Game combines spelling with roulette wheel
Oregonian tries to market new board game
By Allan Lazo
(N th« I mi-mUl
Rev. Martin Luther King, )r.
had a dream. So dons Tony
Acetl.
King's dream was civil rights
for blacks. Acetl’* dream? To
market his new hoard game.
Mingle Word-Roulette, across
the nation. Someday.
But the 28-year old rancher
and hay hauler from Silver
I-ake. near Bend, is going about
fulfilling his dream in a much
different fashion, although with
about the same conviction.
Aceti was in Kugene recently
to introduce and promote his
Mingle Word-Roulette game
that consists of a roulette wheel
labeled with various letters of
the alphabet and some special
spaces instead of numbers.
*i truly believe the game
came from 'Wheel of Fortune’
and the tumble word game.'!
Aceti says of the game that has
been in the making since 1974
But just where do Aceti and
his conviction to his dream fit
into all oJ'this?;*
in 1981, Acefi’s mother.
Rose, who had developed the
original game, written the in
structions and worked on gain
ing thu copywright. died of
cancer From the time of his
mother's death until the release
of the first game in May 1985,
Aceti worked to fulfill his
dream of getting the game on
the market.
“I've got a dream here that
I’m going to fulfill," Aceti says.
“The learning experience in the
last year has !>ecn tremendous,
and I’ve got this burning desire
to accomplish this.”
Aceti says he has learned a
whole new career in the year
since his game has been in pro
duction. He says the first pro
blem was finding the company
that manufactured the roulette
wheels he uses
Then he had to find a way to
get all of the letters over the
numbered slots in the wheel.
Although many games were
sold during last Christmas
season. Aceti says his company
is still working on selling the
first 2.000 games produced.
During the holidays. Aceti says
1.000 games were sold in 10
days , in Bend and Kiamath
Falls
The games were assembled
and packaged in Silver lake by
Aceti and 20 other workers.
Now. Aceti says he is work
ing on the most important
aspect of the business:
marketing and promotions. He
Photo by |im Mirki
Tony Aceti, whose mother worked on the original game before
she died of cancer, is hoping his Mingle Word-Roulette game
will be a hit.
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has hired a Portland marketing
firm to help him, but ho also
spends time traveling around to
promote and demonstrate his
game.
‘Tve developed my (hay)
business, and now, my business
supports the game. It possessed
me for about a month."
To play the game itself, the
players take turns spinning the
roulette wheel, which has four
steel balls rolling around it.
Eventually, the balls stop in
spaces that are marked with a
consonant and vowel. This
gives the player a total Of eight
letters in each spin.
Players then try to make the
highest scoring word possible
from the letters available. There
are also "wild vowel” spaces
that allow the spinner to choose
any vowel, a space where the
spinner loses five points and a
space where the spinner wins
five points. In addition to single
letters, there are also spaces
with blends such as SH or TH
on them.
In' the instructions, Aceti
gives an example of a round of
play: The consonants are R
(worth three points). SH (seven
points), T (three points), and F
(five points). The vowels, all
worth two points, are E, E, A.
and O.
The examples of words given
in the instructions include
FEET (12 points), SHEET (14
points), and SHAFT (17 points).
Each player scores only their
highest scoring word, and let
ters may be used only once for
every time they appear.(
"The game is geared so it can
he intriguing for adults. There’s
more to it than just a board
game — it’s dynamic,” Aceti
says. "It has so many features
and good elements of a good
family game.”
He also adds that the game
can teach children to spell bet
ter, and he says a representative
from the educational service
district in Lake County bought
some games for the school
districts.
Aceti says a local radio sta
tion may use the game for an on
the-air promotion, and he says
an article about the game has
been in the Oregonian. Also, he
says, Oiegon magazine is plan
ning an article about his game.
The Mingle Word-Roulette
game is available at Walden
bookstores statewide and in all
Endgames stores for $18.95, or
you can order it through the
mail for $21.95.
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