Phase 10 card game is also ‘hall of fame’ worthy

One of the new inductees into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2024 is Mattel’s rummy-style card game known as Phase 10, which has been enjoyed by generations of families since 1982.

 

It’s an interesting story to complement fellow 2024 hall of fame inductees Transformers action figures and My Little Pony.

Officials at The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, N.Y., home of the hall of fame, said that “Phase 10 has become one of the most popular cards games in the world; second only to Uno” (enshrined in the hall of fame in 2018).

New hall of fame members are selected annually by a panel of “historians, educators and others who exemplify learning, creativity and discovery.”

Suitable for two to six players, ages 7 and up, Phase 10 challenges players to collect various groups of cards, completing sequential phases of 10 before their opponents.

 The game was created by Ken Johnson of Detroit, Mich. (shown below), who had embarked as a teenager on a manufacturing career in the automotive industry. Working as a welder, in 1979, Johnson was among a number of General Motors’ factory workers who were laid off. At age 19, Johnson pivoted and decided to try his hand as a game designer.

 

While living at home with his parents, Johnson designed a companion game for viewing or listening to professional baseball broadcasts that he labeled Dice-Baseball.

 

Emma Klug of Hour Detroit Magazine wrote that Johnson approached the department store giant Kmart Corp, which had headquarters in nearby Troy Mich.

“In 1981 Johnson spoke directly with Kmart’s toy and game buyer, George Christianson,” Klug said. “His tenacity won over Christianson. The two entered into a distribution agreement that stated that Dice-Baseball would have a place on Kmart shelves as long as it met sales forecasts.” Unfortunately, the game fell short of expectations.

Christianson mentored Johnson, and they decided to experiment with a card game that might attract Uno fans to “a higher level of play,” Klug said. The result was Phase 10.

Johnson, who resides in Franklin, Mich., a suburb of Detroit, is one of six African-American toy inventors who participated in a Black Inventors Hall of Fame film production in Washington, D.C., in 2021. The documentary reveals how minority business leaders are having an impact on the toy and game industry.

Johnson said Phase 10 has brought him much joy, “seeing how the game is transcending languages and cultures to bring people together all over the world.”

 

Created in 1998, the toy hall of fame now includes 88 toys/games, including charter members: Barbie, Crayola Crayons, Duncan Yo-Yo, Erector Set, Etch-A Sketch, Frisbee, Hula Hoop, LEGO, Lincoln Logs, marbles, Monopoly, Play-Doh, Radio Flyer Wagon, roller skates, teddy bear, Tinkertoys and View-Master.

 

Others are: alphabet blocks, American Girl Doll, Atari 2600 Game System, baby doll, Baby Nancy, ball, baseball cards, bicycle, Big Wheel, blanket, bubbles, Cabbage Patch Kids, Candy Land, cardboard box, checkers, chess, Clue, coloring book, dollhouse and dominoes.

 

Also: Dungeons & Dragons, Easy-Bake Oven, Fisher-Price Corn Popper, Fisher-Price Little People, G.I. Joe, The Game of Life, Hot Wheels, jack-in-the-box, jacks, Jenga, jigsaw puzzle, jump rope, kite, Lionel Trains, Lite-Brite, little green army men, Magic 8 Ball, Magic: The Gathering and Masters of the Universe.

 

Also: Matchbox Cars, Mr. Potato Head, Nerf, Nintendo Game Boy, paper airplane, pinball, playing cards, puppet, Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy, Risk, rocking horse, rubber duck, Rubik’s Cube, sand, Scrabble, sidewalk chalk, Silly Putty, skateboard, Slinky, Star Wars action figures, stick, Super Soaker, swing, Tonka Trucks, top, Twister, Uno and Wiffle Ball.