The Dutch have a saying: “Achter de wolken schijnt de zon.” Roughly speaking, it means “Behind the clouds, the sun is shining.” Which certainly proved to be the case for Cincinnati-based soap manufacturer Noah McVicker back in 1956…

Now, you may already know the name Noah McVicker. He’s widely acknowledged as the inventor of Play-Doh. In fact, though, Noah invented his pliable putty in the 1930s for just one reason… To help people dab soot off their wallpaper! Simply called Wall Cleaner, this idea did pretty well for Kutol Products, founded in 1912.

By the 1950s, though, many American homes had cleaner fuels and vinyl-based wallpaper. As a result, Kutol Wall Cleaner became an uncherished memory… Discontinued and not much missed! Indeed, Kutol itself soon teetered on the edge of bankruptcy. To help turn things around, Noah brought on board his nephew – Joseph McVicker. And this is where we meet the real hero of the story: Joseph’s sister-in- law, Kathryn ‘Kay’ Schwindt Zufall. As a nursery-school teacher, Kay read a magazine article on how teachers were using the putty as a craft toy. Curious, Kay took a tin to work and watched her class fashion the product into decorations. She then told her extended family about this extraordinary repurposing…

So while there’s no doubt that Noah invented the original compound, selling it as a toy was Kay’s idea. What’s more, it was Kay and her husband that suggested calling the new toy ‘Play-Doh’. Both Noah and Joe greatly preferred the name Kutol’s Rainbow Modeling Compound. Fortunately, the better name won out when Noah and Joe founded Rainbow Crafts Incorporated in 1956.

They began selling gallon-sized cans of Play-Doh to schools in blue, red and yellow. And so it was that the McVickers began to see the sun behind the clouds… Soon after that, the team invited TV personality Bob Keeshan to use Play-Doh on his show in exchange for a 2% take of the sales. Keeshan – better known as Captain Kangaroo – featured the product up to three times a week. This marketing masterstroke put Play-Doh on the map… And it’s really never been off the map since.

MOMENTS THAT SHAPED PLAY-DOH

1956
An Imagination Icon is Born
A happy accident changes play forever when a wallpaper cleaner becomes a tool for creative exploration. A new era of hands-on creativity is born.

1960
The Fun Factory Launches a Movement
The Fun Factory, Play-Doh’s first playset, redefines what it means to create something from your imagination. The extruder’s colourful ribbons and shapes create an experience… Not just a compound.

1979
Doctor Drill ‘n’ Fill Becomes a Playtime Classic
A playful twist on dentistry, Doctor Drill ‘n’ Fill merges design ingenuity and tactile fun. Decades on, it remains one of the brand’s most iconic playsets.

1986
The Yellow Can Becomes an Icon
With its bright hue and bold typography, the yellow Play- Doh can instantly becomes a design classic. Beyond packaging, it represents optimism, creativity and the joyful chaos of play…

1998
Hall of Fame Induction
Play-Doh is enshrined in the National Toy Hall of Fame! This isn’t just recognition of its nostalgic value… It’s also an acknowledgment of the brand’s impact.

2024
Confirming the Power of Imagination
The brand’s Imagination Research Initiative study shows how creative, tactile play helps children develop problem-solving, emotional expression and confidence.

2025 – 2026
Imagination in Motion
In 2025, Play-Doh expands through impactful licensing. Partnerships include a Disney Junior line for young children. Meanwhile, Play-Doh Barbie sets let older kids design imaginative fashions.

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SituAction’s Nic Jones looks at how the next great toy success story could begin not with a pitch, but with a post.

For decades, bringing a new idea to life in toys and games as an inventor followed a familiar route: invent, pitch, license, wait. Success depended on gatekeepers who decided which ideas reached the shelves. But something remarkable is happening that’s starting to change all of that.

The rise of social commerce is creating a direct path from creator to consumer, bypassing many of the traditional barriers that have defined the industry. For inventors and designers, it’s opening a world where creativity, community, and commerce can merge inside a single feed.

From Pitch Deck to TikTok Shop
By 2030, global social commerce is forecast to exceed $8 trillion (Yahoo! Finance). TikTok Shop alone generated $26 billion in sales in just the first half of 2025, a 136% year-on-year increase. That’s not a passing trend. It’s a fundamental shift in how audiences discover and buy products. Instead of seeing something in a shop window or scrolling an e-commerce site, people are now encountering ideas through stories, videos and communities. In short: social media is no longer just where fans hang out, it’s where they shop.

