Board game:Smithsonian Institution: Be the Expert

Joyce Johnson and Colleen McCarthy-Evans met at a class on designing games for fun and profit. The two became business partners in 2002 and their firm, Toying with Games, was born. Gamewright picked up one of their first collaborations, In a Pickle, and it since has gone on to sell more than 500,000 copies. Among their other hits are Aunt Millie's Millions from Gamewright; There's a Fly in My Soup and Beeline from Basic Concepts; Pokemon Pokeball Flip, Be the Expert, Pandamania, and Dig that Dinosaur from Pressman; Disney Fairies Fancy Flight and To Know Me Is To Love Me from Danawares; Hat Stackers Part, Monkey Dominoes, Froggie Checkers, and What Am I from Dowling Magnets; and Clown Around from Tactic. In November 2008, Joyce Johnson, Colleen McCarthy-Evans, and Toying with Games were recognized as Rising Star Inventors at the Toy and Game Inventors Awards Dinner held by the Chicago Toy & Game Group.