25 OUTLAWS – A POKER-BASED GAME WITH AN OLD WEST TWIST – AVAILABLE BEGINNING JUNE 23
DEVELOPED BY CHICKAPIG CREATOR BRIAN CALHOUN AND DAVE MATTHEWS, GAME FEATURES ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY DAVE MATTHEWS
NEW CHICKAPIGLETS GAME, DESIGNED FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN, ALSO AVAILABLE JUNE 23
25 OUTLAWS – a new card game from CHICKAPIG game creator Brian Calhoun and Dave Matthews – will be available exclusively at Target beginning June 23, 2019. While based on the classic game of poker, 25 OUTLAWS offers a fun, Wild West twist. It’s a rough-and-tumble game, designed for ages 17+, set in the Old West, with outlaws (players) using every means available to eliminate rival outlaw gangs. With duels, bank robberies and more, 25 OUTLAWS is bringing new meaning to the term “high stakes.” Matthews drew all of the art for the game – from the chips and cards to the outlaw illustrations on the box cover – while on tour last fall with the GRAMMY®-winning, chart-topping Dave Matthews Band.
“High stakes poker, dueling outlaws, bank robberies, and the Wild Wild West. This is seriously the best game I’ve ever played," said Dave Matthews. A line of 25 OUTLAWS-themed merchandise, which includes shirts, whiskey glasses and more is available for pre-order at 25outlaws.com.
While 25 OUTLAWS may not be a game for the lil’ buckaroos in the family, the Chickapig team will be introducing a new game for younger kids, which will also be available at Target on June 23: CHICKAPIGLETS. Designed for ages 4+, the cooperative matching board game cultivates teamwork as players share decision-making responsibility and develop cooperative problem solving. The goal is to help Little Joe Chickapig race the ever-menacing pooping Cow and find his animal hybrid friends. Multiple levels of play are designed to help develop strategic thinking at various stages of growth.
Calhoun developed Chickapiglets to reach a younger audience than CHICKAPIG, which is geared towards players ages 8+. Shoppers can pair the new game with the 32-page picture book Little Joe Chickapig and a plush toy.
Since starting out as a grassroots board game in Charlottesville, VA, CHICKAPIG has become a beloved, multi-generational pastime from coast-to-coast. The board game was a 2019 Toy of the Year nominee and a “recommended by Mensa mind games” winner. Its success goes far beyond the kitchen table. There are CHICKAPIG clubs and tournaments in schools and CHICKAPIG Game Nights in local bars across the country. CHICKAPIG has partnered with the Virginia Institute of Autism to help develop social skills.
The phenomenon has been covered by such media outlets as People, Billboard and Entertainment Weekly, which said “The future looks bright for this farm-to-table age-versatile game. That is, until you slip in the poop and have to pick up a poop card.” Calhoun and Matthews talk about the genesis of CHICKAPIG in this NPR clip. Buffalo Games is the licensee for Chickapig, Chickapiglets and 25 OUTLAWS.
Calhoun didn’t start in the board game and children’s book business. As the co-founder of Rockbridge Guitar Company in Charlottesville, Va., his custom guitars have been played across the globe by rock and country legends such as Keith Urban, Brandi Carlile, Richie Sambora, Dave Matthews and many more. But after playing a terribly boring game, Calhoun declared to his friends that he was going to invent a board game. One month later Calhoun had made CHICKAPIG a reality, playing the game with family and friends, one of those being long-time friend and now business partner, Dave Matthews.
"Through building guitars, I've worked in music my entire professional life and one of my favorite parts about music is that it brings people together. I'm very new to the board game business, but I love that, like music, games bring people together. It's pretty humbling to play with families or new groups of friends, putting our cell phones down and hanging out together.”