For inventors, this isn’t about turning into influencers. It’s about understanding that the same platforms used to showcase creativity can now be used to sell it. A creator can now prototype, showcase and even sell directly to their audience. The implications are exciting – lower barriers to entry, instant feedback and creative freedom.

Practical First Steps
If you’re curious about diving in, here are a few ways to start exploring social commerce as a creator:

1. Choose your platform wisely: TikTok is the most advanced in social shopping integration, but Instagram and YouTube are catching up fast. Pick one platform and get to know its tools from TikTok Shop to Instagram Checkout.

2. Share your process: Behind-the-scenes content is gold. Show how you design, prototype or test your ideas. People love to see creativity in motion, it’s what makes your work human and relatable.

3. Focus on storytelling, not selling: The best-performing social commerce content doesn’t feel like an advert. It’s about showing the why behind your idea. The sale happens naturally when the audience connects emotionally.

4. Partner with others: Work with creators who already speak to your target audience. A maker, collector or educator might present your product in ways that feel authentic to their followers.

5. Start small and iterate: You don’t need a huge launch. Test a few videos, track what resonates and build from there. The beauty of social commerce is how quickly you can learn and adapt.

The Bigger Picture: Fans as Retailers
The most exciting part of social commerce isn’t just that creators can sell directly, it’s that fans can become part of the sales ecosystem too. TikTok’s affiliate features, for instance, let other users earn commission for promoting your product. Imagine a network of micro-influencers each showcasing your design to their niche audiences. Instead of one big campaign, you have a hundred small advocates, each genuinely invested in your idea.

The Future Is Already in the Feed
Walk through any major toy retailer today and you’ll still see plenty of licensed products and traditional lines. But scroll through TikTok or YouTube Shorts, and you’ll see something else: small, creative makers building brands from their living rooms. These aren’t competitors to the industry, they’re its future. They represent the new front door to innovation, where ideas grow directly from fan culture and community engagement.

The next big toy brand might not emerge from a boardroom or a trade show pitch, but from a viral moment that connects deeply with an audience. And the creator who understands how to harness that connection could find themselves not just designing products, but building movements.

A Call to the Creative Community
Social commerce isn’t replacing creativity; it’s amplifying it. It gives designers, inventors and makers a new toolkit to bring ideas to life and connect directly with fans. For Mojo Nation’s community, the message is clear: Don’t wait for permission to reach your audience. The platforms are already there, the tools are accessible, and the appetite for authentic, creative products has never been stronger.

Start sharing. Start testing. Collaborate widely. Because the next great success story could begin not with a pitch, but with a post.

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Making Things Studio’s Fi Murray on why today’s sizzle reels need to do much more than dazzle…

Today, a successful pitch must address a complex ecosystem of decision-makers. To actually get a product made and sold, a sizzle reel needs to do much more than dazzle… It needs to dismantle doubt – in the most fun way possible! – across the entire organisation.

We kick off every sizzle with insight. Before a potential licensee sees a single frame of the invention, I want them to understand the why. What is the commercial reason for this thing to exist? If the receiver agrees with the insight, the concept lands easier.

When the narrative satisfies an entire business, it can align teams, remove friction and make the collective “yes” significantly easier to achieve. The structure is simple: the start forms the commercial backbone, speaking to the business, and then we flow into the innovation – often as if a consumer is watching it. Almost like it’s a TikTok.

We try to always remember that the sizzle is an asset that travels well beyond the in-person or virtual pitch, when we’re not there to defend or offer further explanation… It could be forwarded in an email, played in boardrooms, shared on slack, watched over Zoom or viewed on someone’s phone as they dash to the airport. By ensuring the sizzle speaks to everyone, we essentially plant a salesperson in every department.

Admittedly, this approach means our sizzles tend to sit at about 120 seconds versus the often requested 45 seconds… But I promise they’re not a yawn fest! Every bite is there for a reason, hopefully paced and delivered in a way that activates emotions in every recipient.

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The Plan A Group’s Lee Allentuck shares his top tips for staying ‘creatively fit’.

