Sleeping Queens - Our Life in Cards

• Author: Susie Chang
• Position: WIPO Communications and Public Outreach Division

One sleepless night Miranda, her imagination running wild, played a game in her mind where she rescued queens who had fallen under a sleeping spell. She got up, went to her parents and announced: "I made up a game!" Promptly tucked back into bed, she championed the cause of the sleeping queens in her dreams all night long. The next morning, an enthusiastic Miranda outlined her ideas to her parents, older sister, Madeleine, and baby brother, Stephen. The sleeping queens were embraced and adopted as a family project.

"My family and I had been playing lots of card games to help with simple math skills," Miranda explained. Her mother, Denise Evarts added: "Games bring families and friends together. We have game night at our home about once a week, and when friends visit they should be prepared to play!"

The Evarts started playing the new game by drawing first the queens, then kings, knights and dragons on regular playing cards - adding a whole panoply of characters to introduce more fun. They based them on everyday life, concocting the Tie-Dye King, inspired by Mr. Evarts' tie-dye clothes and the Baby Queen from Mrs. Evarts' work as a doula (a provider of non-medical support in the childbirth process). "We have the Pancake Queen and we always ate pancakes," explained Madeleine. "It was just our life in cards."

When they finished developing the full game, Mr...