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Highlights™ Match Patch

Design Challenge: To translate the classic Highlights Hidden Pictures activity into a board game with an evergreen quality of play.

Solution: For Highlights Match Patch, we created a fun twist on the trionimoes play pattern by introducing the visual objects and seek-and-find play pattern found in Highlights’ classic Hidden Picture activity. Players are challenged to place their tiles strategically, matching the sides of their tiles by category (food, tool, clothing item, etc.). At the same time, players scan Scene tiles for those same objects to earn bonus points. The layers of strategy make the game fun and challenging for kids and adults. Younger kids can play with no strategy (or light strategy) by simply matching objects to categories. Strategies of where and when to place tiles can reveal themselves over time as the players grow and become more familiar with the game.

Favorite Moments: Working with one of our favorite childhood brands was a dream come true, and seeing a new generation of kids enjoy the same content made it even better. One of our favorite moments of Match Patch playtesting was when a 13 year old enthusiastically said he’d play again and again, proving that this “kid” game was a true family game that could appeal to a wide range of ages.

Background: For Discovery Bay Games, Marisa and Shanon led the concepting and gameplay design for Highlights’ new line of board games, which included Silly Situations, Match Patch, and Buzz Blast, launched in 2011. A year later, Marisa, Shanon, and Colt worked together to launch Hidden Pictures Countdown, an iPad app that worked with Discovery Bay Games’ new iPad controller, Duo Pop.