Here’s the thing no one wants to admit… You’re not born creative. You become creative. And like any muscle, you only  get stronger if you’re willing to feel a little uncomfortable, a little clumsy and a little ‘Who am I to be doing this?’ along the way.

I learned this recently when I started playing the drums. And let me be clear: I was awful. Not ‘give him time’ awful. I mean painfully, embarrassingly off-beat awful. My hands and my brain were actively refusing to work together. Every session felt like a reminder of everything I didn’t know…

But here’s what most people forget: every terrible attempt was a rep. Slow, awkward, humbling reps. And the more I showed up, the less horrible I became. Not great. Not perfect. Just less horrible. And that was enough to keep going.

That’s creativity. Not the polished idea you pitch. Not the prototype that actually works. Not the moment the room lights up. Creativity lives in the messy middle: the ugly drafts, the weird experiments, the misfires, the ‘try again.’

Right now, in a moment when our industry is demanding faster innovation, sharper ideas and constant reinvention, creative stamina matters more than ever. If you work in toys, games, licensing or invention, you already know the pressure: retailers want newness, audiences want surprise and teams are being asked to deliver at a pace that feels impossible. Let’s not even talk about costing…

The only way to keep up is to stay creatively fit. So here’s my simple, no-BS guide to building your creative muscle:

• Practise often. Draw, write, drum, build, carve wood, blow glass, brainstorm, play – anything that forces your brain out of autopilot.

• Expect most of it to suck. 99.8% of creative output is rough, incomplete or unusable. That’s not failure. That’s conditioning.

• Iterate relentlessly. Don’t fall in love with the first version of anything. Twist it, stretch it, break it, rebuild it… In our world, iteration is how ideas sharpen and how good concepts become great ones.

• Share ideas early. A trusted collaborator can help you see angles you missed and push your thinking further.

• Don’t quit when it feels slow. Momentum comes after discipline – never before.

Creativity isn’t a lightning bolt. It’s the daily decision to show up, even when you feel offbeat, out of sync or full of doubt. Keep showing up. Strength comes from the reps.

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David Blanchard – Director of Party & Family Games at The Op Games – looks at why engaging with inventors beyond the licensing moment can really pay off.

After building a reputation in the industry as the company that “does more with less (SKUs)”, 2026 is going to be the largest slate of original IP that The Op has ever brought to market.

As the success we were having with Tapple, Telestrations, Hues & Cues, Blank Slate and Flip 7 started to snowball, so did retailer demand for more new products. And while our amazingly talented internal creative and development teams have repeatedly proven their ability to churn out incredible work, bandwidth is bandwidth. There’s a cap to what you can expect from your internal resources.

Knowing that we needed all hands-on deck to bring these items to market – and knowing how passionate the inventor community is about their creations – we made a concerted effort to get the inventors of games we license into the fold as much as possible. Whether that was helping us generate additional content for a game, playtesting rule changes, collaborating on the engineering of a custom component, or simply writing an inventor’s note at the end of the instruction sheet… Their additional involvement was a win-win for both parties.

In fact, a few of our new games coming out in 2026 come to mind that we might not have been able to bring to market had we siloed the workload and shut out the inventors.

Hummingbirds by Jason Tremblay
This is arguably the most beautiful game I’ve worked on in my 20-year career – both in the way it looks and in the elegance and simplicity of the game mechanics. But the prototype, despite being meticulously made, included a substantial, complex component that was unintuitive for the customer to build and wouldn’t fit the retail box size we needed. Jason went above and beyond by reengineering the design and construction multiple times until we were finally able to deliver a finished product that’s even better than I ever could have dreamed.

Cat’s Knocking Things Off Ledges by Sen-Foong Lim & David Killing
The prototype we received was so well-designed, so well-constructed, and so meticulously thought-out that it was virtually ready to go into production right out of the gate. Obviously, the creative team loved that the lift was easier on this one – however, we really loved that we were able to bring a final product to market so close to the inventors’ original vision. This is an excellent example of when inventors take a risk by putting in the extra work to have entirely written rules, invest in close-to-finished art and confidently make a bet on the theme – success with this approach is not guaranteed, of course. Still, that risk really paid off in this case.

