Earwig Enterprises

Creation Of The Game
Infection, called Sicko in its first inception, started when a friend at Hartnell asked me to think of something to make us rich. The next day I had the game. We spent hours in the library looking up the weirdest and grossest diseases and afflictions we could find. I set up the basic premise and rules of the game and we made the board and cards. It looked like a third grade project, no art abilities in either of us. The game worked and we play tested it late at night in Lyons on Main Street. We sent a copy off by registered mail to ourselves, in case Parker Brothers was going to steal our idea. Later when I sent the game to them, they returned it unopened with a letter informing me they did not accept unsolicited material! Steal it? They didn't want it when I tried to give it to them.

This friend and I went on to U.C. Berkeley together and shared a room. We have not spoken to each other since. The game went dormant for several years, as I did not have the time, money, or energy to make it properly. In grad school, when the experiments where not going well, I found some comfort working on the game. I made a new version in 1991 and copyrighted it. The game now looked like a fifth grader made it. I play tested it some more and added Intensive care, changed the diseases used, and all of the cure cards.

I finally finished school and made enough money to pay off all my loans and get free and clear of debt. So why not really make the game? I got my Uncle Tommy, a professional artist, to make the images and hired a design house to do the layout. Then I had to find a printer, someone to make the playing pieces, put the board and boxes together, buy dice and a shrink wrapper, make cards, get a business license and a resale license, etc.... I had lots of help from friends and family in sorting the 226 cards and forty bills for each of the four thousand games. I stored the games in my apartment; a little cramped. The boards filled the closets and the boxes stacked to the ceiling in every room. The cards which were not yet sorted were in boxes lining the hallway and the front room. Stacks of cards currently being sorted filled the table in front of the TV.

The first games went to friends and the two ladies who worked in the mailbox place I use. They all wanted me to sign the games, which seemed very strange to me. Games and More in the Great Mall in Milpitas, CA, was the first store to place an order. I hope to watch Infection grow from here on. Wanna buy one? We now have a new addition to the game called The Animal Helpers Version.