Does it take a rocket scientist to make an independent game company a success? Andy Looney doubts it, but Looney Labs does have that particular criteria covered regardless.
Looney met his wife, Kristen, at Goddard Space Flight Center, where he worked in computer engineering and she in electrical engineering.
Though the pair had successful careers there (Looney helped write some of the software used for the Hubble Telescope servicing missions), the Looney legacy likely will prove to be found elsewhere — in the games he’s designed.
Looney invented his first game while trying his hand at writing a short story. In the futuristic story, the inhabitants sat around playing a game that used pyramid-shaped pieces.
“It was this weird game where you didn’t take turns and there was no board, and there was kind of this whole culture around it — it was the poker of this alternate universe,” Looney said.
The game was published independently as “Ice House” and is now marketed as “Tree House” by Looney Labs, which was officially formed in 1989. The College Park company has just four employees.
Looney Labs’ biggest success is “Fluxx,” a card game with constantly changing rules, which has sold more than 350,000 copies.
The game has many spin-offs, including “Zombie Fluxx,” which will be released by Halloween, and “Family Fluxx,” which can be found in Toys ‘R’ Us. Most games are sold in game shops like Rockville’s Dream Wizards.
“Fluxx” has its share of followers, who read Looney’s blog, Wunderland, and compete intournaments such as one held annually in Columbus. There have even been Fluxx-themed weddings held by devotees, Looney said.
“There’s a magic to Fluxx you can’t put a finger on,” Looney said.
Sometimes it takes Looney months to develop a game, such as “Crononauts,” a time-travel themed card game. Others, like the recent release Twin Win, which uses the “Tree House” pyramid pieces, take weeks; Looney was inspired at Hershey Park to come up with a game that could be played while waiting in line. Lonney’s still trying to get a new card game, “Just Desserts,” ready for sale — he still needs to find an artist to create 80 sumptuous-looking pictures of cakes and cookies.