Red or Yellow by Sasha Jelten
This is going to sound like a dig, but I assure you it’s not… Sasha pitched us what might be one of the worst-looking prototypes we’ve ever seen. Cards were handwritten in Sharpie, with crossed-out words, misspellings and grammar issues – and included some pretty terrible hand-drawn scribbles. However, this was absolutely the best way to pitch this particular type of game! It was dripping with authenticity and charm, thanks to the hand-made prototype’s juxtaposition with the realness of the gameplay experience. In fact, it was so effective that we asked Sasha to handwrite additional content for the game as we worked tirelessly to reproduce the prototype’s imperfections in our final production art. This intentional so-bad-it’s-good art direction will definitely stand out on the shelf once it hits stores in Q4-2026.

In the end, we can totally understand why some companies may license an item from an inventor and never talk to them after the contract is signed and “the cheque’s in the mail.” And sure, the licensee always needs the freedom to finish developing the product however they desire, based on retail opportunities, industry trends, and general experience… But why not tap into the passion and creativity of the person who came up with the original idea in the first place?

More often than not, that inventor has several other hidden talents up their sleeve that your team might be able to utilise. You never know, they could become the most valuable collaborator (MVC?) for that particular product in addition to already being its biggest ambassador!

Thank you to all of the inventors we have worked with over the years, regardless of your varying levels of involvement – without you, The Op wouldn’t be where we are today.

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There’s almost nothing more exciting than experiencing a eureka moment: that gleam of light that flashes across the mind from within and precedes the mother of all ideas… But afterwards, a new challenge – frequently a greater one – faces the inventor: how do you license the concept? What to do next deserves considerable thought and reflection. This step should not be taken lightly.

My name is Richard C Levy. I’ve been creating, developing and licensing new toy and game concepts for more than 45 years. I particularly enjoy sharing with other inventors what I’ve learned, not about creativity but about how to license intellectual property. Here are some do’s and don’ts to keep in mind if you wish to license your concept in hopes of starting a royalty stream.

Do’s…
Do a patent search. Make sure your idea can be protected and doesn’t infringe an existing patent. If you go through a law firm for a search, it will be much more expensive than hiring a patent searcher yourself.

The law firm will step on the fee charged by its patent searcher. This could cost you two or three times the cost of going direct. Here in the US, I use Greentree Information Services. It’s been in business since 1991; owned and operated by George Harvill. You can email George via ghgreentree@gmail.com.

Do your homework on potential licensees. Match your concept with a company’s product profile and capabilities.

Do market research. Know your target market, how to reach it, and what need your concept fills.

Do network! Get business references, especially from other inventors who have licensed items to prospective licensees.

Do ask questions. Asking dumb questions is easier than correcting dumb mistakes.

Do honest presentations. Nothing astonishes like the truth. Flaunt it.

Do trust yourself and your instincts. They can be anchors in a storm.

Do take risks. The biggest risk is not taking one.

Do learn to take rejection. The finest steel goes through the hottest fire.

Do look at the big picture. Frequently, you may have to trade off short term security for long term goals.

Don’ts
Don’t hire up-front fee invention marketing services. Most are confidence schemes; carrion birds that feed on innocent and unsuspecting inventors.

Don’t think companies are out to rip you off. There are two kinds of newbie inventors: the paranoid and the more paranoid.

Don’t fear signing an NDA. Sign whatever’s fair.

Don’t be deterred because the opposition seems too great. You’ll miss 100% of the shots you do not take.

Don’t turn technical disagreements into civil wars. Where elephants fight grass will not grow.

Don’t take yourself too seriously. Keep your ego under control.

Don’t think you need to make every deal. Sell-itis can be hazardous to your mental health – and your invention.

Don’t bring up the artillery until you bring up the ammunition. Get your act together before you make a pitch.

Don’t pitch ideas… Present ‘looks-like/works-like’ prototypes, or proofs of concept. Support these with technical and marketing data.

Don’t be nervous. Trust yourself. Most of this process is common sense.

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Richard C. Levy, founder and president of Richard C. Levy & Associates, LLC., is toy industry veteran. In his 45-year career, he’s licensed more than 100 concepts, including the phenomenally successful Furby which has sold more than 75 million units. Richard co-authored The Toy and Game Inventor’s Handbook, which Forbes recognised as one of the 33 Best Books recommended by Shark Tank entrepreneurs. You can buy a copy here.

