Better Indeed Launches Family Matters, the Get-To-Know-Your-Family-Better Board Game

    BROOKLYN, NY, January 31, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Better Indeed LLC announces the debut and national retail availability of its breakthrough get-to-know-your-family-better board game, Family Matters.

Company founder and game inventor, David Schoenberger, explained his inspiration, "Remember when you were a kid? Mom would open the front door - after making you breakfast - and say, 'Be home for dinner!' as you sprinted out of the house. Seems like another world. Today, breakfast is a rarity and few children go anywhere unsupervised. Families work harder than ever before and enjoy less quality time. The familiarity past generations took for granted is now a distant dream what with everyone being so busy, distracted and exhausted. Family Matters was created to bring familiarity back home."

Introducing Family Matters, the get-to-know-your-family-better board game that puts the fun back into family time by inviting players to share stories, discover family trivia, do funny things and creatively explore "Fake Family Crises" from totally new perspectives. And if that's not enough, the winner gets to embark on his or her own "Weekend Wish" - any reasonable, family-oriented activity proclaimed at the start of the game.

For the price of a pizza dinner or trip to the movies, Family Matters is a family event that can be enjoyed again and again. One aspect of the game that enables inter-family familiarity and genuine empathy is the "Fake Family Crisis" where players, in character, work together to resolve a hypothetical situation not one, but three different ways. "It can be a very enlightening experience," Schoenberger said. "It's a rare opportunity to approach an emotionally-charged situation without the emotionality that comes with the real thing and develop an appreciation for other points-of-view."

Schoenberger explained, "Families are looking for ways to get closer and Family Matters makes it fun and easy. Family Matters playfully and painlessly facilitates self-expression and encourages collaborative conversation among family members. We've been amazed by how helpful families have found this game - all of the product testing really paid off! In addition, to ensure that we continue to meet the needs of engaged families everywhere we've recruited, and take feedback from, an international 'Mom Squad.'"

To play Family Matters (MSRP $24.99, for 2-6 players ages 7 and up) family members and/or good friends each select a colored peg and take a seat (by placing it) in the family car. Each player takes turns driving it through the town, responding to a host of funny, thought-provoking card and Playbook-based questions. Once everybody has driven, the car races toward the finish line (Weekend Wish) to see whose idea of family fun will soon come true.

Child development product expert, Stevanne Auerbach PhD, better known as Dr. Toy (www.drtoy.com) and author of the internationally best-selling book, Smart Play Smart Toys, said, "Family Matters is an innovative game that helps families to relate and communicate better. It is a wonderful new game that will generate greater understanding, a tremendous benefit to all participants - no matter what their age. Family Matters promises to be an exciting and educational game for all families to enjoy."

Assistance in the design of Family Matters was supported by an Emmy Award-winner who worked on TV hits, Doug, Maya and Miguel and Pinky Dinky Doo. The game's construct and questions were reviewed by over a dozen family therapists, child psychologists, and teachers.

"The value of this game continues long after it ends," Schoenberger said. "First, families get to enjoy the winning Weekend Wish. Second, families can refer to their responses in the Family Matters Playbook if ever any of the 140 'Fake' Family Crises become real. Finally, families can use our problem-solving methodology to tackle every day issues."

Family Matters is the game that parents will wish their families played when they were kids. And if you're a kid, you'll be glad yours did.

Family Matters will be on display for demonstration and sales orders at the American International Toy Fair, Booth #977 (Discover Games) in the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City, February 15-18, 2009.

About Better Indeed
Better Indeed LLC is a Brooklyn-based lifestyle innovations consultancy whose solutions help people live better lives. Family Matters is its first offering. Founder David Schoenberger spent 15 years in search of excellence inside the Fortune 500 world and now creates his own through Better Indeed, his professional vehicle for personal creativity. A former executive with American Express, Lucent and Warner Bros., Schoenberger earned his Bachelor or Arts degree at the University of Vermont and a Master of Business Administration at Stern/New York University. David volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Taproot Foundation and Children International. His family-based market research is 24/7, driven by his wife and two young daughters. To discover more about Better Indeed and the ever-evolving Family Matters game, please visit www.familymattersgame.com.

For Better Indeed product sales, contact:
David Schoenberger; T: (917) 822-9449; E-Mail: [email protected]

Put the fun back into family time with our get-to-know-your-family-better-board-game, Family Matters
Visit www.familymattersgame.com

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