this product evaluation summary for public view, specify some of the primary points of how and why that specific rating score was reached.

• If a product is inducted, a product evaluation summary of the complete review is published for public view.
• When a score has been assigned to a category rating, it has been through a thorough validation process to ensure accuracy and no inflection of bias.
• If a product scores an overall category evaluation rating average of [2] Two Stars or lower from the complete review results, it fails the evaluation and is not inducted.
• Information for products which do not pass our evaluation is confidential and is shared only with the company submitting the product.
  

The Featured Category Ratings for this Product Evaluation Summary are listed below.

CREATIVE AGENDA: Rating Level - [5]

* Creative Agenda - The Creative Agenda of a player represents what the player hopes to achieve by way of exploration in their game experience.

The creative agenda that results by game Play with Triplica is powerful and quite stimulating to the players. While the game may seem quite simple at a glance, be advised that if you sit down to play a game of Triplica by yourself, much like solitaire, or to face an opponent or opponents, don't be expecting to be playing just one game. The logical progression of the creative agenda creates a level of challenge that literally becomes addictive.

The playing cards each have their own unique combination of shapes and come in a random succession in the decks.  This elemental challenge causes a player to be constantly at odds with each new card they play which might just have the shapes their opponent is looking for to win.  To take the challenge further, one single card has the potential to create multiple wins at one time from there being more than one set of shapes matching three in a row at one time.

As we went over the notes, reports, and videotapes, we established that Triplica comes through to the finish with a perfect score of [5] stars in the category for CREATIVE AGENDA.

FUNFACTOR™: Rating Level - [5]

Triplica pulled its weight without question in the category for FunFactor™.   In all scenarios where Triplica was put into Play for our evaluation, a very strong level of competitive Pay developed and the players engaged themselves in far more than one game.  The FunFactor™ was very prevalent and demonstrated the positive effect of playing Triplica.

In reviewing all of our videotapes, feedback forms, and reports pertaining to evaluation of Triplica we could see that during all phases of its evaluation, FunFactor™ was a common element associated with the game.  Triplica pulled a prefect score of [5] stars in this category for FUNFACTOR™.

GAME STRUCTURE: Rating Level - [4]

Triplica has a simple game structure with a minimal learning curve. Each segment of the game design follows a very clear and logical progression of completion from one segment to the next.  A player is driven to develop constantly evolving strategies and continue to compete, having plenty of fun doing it. The structure of the game maintains the attention of the player quite well while at the same time stimulating the player's desire to come back for more whether they win or lose the game.

Although the factors referenced above are well above average in the game structure of Triplica, the design isn't strong enough to take it to a perfect score in this category. Granted it is well above average which is a respectable accomplishment, yet the factors needed to bring in a perfect score in any category are just not there.

It was tough to not allow personal opinion to be a part of the final scoring of Triplica, yet our evaluation guidelines are designed to maintain a solid and unquestionable scoring in each category.   Triplica falls short of a perfect score by a single digit and moves in smoothly with a score of [4] Stars in this evaluation category for GAME STRUCTURE.

MARKETABILITY: Rating Level - [4]

We took a different approach with Triplica in judging its level of Marketability and took it to a number of retailers in 3 different states to get some feedback on the game.  We showed them our feedback from consumers and then asked,  if their store carried card games such as this, is Triplica a game they would give serious consideration of carrying.  They all replied probably or possibly. The only downside was that neither the person we were speaking to was either just a manager for a store chain, or the actual owner was unavailable. We at least did document the positive reply to our query by all persons we spoke to.

Based upon all of our videotapes, reports, consumer feedback, and our own in-house evaluation, our results conclude that Triplica has incredible potential in regard to a strong marketability level.  Based upon our evaluation findings we feel that Triplica can be an outstanding investment for buyers.  In our opinion, time will determine the full measurement of value, not a short term evaluation. 

Taking all of the evaluation factors and results into consideration, Triplica scores well above average yet falls short of a perfect score by a single digit.  Triplica pulls through the gates with a final score of [4] stars in this category for MARKETABILITY.

NARRATIVE PROGRESSION: Rating Level - [5]

Narrative progression is a vital part of the design structure of a quality card game design. In the design of a card game, it is of the utmost importance to maintain a smooth transition in the narrative or flow of the game. This means taking on the challenge of maintaining the attention of the player while at the same time delivering cards with content which will stimulate a player's desire to continue or repeat Play with the game.

Triplica raises the bar in reference to narrative progression with a structure of random challenge and strategy. Having the factor of random challenge in the progressive Play of the game adds substantially to a greater level of strategic Play and response. Triplica pulls a perfect score of [5] Stars in the category for NARRATIVE PROGRESSION.

RESPONSE LEVEL: Rating Level - [5]

In regard to response level, Triplica was a solid hit.  Response level in a card game is measured by visible emotions and body language displayed by the players while playing the game. Triplica triggers a very strong response with the players from the competitive spirit which develops. 

In reviewing all of our videotapes, feedback forms, and reports pertaining to evaluation of the game, we could see that Triplica creates plenty of excitement and a very solid level of response.  Triplica pulled a prefect score of [5] stars in this category for RESPONSE LEVEL™.

EVALUATION RESULTS - From evaluation for induction into "The Toy Man® Product Guide"
Overall Rating:  4	Seal of Approval: Approved	eco-Recognition™ Seal: Approved	Award of Excellence: Not Eligible	eChoice™ Award: Selected

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