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How many positive words can you think of that start sn? There’s snug, snooze, snack, snazzy… Without adapting those, can you quickly get three more?

Chances are the answer’s no. That’s because words starting sn force you to give a tiny sneer! As a result, sn mostly starts unpleasant words: snot, snarl, snag, snitch, snake…

For that reason, words that start sn are quite rare in game rules. There are, though, dozens of much worse words that are far more common. They waste space and send the reading age rocketing. Here are just ten of them…

GAME
Of all the wasteful words in rules, game is the most inane. Objective of the Game. Setting Up the Game. Playing the Game. Winning the Game… People aren’t morons; they know what they’re playing! So why keep writing it? Why waste the whitespace?

OBJECTIVE
This kind of over-hard word subtly raises the reading age. Just say aim.

OF THE
You often see of the chewing up space as in the first sentence below. If you use an apostrophe and swap things around a little, it uses less space – and breath:

So! Now you know I don’t care for the words game, objective, or of the… Just imagine how I feel when rules start: Objective of the Game!

RULES or INSTRUCTIONS
Who wants to obey rules? Or take instructions? Neither word sounds fun! Most of the time, I suggest How to Play.

WILL
The word will always makes actions feel less lively and more distant. Where you can, drop it and add an S to the verb it affects. As soon as you do, your writing will improve… Or rather: as soon as you do, your writing improves. Here’s an example, taken from the BANANAGRAMS strapline:

THAT
Take a look at something that you’ve written. Search for the word that. Now… Does it need to be there? If you’re writing in a relaxed tone, you can often lose it. The first sentence here proves the point:

TAKE then PUT
Humour me, would you? Put your finger on this green dot and count to three.

Now, whether you did it or not, how did you find my request? Clear? If so, you’ll know why I didn’t waste Mojo’s ink or your time by saying:

Take your finger, put it on the black dot and count to three

When you see certain words in a sentence, take is rarely needed. These words include put, position, give, present and show. The same edit also gets rid of other fluff: a comma perhaps, or words like and, the and it, as here:

That’s because putting things requires you to have them… Which means there’s rarely a need to write take, then put.

So… That’s just ten of the 101 words I like to avoid in rules. No one of them sounds like much on its own… In fact, I’m often asked if these things really matter. My answer’s always the same: it depends! Do you think buyers actually WANT long, cramped rules that are harder to read? You can read more about why writing the right rules matters here.

As it happens, when you add them up, these little tweaks not only lose about a third of the overall text… They also lower the reading age and free up whitespace for advertising.

And that’s not to be sniffed, sniped or sneered at!

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Gurdeep Bains – Global Creative Director at YuMe Toys – reveals what fuels the company’s creativity… And why it’s always about the fans.

At YuMe Toys, we live and breathe fandom. Every brand we touch – from anime icons to global entertainment juggernauts – is one we’re genuinely passionate about. And that passion runs through the whole company. Whether in design, packaging, sales or marketing, YuMe is stacked with people who geek out over the same comics, games, and shows our fans adore.

That’s why every new product starts with immersion. We don’t just skim the surface of an IP; we dive in headfirst. We binge the series, play the game, pore over the lore – all to understand the emotional hooks that make fans fall in love with these worlds. That fan-first mindset drives every decision, from sculpt and stylization to materials and packaging.

Our recent Stranger Things Upside Down Capsules Series 3 is a great example. We didn’t just design collectibles – we built an entire experience that lets fans feel like they’ve stepped inside Hawkins, using Morse Code clue cards and walkie-talkie-inspired capsules that double as both role-play devices and display cases.

Different products unlock different fan experiences. A chibi-style keyring becomes a subtle badge of belonging. A plush delivers that irresistible squish-factor, turning a favourite character into a comforting, huggable friend. And a capsule – like the Stranger Things Series 3 range – can transform unboxing into an adventure. Fans aren’t just opening packaging; they’re solving puzzles, guessing characters, and immersing themselves in the world before that final reveal. Whatever the format, our rule is simple: be true to the character, and fans will feel it.

Quality matters too. Fans can tell when something feels special. That’s why we push materials and finishes to elevate every piece. For Hello Kitty & Friends, we chose epoxy to give our keychains a premium tactile feel. For Stranger Things, we upgraded the walkie-talkie packaging with a larger tray box to command attention on shelf – because we know collectors value presence as much as detail. Every sticker, every accessory, every diorama card was designed to reward fans and have their favourite characters front and centre of the experience.

