Ruckus, new from manufacturer Hubbub Inc., is a quirky and easy-to-learn, quick-play card game for ages 7 to adult. Ruckus retails for $9.99 and has recently received the following 2005 awards: Dr. Toy 10 Best Games, the Preferred Choice Award, the National Parenting Center Seal of Approval, the iParenting Media Award, and the Parents' Choice Fun Stuff award. Ruckus is available nationally in several hundred independent toy stores as well as online.

The Elephant’s Tale in Peachtree City is far and away one of the top-selling Ruckus stores in the country, according to a store spokesperson. The Elephant’s Tale even received a phone order from an Indiana woman who first bought Ruckus while visiting Peachtree City, and she described with great zeal the uniqueness with which she was treated as a customer.

"One of the things that jumped out at us during testing," said Dan Levy, president of Hubbub Inc., "was how well Ruckus played with all ages, groups that combined young children, teens, and adults. It made for some hilarious competition."

Part of Ruckus’ charm stems from the strange and playful icons (Monkey in a Bottle, Fish Man, Pig in the Attic, etc.) players must match up in order to form sets. Players are dealt seven cards each and immediately place all sets of two or more matching cards from their hands face up on the table. As soon as the sets hit the table, they’re worth points, but can be stolen by any player with a matching card in their hand. Stolen sets remain on the table, changing position frequently as steal after steal occurs in quick succession. Any pause in the action signals the dealer to give each player an additional card, triggering a new flurry of sets and steals. As soon as any player rids her hand of cards, the game is over. Players score their hands by totaling the number of cards in their sets (1 point per card), and subtracting a point for each card that was still in their hand when the round ended. Each hand lasts three to four minutes.

Hubbub Inc. was founded by Daniel M. Levy, 47, and Robert J. Milanowski, 49, native Chicagoans who met while attending a men’s support group in 1996. Each had spent nearly twenty years in his chosen profession (financial services and computer programming, respectively) and was looking to do something different, fun, and exciting.

The duo cut their creative teeth in 2000 by writing, producing, and directing a short film comedy, “The Waiting Room,” with no prior film-making experience. The exhilaration of that effort led to a joint leap of faith and the commitment of considerable time, effort, and money in creating and developing a new board game. The result, released nationally in early 2004, was Hubbub—The Game of Sound, Mind & Body.

In July, 2005, Hubbub Inc. released the award-winning family card game, Ruckus – The Game of Takes and Double-Takes. Additional games are currently in development for release in 2006.

Dan and Robert are tremendously excited to be working full time at the helm of Hubbub Inc., proving not only that old dogs can learn new tricks, but that they can invent a few good ones as well.

Hubbub Inc.’s games can be found in hundreds of specialty toy and game stores throughout the United States and Canada, neighborhood stores ideally suited to providing great products and great service to their customers. Hubbub has hired 49 national sales representatives and is adding new retail stores weekly.

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