Bright future for a blast from the past?
Spin Master says they’ve seen games, puzzles increase in popularity during pandemic
Spin Master, a Toronto entertainment company, has purchased the Rubik’s Cube brand for $50 million amid a boom for puzzles, board games and other indoor activities. “We would have acquired Rubik's with or without the pandemic,” said Anton Rabie, the company’s co-CEO. “The thing is, the pandemic has helped (with sales).”
With winter on the horizon and more Canadians contemplating a potentially long season of pandemic isolation, a Toronto company is purchasing one of the world’s most iconic toys, which some say meets one of our core human needs — to make “order out of chaos.”
Its appeal could not come at a better time.
Spin Master, a children’s entertainment company, announced on Tuesday it was acquiring the Rubik’s Cube brand for $50 million. It also owns brands such as Paw Patrol and Etch A Sketch.
The Rubik’s Cube is a threedimensional puzzle consisting of six sides with nine colourful squares. The challenge is to return the cube to its original state with each side having one solid colour. It was invented in 1974 and is widely considered one of the world’s bestselling toys.
Ian Scheffler, who researched the cube for his book “Cracking the Cube,” said it has endured in popularity because it appeals to people in a multitude of ways, including by providing us something we all search for.
“The Rubik’s Cube touches on a lot of different aspects of human experience,” Scheffler said. “It’s very tactile … it satisfies this innate desire we have to make order out of chaos. And it presents an intellectual challenge.”
The purchase comes at a time when more Canadians are embracing puzzles, board games and other indoor activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing families to work, learn and play from home.
Scheffler said one of the appeals of the Rubik’s Cube is it presents a continuous challenge. “In some ways it’s the ideal thing to do during a pandemic because unlike a jigsaw puzzle … you can do it as many times as you want,” he said.
Spin Master has noticed a clear increase in the popularity of its games and puzzles during the pandemic. In 2019, its Games, Puzzles, Activities and Plush category represented 27 per cent of total gross product sales; by the end of 2020’s second quarter, it had risen to 33 per cent.
“We’ve seen across the board games, puzzles and activities have grown in popularity,” said Ben Rathbone, a vice-president of design with the company. “And I think it’s because people, at heart, we’re social creatures.
People want to connect … and games, puzzles, activities (are) really a great medium to do that.”
People are finding comfort in what’s familiar, which is reflected in increased popularity of some of their more traditional games such as chess and checkers, Rathbone said.
Spin Master’s co-CEO Anton Rabie said while the sale has been in the works since February, it makes even more sense now in the context of a global pandemic.
“We would have acquired Rubik’s with or without the pandemic … the thing is the pandemic has helped” with sales, Rabie said.
But the purchase is also a good move in the long term because the Rubik’s Cube, which is estimated to have sold about 450 million units worldwide, is unlike anything in the company’s portfolio, Rabie said. The product has global reach, universal appeal, widespread recognition and a longevity unheard of when it comes to most games and puzzles.
“The impact Rubik’s has had on the world when it comes to the category of games and puzzles is like no other,” Rabie said. “Rubik’s is going to be the crown jewel of the whole portfolio.”
There are other indications Canadians are finding relief from the pandemic in board games, puzzles and other indoor activities. A Research Co. online survey in April found 65 per cent of respondents with children 14 or under said their kids were using non-electronic entertainment, such as board games and puzzles.
A Picodi.com survey, which compared Google Trends during the start of the pandemic to the same time in 2019, found that online searches for board games were up 118 per cent, while searching for puzzles was up 96 per cent. The only searches that were more popular were needlework, online games and courses, and home gym.
University of Toronto anthropologist Marcel Danesi, who teaches a course called The History of Puzzles, said while he hasn’t done any research into the trend, he has heard anecdotally from his students that more are trying out jigsaw puzzles while at home, some of them for the first time.
“My guess is that right now as people start to become even more fatigued with staying in and so on, this provides an escape valve, an escape hatch for the mind,” Danesi said.
Danesi believes puzzles and board games provide a deeper satisfaction than electronic entertainment such as video games because it feels more like a personal challenge rather than a competition with other people or simulated characters.
“In the puzzle, it’s like … you’re in a challenge with the puzzle maker. When you win, every puzzle leads you towards a personal victory of sorts,” Danesi said. “It’s like its own reward.”
Board games and jigsaw puzzles can also bring people and families together, Danesi said, as they encourage socialization and communal activity. Even something like a crossword, typically a solitary activity, can inspire discussion and sharing of ideas.
And at a time when many of the world’s problems, such as racial inequity, climate change and a global pandemic feel unsolvable to many people, puzzles and games can provide a sense of achievement.
“This gives us a momentary feeling of, well, I solved something.”