But we don’t create in a vacuum. Fans fuel our process every step of the way. We listen to conversations across forums, social channels, and collector communities – and we act on that insight. Stranger Things capsules Series 1 and 2 became best-sellers because fans embraced them, shared them, and built communities around the hunt. Series 3 builds on that legacy with fresh characters, new poses, and more interactive details – all directly informed by fan love. If fans are talking, sharing, and celebrating a YuMe product, that’s success. It means we’ve captured lightning in a bottle.

Our creativity is also powered by our people. With designers and illustrators spanning the UK, Hong Kong, Canada, and the US, we’re a true global melting pot. Different cultures, styles, and experiences collide daily – sparking ideas around the clock. That 24/7 energy means YuMe can respond faster, innovate quicker, and keep pace with the ever-evolving trends fans care about. It’s how we can launch something like Stranger Things Series 3 just as excitement peaks around the show’s fifth and final season – a perfect moment for fans and retailers alike.

We’re also fearless about breaking new ground. Our award-winning Netflix Gift Box showed we could disrupt categories, and our Stranger Things Series 3 Capsules prove how far we can take that spirit. By weaving gameplay, mystery, and collectability into one design, we’re giving fans more than a product – we’re giving them a story they can hold in their hands.

At YuMe, everything comes back to one thing: fans. Their passion fuels ours, their creativity inspires ours, and their joy validates ours. With fandom at the heart of product development, the future of YuMe is about continuing to surprise, excite, and celebrate the worlds fans love most.

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A good number of years ago, a stage performer angrily accused a client of mine – and, by extension, me – of stealing an idea for a promo photo. Why? Because we had unknowingly put out an image that looked passingly similar to theirs… And nothing we subsequently said could dent their absolute conviction that we were thieves first and liars second.

Eventually, we sent them a date-stamped file that outright proved we’d taken our photo first. While this did earn us a begrudging apology, I was still left exhausted and stunned. Why would anyone presume people to be liars and thieves before even considering other explanations?

Fortunately, people that think this way seem pretty rare in toys and games. If you cross paths with one, though, buckle up! They may have what psychologists call Hostile Attribution Bias. This means they’re prone to interpreting ambiguous words or actions as hostile or negative… Even when there’s very little or no evidence to support that interpretation.

Unfortunately, it’s very unlikely that they’ll be aware that they’re doing this. It’s a subconscious act; it’s part of their automatic worldview. Why do they do it? Opinion is divided: to some psychologists, Hostile Attribution Bias appears to be part of a defence mechanism: if you assume the absolute worst of everyone you ever meet, you’ll rarely be disappointed by them! In that respect, it’s a rather tragic thought…

However, others feel there’s another explanation… That those with Hostile Attribution Bias are unknowingly projecting their own traits onto others. In other words, if a person’s knee-jerk reaction is to accuse you of stealing an idea, it’s possible that they themselves are the kind of person that would steal ideas! The issue isn’t limited to ideation, of course. If a person is quick to believe that you’re two-faced, dishonest or passive aggressive, it’s possible that they possess those attributes. In other words, they imagine others are behaving as they might behave.

So: are there any telltale traits that suggest you’re dealing with someone with Hostile Attribution Bias? Yes and no! I’m going to suggest some below, but with an important caveat… I would never use this label to explain someone’s actions based on a one-off incident. It’s far fairer, kinder and wiser to give people the benefit of the doubt until one sees a cluster of related behaviours, or a repeated pattern of them.

With all that said, here are some of the traits that could be signs of a person exhibiting Hostile Attribution Bias. Again, I must stress that I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions if I once saw one of these behaviours… But people with Hostile Attribution Bias tend to:

Interpret neutral or innocuous actions as having negative intentions.
If you saw two people speaking quietly at a water cooler, for example, you wouldn’t automatically assume they were talking unkindly about you, would you? Someone exhibiting a Hostile Attribution Bias probably would.

Complain – disproportionally often – that someone has wronged them.
Since they often feel that others are acting against them, they tend not to give people the benefit of the doubt. This is a significant red flag if you know the third-party in the story… And the tale seems incongruent with their behaviour.

