January 19, 2021 11 min read
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Surely you have ever seen the curious and popular designs of Remedios Mágicos , the creative company born in 2008 that seeks to connect with people’s emotions and celebrate Mexican design, the “good vibes” and the ingenuity of our culture to be able to communicate and always transmit positive messages. Now the brand is launching “Here Between Us” , a board game that seeks to help people have fun, open up and connect in the middle of a world separated by the health crisis caused by COVID-19.
“It is a board game that arises from the need to return to reason, to see in what way we can contribute as a company to connect people – mainly – with their loved ones,” said Guadalupe Gómez Sánchez , ” Alchemist in Chief ”from Remedios Mágicos in an interview with Entrepreneur en Español .
“Here between us” has the objective of contributing in the times that we are living and being able to better connect with family, friends and acquaintances. According to Remedios Mágicos, board games have the power to unite people through laughter and playful questions, since the questioner is not you, but the game itself.
This Remedios Mágicos proposal contains 60 cards of 11×16 cm laminated matte waterproof. With reference to the past, present, future and challenges, 12 hot cards and an instructional, a dice, a block, it is easy to play and does not contain complicated rules.
“I think that something that we have been missing a lot in this pandemic is getting to know the people around us. How difficult it is to ask questions of your children, parents, siblings, among other family members. This is how this idea was born,” says Gómez Sánchez. “Consequently, people no longer feel that you are the one who is asking the question directly – as a wife, mother, friend or sister – if it is not the game that is doing it through a playful dynamic, therefore , it is easier for people to interact ”, mentions the entrepreneur.
Image: Courtesy Remedios Mágicos
A game with a magic remedy
Guadalupe Gómez ventured into the creative industries with Remedios Mágicos with an initial investment of only 80,000 pesos, with no business experience, bad business references and fear of undertaking in the midst of the economic crisis. Today his design company celebrates popular culture, traditions, wisdom and philosophy through ingenious content embodied in everyday products such as tin-leaf pillboxes, mugs, T-shirts, key chains and pewter bowls. It is in this breeding ground that “Here between us” is born.
The first thing María Guadalupe was looking for when creating this game was to allow users to generate true and soul connections. That said, each question in the game is thought and designed so that people “spill the beans between laughter and laughter”, resorting to wit and colloquial language, “very Mexican”, so that it makes sense when the player hears the question .
“We believe that laughter is that divine spark capable of causing the unexpected to arise, so through this game we are looking for people to get to know each other and that your people -family, friends and loved ones- can get to know you a little more and that you can interact with everyone. In the same way, generate conversations that are ‘worth gold’ with those close to you, ”says Gómez.
The important thing is that, in each meeting, of any kind, whether family or friends, you can learn a little more about the dreams and desires of other people, even realize how you could contribute to them.
“The design of the cards has a very characteristic style of Remedios Mágicos, since it is very Mexican. It has several elements that help us identify with a purposeful Mexicanness. The game is very simple and it is designed so that in this first edition it is you who decides if you want to play it with friends or with parents ”, explains Gómez.
“The idea is that you can from thanking those happy moments to realizing that you have had great achievements and that sometimes people believe that these would be monumental things like buying a house, having finished a master’s degree or getting a great job and no, the truth is that those great achievements are those little ones that you have every day, ”clarifies Gómez.
Bearing this in mind, the way to bring people to these conclusions is to transfer them to the past – as is the first round, which speaks of the past-, the second is the round of the present – of the here and now-, the round that talks about the future and, finally, that of the challenges. It is committed to “replayability”, this means that it can be played several times with many people, since they will not always play the same cards, it is not the same what you can tell your friends, than with your parents or why There are times when you have many anecdotes to tell, but they are not always the same.
“In the game there is a dice, in which each face represents a round, so chance will really tell you which card you will draw, be it present, past, future or challenge. It also has a face that says “Here between us”, it is twice and gives you the possibility to help your opponent – because it has few points – since each card brings points that say how much the answer is worth, if you answer, you get that letter and the amount of points you add means who won and who lost ”, explains the executive.
María Guadalupe Gómez Sánchez, general director of Remedios Mágicos / Image: Courtesy Remedios Mágicos
Contribute to change people’s minds
Gómez explains the importance of knowing ourselves and our loved ones, to see how we can contribute to the wishes and desires of others.
“They are pure funny questions, which invite you to reflect and look back, always looking for something to lead you to do it through laughter,” says Gómez.
When you tell one of your funny anecdotes, you are inviting others to interact and that they tell you their stories, without anyone feeling offended, since the one who asks is the game.
“Questions make your mind wander, your attitude and way of looking at things change, because we are remembering something incredible that I want to share with others. Magical Remedies is that company that seeks to contribute to take out this ingenuity and ability that the Mexican has to say one thing through the other and take it towards the positive side, not use it from the negative side, to make a better country ”, he indicates the executive.
It should be noted that “Here between us” is a very inclusive game, you talk with @, the basis of the values of Remedios Mágicos is love, contribution and teamwork. As long as the players are respectful and treat others with the love they would like to receive, there is no problem with the tastes and interests of others, since it is very free. The purpose is that you “learn to be much more tolerant and understand that the difference is good.” That being said, all the questions were designed this way, they speak to all people.
“The game allows you to increase this tolerance and try to understand the other. For example, the fact of dancing, and perhaps for someone it is ´uy uy, uy´, for another it may be more normal to do it, if the other person does it with effort it is a great achievement, because for this subject it was a question more personal. So, it’s incredible to congratulate him on that great job of daring to do it, but you can’t know if you don’t ask him, ”says Gómez.
Image: Courtesy Remedios Mágicos
The power of alliances between entrepreneurs
It is important to highlight the alliance that generates contributory projects in Remedios Mágicos, as is the case of ¡Ay, Güey! and The Pendulum .
“We really are an SME. We have competed against big brands and won awards, we are strong in social networks and we have made a lot of noise, people think we are very big, but no. The truth is that Remedios Mágicos is made up of four women – between us we do everything – but we allied with other companies precisely to give more work to more people. How can we grow? Every time people acquire a game created and designed in Mexico, they are supporting their countrymen, which is very important, that they know that this game is made with a lot of love and effort, producing it is not easy, as a small company, competing with the big ones, bring that cost issue “, assures the” chief alchemist “of Remedios Mágicos.
The value lies in the intrinsic nature that it brings you as a human being to live and socialize with the people around you, in the same way in all the care and dedication of the people who contributed to the creation of Remedios Mágicos. Also, in each person who participated in giving their recommendations about this game to provide a quality product. Also in the fact of generating these alliances and avoiding the fear of showing their work.
“We also bring the support of Mauricio Campos , who is contributing a lot in these matters. It is about looking at how you can do more and how people put their heart, love and knowledge to be able to bring a board game that can really contribute to the change of mentality so that through laughter people know you and not just be irrelevant talk. So how will you meet people if you don’t ask the right questions? ”Says the executive.
What is intended is that people seek to give laughter, contribute to making better people of ourselves and towards others, that all the resources are sought that allow you to have fun and move to all positive moments, living more with all beings dear. Also, says the entrepreneur, reactivate the supply chain in the midst of the crisis.
“Obviously, it is about supporting Mexican companies. For companies like Remedios Mágicos it is important to try to maintain sources of employment, since it is not only work for us, but for those who participate, such as the printer who is Mexican, to the marketing agency, to whom they make the dice, the boxes, among others, which are a value chain through the consumption of products made in Mexico ”, concludes the entrepreneur.