The Buzz in Word Games: JABUKA

In a very strange time in our world, a couple of things remain as constants – coffee and games.

When Jabuka Games, Inc. attended the American International Toy Fair in New York, the company was launching its new word game with a surprising twist. “We were looking to build the ‘buzz’ about our new word game to specialty retailers and then expand to the mass market eventually,” explained Martin Russocki, inventor of JABUKA. “We had no idea that the entire world would suddenly be looking for at-home, non-electronic family entertainment. JABUKA is the perfect stay-at-home, but think outside-the-box solution.”

So, what’s all the buzz about? A rotating letter word game with a coffee theme, JABUKA ($19.95 for 2-4 players ages 8+). “We had to change our strategy from slow-build specialty retail to a fast-paced direct-to-consumer demand,” Russocki said. “Maybe it’s because people have already played games like Scrabble and Bananagrams and they were looking for something new? We’ve been pleased to step-in to fill the need for a new option in word games.”

The idea for JABUKA started in a coffee shop, when Russocki was fiddling with a coffee bean on the table. He looked around at the digitally detached people typing phonetic abbreviated texts. Pondering the deterioration of language skills, he scribbled his initial “M” on the coffee bean and spun it around. The “M” magically morphed into a “W” and then into an “E”.  Russocki immediately began to invent a multipurpose new alphabet. Because the coffee bean was a good fit to spin the letters, the theme stuck. No more boring square tiles, no turn-taking, and no board needed. JABUKA arrives in a sack as a fast, portable game with simple scoring. Players spill the beans and start a battle of words (official rules at www.jabukagames.com). The clever word scrambles and added letters are endless when:

• “c” is “u” and/or “n”
•  “r” can be “j”
• “t” is also “x”
• “m” is “w” and/or “E”
• and more.