As another incredibly challenging year comes to an end, it’s time for us to take a moment to reflect on our accomplishments and acknowledge the amazing game industry sponsors who helped make our work at The Spiel Foundation possible in 2021.

Bezier Games  –  Czech Games Edition – HABA USA

deserve our sincere and heartfelt thanks!

…and YOURS if you appreciate and value what we do.

Our sponsors believe in us and our mission – that play is a positive, powerful force in the world.

Their generous support enables us to continue with our good work.

This year, here’s a look at what we have been able to accomplish despite countless hurdles:

In our rented warehouse space…

We prepared over 10,000 board and card games for our bundle program. Preparing means every game has its components assembled, punched, and bagged, so no parts will get lost or forgotten.

We packed and sorted all 10,000 games into 2,000 5-game bundles, ready for shipment to community centers, libraries, hospitals, shelters and schools across the US and Canada.

These two accomplishments don’t seem like much when you read these few simple sentences, BUT each of these tasks took thousands of hours of diligent work in less that ideal conditions!

In Indianapolis…

We hand-delivered game bundles to every branch of the city/county library system.

In our recording studio…

We wrote, recorded, edited, and released 25 episodes of The Spiel (our 16th season), reviewing games and opening the door to the wider world of play for thousands of listeners around the world.

Download total for 2021 for all episodes of the show topped 750,000 (100,000+ for Season 16).

At the game table…

We evaluated hundreds of games for the Major Fun Award and Spiel of Approval, selecting 12 as honored recipients.

At the editing bay…

We spent countless hours spent honing hundreds of hours into workable scenes for our next documentary film.

In the office…

We have found several viable building candidates for our own facility – The DeKoven Center for Play. Meetings and walkthroughs are planned with brokers early next year.

We have also submitted applications for multiple local, state, and national grants to help fund the Foundation.

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Put simply, none of this would have been possible in 2021 without HABA, Bezier and Czech Games Edition behind us every step of the way.

The fine folks at each of these organizations have given us the support and hope we sorely needed in order to forge ahead and continue all the good work we do.

There’s no doubt The Spiel Foundation is poised to take larger steps into the wider world because of their investments in our work and our mission.

I hope you’ll take a moment to like or share this message and support the great work they do. They are all Champions of Fun, as far as we are concerned. Put simply, supporting our sponsors, supports The Spiel Foundation, too!

And as we look ahead to 2022, we hope to welcome back our current sponsors and bring more sponsors into the fold.

Come what may, we are going to do our very best to pay this generous spirit forward – making the world a more playful place in as many ways as we can!

Happy New Year and… Spiel on!