{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","contentId":"00000161-e7bf-d7be-a9f5-f7bf3d850001","url":"https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/news/small-businesses/time-for-a-game","headline":"Time for a game","description":"For Hazel Reynolds, the desire to start a family was the inspiration to reinvent her career and become a game designer.","datePublished":"2016-10-27T16:27:41Z","dateModified":"2016-10-27T16:27:41Z","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Amazon staff"}],"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://assets.aboutamazon.com/dims4/default/90a2a99/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1000x500+0+250/resize/1200x600!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.aboutamazon.com%2Fc0%2F09%2F6f94d3794e5d88e4f8042a7d3145%2Frandomise.jpg","width":"1200","height":"600"},"articleBody":"# Time for a game\n\n*For Hazel Reynolds, the desire to start a family was the inspiration to reinvent her career and become a game designer. *\n\nDesigning games wasn’t always in the cards for Hazel Reynolds, but wanting to break free of a media job, be her own boss and, above all, start a family led her down a new path.\n\nAt 28, Hazel was increasingly frustrated by the demands of working in London’s magazine industry and long daily commutes from Brighton. It was a moment with her then twelve-year-old sister that helped her discover a new, unexpected career opportunity: “I was visiting her in Yorkshire and found that she was playing all the time with her tablet. She would only come to life when we were playing family games. So I came up with the idea for a game that could capture her attention: that first idea eventually became [*Randomise*](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Randomise-game-Draw-describe-victory/dp/B018KDFF1C/).”\n\nIt began by writing words on blank cards, which Hazel would rearrange to generate scenes to act out or draw with her sister. Soon, [*Randomise*](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Randomise-game-Draw-describe-victory/dp/B018KDFF1C/)was being played by the entire family and with friends. Knowing she was onto something, Hazel refined the rules to maximise the fun, while her friend Lee, a professional illustrator, helped her create the graphics that would ultimately give [*Randomise*](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Randomise-game-Draw-describe-victory/dp/B018KDFF1C/) its distinctive look. \n\n**Roll the dice**\n\n“I always liked the idea of being my own boss, plus I wanted to have time to start a family. Could *[Randomise](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Randomise-game-Draw-describe-victory/dp/B018KDFF1C/)* work as a business and allow me to be independent?” Hazel took the leap. “By that time I was looking for a new job. I chose to give myself four months and see if this could really work.” The timing was perfect: the day after founding her company, Gamely Ltd, Hazel discovered she was pregnant with her son Charlie. \n\nShe opened a Kickstarter account to test the waters: “I didn’t want to use the savings of a lifetime just to find out my friends were only being kind!” To her delight, she managed to raise £4,500 to manufacture the first batch of games, which she began to sell through physical retailers. \n\n“It was encouraging, but the logistics were more complex than I had anticipated. Amazon was an obvious choice, it is a key place people go to when they are looking for toys and board games.” She signed up for [Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA)](https://services.amazon.co.uk/services/fulfilment-by-amazon/features-benefits.html), Amazon’s logistics service: “I used to be knee-deep in tape and bubble wrap; now I could simply send to Amazon a big batch of games, and they would take care of everything, from packing to shipping.” \n\n*[Randomise](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Randomise-game-Draw-describe-victory/dp/B018KDFF1C/)* applied for [Amazon Launchpad](https://www.amazon.co.uk/b/ref=lpad_idilm?node=7212961031), a program specifically designed to give extra visibility to start-ups on Amazon. “It allowed us to upload extra images and a video to convey the hilarity of playing *[Randomise](http://https://www.amazon.co.uk/Randomise-game-Draw-describe-victory/dp/B018KDFF1C/)*. We took part in deal schemes like Deal of the Day. It was a fantastic way to get people to play.” Soon, her business went from selling a handful of copies to hundreds in a matter of months. \n\n**Pass go!**\n\nHazel has now licensed foreign language versions of the game, and with both a young family and young business, her time is more precious than ever. She hasn’t lost her playful attitude: “Amazon has helped me make time for my family and focus on what I am good at, which is coming up with fresh ideas for new games!”","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"About Amazon","url":"https://www.aboutamazon.com","sameAs":["https://x.com/amazonnews","https://www.linkedin.com/company/amazon","https://www.instagram.com/amazonnews"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://assets.aboutamazon.com/bd/8f/88e7b0314cc2bd05b9de3155a0fe/amazon-news.svg"},"parentOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Amazon","url":"https://www.amazon.com","sameAs":["https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3884","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_(company)","https://x.com/Amazon"]}}}