Express their views of others in aggressive or accusatory ways…
Even in everyday situations, those exhibiting Hostile Attribution Bias have views of the world that border on the paranoid. Consider the difference between these two thoughts:

Be hypervigilant or even paranoid…
Unsurprisingly, those exhibiting Hostile Attribution Bias may seem unable to relax in many situations… Professional and social alike. In extreme cases, it will seem almost paranoid. By way of example, are you reading this and thinking, ‘I wonder if this explains why some people seem so highly strung!’? If so, great! Someone with Hostile Attribution Bias, however, is more likely to be reading it and thinking: “That son of a bitch is talking about me!”

Seem implacable.
Those exhibiting Hostile Attribution Bias tend not to look for, and even reject, conciliation. Even when someone extends an olive branch, they may assume – with some certainty – that it’s a ploy or insincere gesture. Similarly, they tend to rebut alternative explanations for events, even when they come from a neutral party.

Create self-fulfilling prophecies.
If you knew for a fact that people were being hostile towards you, you’d inevitably act oddly around them. But if you only IMAGINE people are being hostile towards you, guess what? You would still act oddly around them! This is the most tragic thing about those with a Hostile Attribution Bias… Eventually, their suspicion, gossip, paranoia and accusations end up creating real feelings of hostility in others.

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“What’s the fastest way to simplify rules?” This is a question that inventors and publishers ask me a lot. And while it’s difficult to give a one-size-fits-all answer, I’ll say this… One of the most common problems in badly written rules is long sentences. That’s because long sentences send the reading age of game rules ROCKETING!

So… I’ve already written a piece on the importance of clear rules here. But long sentences need an article of their own! Why? Because they can be the difference between a child reading rules on their own and needing supervision… They can also cause cramped text, waste advert space – and cause confusion. And how about on the back of your box? There, a long sentence can be the difference selling a game and not selling one!

That being the case, is there a hard and fast rule about ideal sentence length? Not exactly. That’s because you can have a short sentence made up of extremely long words… Or a longer sentence made from much shorter words! My general feeling, though, is that rules should avoid all words of more than three syllables… And sentences should be no more than 15 words long. With all that in mind, here are three ways to write shorter sentences.

Remove adverbs and adjectives
“The road to Hell is paved with adverbs.” So says bestselling author Stephen King. What’s more, writer and philosopher Mark Twain tells us, “When you catch an adjective, kill it!” But what are they on about? Well, an adverb is a word that modifies the meaning of verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. Meanwhile, an adjective is a word you use with a noun to describe it more fully. To illustrate this, here’s a purposefully overwritten sentence. The adverbs are in red. The adjectives are in green.

Just before we remove the two adverbs, I’ll call attention to a helpful fact… They both end with the letters ‘ly’. Adverbs often do! So if you’ve got a long sentence, run your eye along it. Do you see a word that ends ‘ly’? If so, there’s a chance it can come out.

Now, I don’t want to create the impression that the whole of our language is lazing around doing nothing! Adjectives and adverbs can help make writing rich and bouncy. Even so, when you write rules – and space is at a premium – some words aren’t that helpful. For example, this opinion piece is all about shortening sentences. So do I really need to use the word ‘long’ to define the problem?

Similarly, I’m specifically telling you to remove adverbs and adjectives here. Do I need to add colour to the picture by saying ‘pesky’? Also, the last part of the sentence talks about adding words… So what purpose does qualifying them as ‘extra’ serve?! Of course they’re extra! Let’s punch out all of those:

There are more edits that I’d make to that sentence! I don’t think ‘some’ is working particularly hard. Nor is ‘easiest’… And here’s a quick tip: the words, ‘of the’ often waste space… What do they bring to the party here? Not a lot! We can punch them out with an almost effortless tweak… See how much shorter this sentence is compared to the original:

Other ways to shorten sentences…
But what if you’re not crazy about just removing adverbs and adjectives? Then you can consider breaking long sentences in two! You can do that with one of five punctuation marks. Now, your English teacher might have said to end sentences with one of three marks… Specifically: a question mark, exclamation mark or full stop. If so, you might now consider two forgotten options: the interrobang and the ellipsis.

