Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Oliver and Kaitlyn Frederick.
Hi Chris and Kaitlyn, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Board games have been a part of both of our lives as long as we can remember. We both grew up playing with our families, and we introduced our own kids to classics like Sorry! and Chutes and Ladders as soon as they could confidently pick up the game pieces.
Now that our kids can play more complex games, we dove back into tabletop play and discovered a whole new wave of board games. With over 7,000 board games being printed every year, there are so many more exciting options outside of whatever is sitting on a big-box shelf. When we started talking to others about our favorite games, we found that so many people had never even heard of them.
We decided to share our love of board games with our broader community- and we decided to do it on wheels! We want to bring exciting, indie, and locally designed games where people may not expect to see them, and Split Decision Games was born.
Now, we load up our vintage Volkswagen several times a week to sell board games, host learn-and-play nights, and continue growing the board game community in the DFW area and beyond
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As parents with traditional 9-5 jobs, we found opening a physical retail location financially and logistically out of reach. We’re very proud of our mobile model, but it has led to some unexpected speed bumps.
In the US, there are five major board game distributors, and all of them require retail partners to have a brick-and-mortar store. This means we can’t automatically jump in on many big-name games or early releases.
Instead, we source our games by talking directly with board game designers and small publishers. This model has led us to fantastic relationships and access to support other small businesses with our small business, which we’re very proud of.
There’s also a challenge in operating a business out of a vintage vehicle. Let’s just say we learn something new about repairing vintage air-cooled VW engines every day!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Split Decision Games?
As far as we know, we’re the only board game store in a Volkswagen in the United States!
Because space on the bus is limited, shoppers will find a highly curated collection of unique and indie board games. We pride ourselves on having interesting games for all ages.
We’re always excited to share the board games in our Texas spotlight. So far, we have board games from designers in Plano (Dogs with Jobs), Austin (Luminous), and Houston (X Seekers of Fortune).
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
We would love people to visit us in person or online at splitdecisiongames.com!
Additionally, we’re expanding our Learn-and-Play events and are looking for local businesses that would like to collaborate or host.
Social media is the best way to find out where we’ll be popping up next! Please follow along on our board game bus journey.
Lastly, if you’re a game designer or publisher, please reach out to us and tell us about what makes your game special.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.splitdecisiongames.com
- Instagram: @splitdecisiongamebus
- Facebook: Split Decision Games
- Other: Tiktok: @splitdecisiongames
