Christy and Jordan Hoots have spent six years developing a board game called Knockout High. On March 3, the couple launched a campaign on the crowdsourcing platform Kickstarter with the goal of fundraising $8,400 to cover manufacturing costs and artist fees.
That campaign wrapped up on April 3. It brought in more than $10,000.
“It was an absolutely amazing feeling, and the fact that people actually enjoyed it enough to get it and pass its initial goal, and now everybody was like, ‘Come on, let’s get the stretch goals.’ And that’s exactly what we did,” said Jordan. “It felt incredible,” added Christy.
Christy is a graduate student working toward her master’s in communications at NKU. She and her husband Jordan have been developing their board game for about six years, and back in 2020, they formed their independent game publishing company called Hoot Owl Games. This year will mark the first addition to their game portfolio, which they hope to expand down the line.
They described the game as a silly and fast-paced game that is a healthy mix of strategy and luck that people of all ages and interests can play. “We’ve had hardcore gamers love it and we’ve had casual gamers love it. We’ve even had little kids play it with their parents and love it,” said Christy.
On May 3, Knockout High will be sent to a manufacturer who will produce 500 copies of the base game and 500 copies of the expansion set, said Christy. From there, the duo will ship merchandise to everyone who backed the game on Kickstarter. The remaining copies will be sold on Hoot Owl Game’s website and at game conventions.
They hope to eventually work with a distributor to get the game on shelves at retail stores, said Christy.
Christy explained that COVID delayed the rollout of Knockout High. Going to gaming conventions is a building block for getting the word out about a new game, she explained. So, when game conventions shut down, progress on marketing and getting crucial gameplay feedback slowed to a halting pace.
“That shut down our marketing, so we didn’t get to really market until last year the way we wanted to,” said Christy. “All of these obstacles that we’ve overcome, they’ve really been worth it and it’s been worth it to do it together, because I wouldn’t want to do it any other way.”
Christy and Jordan said the response they’ve received from people at these conventions has been overwhelmingly positive.
With the game slated to be rolled out to market soon, Jordan hopes the game can be something that brings groups together. “I would love for our game to be popped out on game night,” he said.
The married business partners have shared an affinity for games since their days as undergraduates at Lindsey Wilson College, a private college in Columbia, Kentucky.
“Especially back when we were in college, we were serious gamers. We did work study and he had a 12-hour work setting on Sundays, and we would play Arkham Horror, and it would take us about the whole 12 hours to play that one board game. We’d have all of our friends together down there,” said Christy.
The couple’s love for games continues today, but as their free time has waned with adult responsibilities, they find themselves drawn toward games that “take up less room on the table,” said Jordan.
All while they’ve been working toward taking Knockout High to market, Christy and Jordan both work full-time jobs and raise two children together on top of running Hoot Owl Games. Christy is the editor at The Ledger Independent in Maysville, Kentucky, while Jordan works at an automotive factory.
Christy’s brother, Ricky Elliot, said the couple’s drive to be creative while balancing parenthood and work is impressive but characteristic of them both. “They talked about it forever, about wanting to do things and then, when they started developing the game, I kind of expected especially out of Jordan and Christie both because both of them are so driven to do it. Everything they ever say they end up doing,” said Elliot.
Christy and Jordan have a 10-year plan figured out for the Hoot Owl imprint. They hope to widen the focus from being a game design company to including game publishing, as well. Under that model, they would work with other developers to buy the rights to produce and sell new games.
“Their minds are constantly thinking of different things all the time, so I’m sure there’ll be many more fun games that they bring out later,” said Elliot.
About Knockout High
Knockout High is a combat game based at a premier fighting school. There are several characters players can choose from, all of whom have unique strengths and weaknesses. The players can choose one of three battlegrounds: the cafeteria, the nurse’s office or the classroom. The developers explained that the battlegrounds are tailored for varying levels of difficulty.
The game can be played with two to five players. The objective is to inflict damage on opponents while dealing with several variables that influence a character’s health and power in order to be the final player standing. When a player gets knocked out, they have a chance to reincarnate as the “School Spirit,” who can still affect the outcome of the game.