What do dogs, population genetics, and an affinity for purple squiggles have in common? They all partially inspired Marsha Falco to invent the game SET.
This story’s journey started with a simple google search for female board game inventors. I wanted to be one “when I grew up” and was doing research for another (very good) series,
,%20logical%20reasoning%20and%20visualisation%20perception%20(aka%20<em>extremely</em>%20nerdy)%20game.</p>%0A<p>Marsha%20didn%E2%80%99t%20intend%20on%20creating%20SET,%20or%20any%20board%20game%20empire%20for%20that%20matter.%20In%201974,%20Marsha%20was%20researching%20population%20genetics%20in%20Cambridge,%20England.%20Specifically,%20she%20was%20studying%20epilepsy%20in%20German%20Shepherds,%20and%20she%20created%20a%20sort%20of%20visual%20code%20for%20herself%20to%20convey%20the%20animals%E2%80%99%20genetic%20information.%20These%20visualisations%20were%20the%20precursors%20to%20the%20beloved%20squiggles,%20ovals,%20and%20diamonds%20found%20in%20the%20game%20today.%20</p>%0A%5Bimage%20url='https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/25/ebwinqhsbkvxfah661ha.png'%20size='xlarge'%20align='center'%20clear='true'%20%5D%0A<p>%E2%80%9CIt%20was%20during%20that%20study%20that%20I%20got%20tired%20of%20writing%20%5Bdata%5D%20out,%20so%20I%20made%20little%20symbols%20to%20indicate%20different%20pieces%20of%20data.%20I%20was%20working%20with%20veterinarians%20who%20weren%E2%80%99t%20mathematicians,%20and%20I%20was%20explaining%20to%20them%20how%20set%20theory%20worked%20%E2%80%94%20permutations,%20combinations%20%E2%80%94%20and%20one%20of%20them%20said,%20%E2%80%98Oh,%20so%20if%20you%20take%20this%20one,%20this%20one,%20and%20this%20one,%20you%E2%80%99ve%20got%20a%20set?%E2%80%99%E2%80%9D</p>%0A<p>And%20so,%20the%20game%20was%20born.%20She%20even%20played%20SET%20with%20Stephen%20Hawking,%20before%20he%20was%20%E2%80%9Cparticularly%20famous,%E2%80%9D%20as%20she%20put%20it.</p>%0A<p>After%20the%20resounding%20success%20of%20SET,%20Marsha%E2%80%99s%20game%20company,%20SET%20Enterprises,%20went%20on%20to%20release%20several%20more%20games,%20including%20Five%20Crowns,%20Quiddler,%20and%20Karma.%20Over%20twenty%20years%20after%20its%20original%20release,%20the%20game%20continues%20to%20win%20awards%20and%20families%20still%20write%20Marsha%20letters%20of%20praise%20and%20gratitude.</p>%0A<p>And%20Marsha%20is%20still%20developing%20new%20games.%20You%20can%20find%20her%20testing%20out%20new%20game%20concepts%20at%20the%20weekly%20neighbourhood%20game%20night%20she%20hosts%20at%20her%20home.%20When%20asked%20about%20SET%E2%80%99s%20future,%20Marsha%20remains%20incredulous%20about%20the%20game%E2%80%99s%20success%20and%20hopes%20it%20continues%20to%20bring%20families%20together%20for%20decades%20to%20come.%20</p>%0A<p>%E2%80%9CThis%20game%20which%20we%20were%20really%20worried%20about%20selling%201,000,%E2%80%9D%20she%20says,%20%E2%80%9Cwe%E2%80%99re%20now%20selling%20them%20like%20hotcakes.%20Still,%20we%E2%80%99re%20not%20real%20sure%20how%20long%20this%20is%20gonna%20last!%E2%80%9D</p>%0A){kind=link}