An interrobang?!
The interrobang means using both a question mark and an exclamation mark. Whoever heard of such a thing?! Since the interrobang is really an excited question mark, though, its use is limited. You can only use it in sentences where you ask a surprising and rhetorical question.

Ellipsis…
Far more helpful is an ellipsis. That’s the proper name for three dots that imply a sentence is tailing off. Like this… It lets the reader know that a related thought follows. A lot of people cringe at the idea of using an interrobang or an ellipsis. Discussing this, that mainly seems to be because they were told it was wrong at school. That’s such nonsense; they’re perfectly agreeable in the right place. In fact, they’re incredibly useful. We’ll come back to them shortly. Meanwhile…

Full stop
Remember the kind-of-true rule that says a sentence must have a verb? If so, you can see the logic of this. Any sentence with more than one word that tells you to do something has the potential to break in two. For a real-world example, look at the image below. Ignore the coloured words for the moment.

At some point during this sentence, the writer wants your focus to switch. They move us on from separating cards to putting them somewhere. Now! The fact that there are two different actions here suggests we could make two sentences. How? With a simple full stop! By the way, you can also see exactly where the focus switches. It’s on a type of word called a conjunction. A conjunction simply joins two thoughts together… We don’t want to get bogged down with this, suffice to say conjunctions include:

There are others, but you get the idea. Can you see any of these words in a long sentence? In the example above, I put one in yellow: ‘and’. That might be an easy place to break this in two! Just replace ‘and’ with a full stop… Then capitalise the p in ‘place’:

Here’s another real-world example… And it’s much worse. Brace yourself!

Jesus wept. At 34 words, that’s a truly horrible sentence! To start sorting it out, look for a conjunction. It’s in yellow here: ‘while’… Notice, too, the action words in blue. These refer to people doing things on either side of while: ‘praised’ and ‘decide’. This looks complicated, but it’s actually an easy one. Take out ‘while’ and replace it with a full stop… You’ll still have a miserable bit of copy, but at least it’s in two sentences!

Active vs. passive voice
Now, there are a LOT of other edits I’d make to this. There isn’t room to go into full detail here. Nevertheless, let’s switch it all to the active voice… This sentence is passive: ‘If a child attempts to perform a task without your help, they should be praised.’ Why is it passive? Because it isn’t explicitly clear who should praise the child! How about saying: ‘If a child attempts to perform a task without your help, praise them.’? That sounds better… And loses two more words!

One sentence, one action
When you edit rules, keep in mind that the copy should be telling people what to DO. It makes sense, then, to focus on who is taking which action. The current example is all over the place. People are ‘attempting’, ‘performing’, ‘helping’, ‘praising’, ‘deciding’, ‘working’, ‘helping’ again… And ‘supporting’! It’s just wayyyyyy too much. Again, I don’t have space here to fully explain which redundancies need to go…

Nevertheless, my full rewrite of this sentence is below. You’ll see that it distils things down dramatically. It CLEARLY tells the reader to do ONE thing based on the potential actions of others. As a result, we now have two sentences: one with 11 words and the other with nine. That’s infinitely preferable to the 34-word behemoth with which we started.

The Comma Clue
It’s worth noting that – on some level – many writers know their sentences are too long… That’s why they insert commas: to tell us where to breathe! This is why commas are often quite near conjunctions. But here’s an example of how taking out conjunctions doesn’t always work:

So here, replacing the conjunction ‘as long as’ with a full stop won’t work. Not to worry! It just means that a full stop isn’t the answer in this case. Personally, I’d ask myself: can I handle it with a question mark?

Question Mark
Do you hate people who ask and answer their own questions? I don’t! So I don’t mind breaking up sentences with rhetorical questions either… To help make things clear here, the verbs are in blue above. The conjunction is in yellow. That’s still where I’d break the sentence! So I might suggest the sentence becomes:

Used sparingly, this is a terrific trick. Never mind what your English teacher said… Give it a go!

Ellipses and Exclamation Marks
These work well when sentences carry too much information about the same thing. In the next example, the writer again uses the passive voice. They also give us a comma exactly where we can split the sentence. Take a look at this:

Just switch to the active voice, then replace that comma with an ellipsis… Or an exclamation mark!

So there we go! Three ways to write shorter sentences – with a few extra tips for good measure. If you have any questions about your copy, do feel free to drop me a line.

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