Outset Media Corporation is a Canadian company that develops and distributes family entertainment products, specializing in

board games A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...

party games Party games are games that are played at social gatherings to facilitate interaction and provide entertainment and recreation. Categories include (explicit) icebreaker, parlour (indoor), picnic (outdoor), and large group games.Frankel, Lillia ...

card games A card game is any game that uses playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, whether the cards are of a traditional design or specifically created for the game (proprietary). Countless card games exist, including famil ...

, and

jigsaw puzzles A jigsaw puzzle (with context, sometimes just jigsaw or just puzzle) is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking and mosaicked pieces. Typically each piece has a portion of a picture, which is complet ...

. In addition to developing its own games, Outset Media also distributes games and puzzles in Canada for United States–based companies.

History

The company was founded in 1996 by 23-year-old university student David Manga, originally with the sole purpose of publishing and distributing a single board game called All Canadian Trivia. Development of the product was 16 months. The original edition of All Canadian Trivia was released in May 1997. While the Original edition went on to become a Canadian bestseller - breaking 100,000 copies sold in Canada, the French edition was a flop and sold less than 3,000 copies."Member Spotlight"
Buy Canadian First, March 2, 2011. A limited print-run Millennium Edition of All Canadian Trivia was released in 1999. The game's creator embarked on a two-month

guerilla marketing Guerrilla marketing is an advertisement Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in term ...

campaign across Canada to promote the game. David Manga was selected as one of a hundred young Canadians to watch in the new millennium by

Maclean's ''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...

magazine. In 2002, Outset Media nearly closed its doors after its largest customer, Stewart House Publishing, a former gift division of book publisher

McClelland & Stewart McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Random House of Canada, Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann. ...

, ran into financial difficulties and went into bankruptcy. With nearly 50% of its annual revenue in bad debt and unrecoverable, Outset Media was bailed out with angel investments from family members and financing from the

Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; ) is a Canadian multinational Financial institution, financial services company and the Big Five (banks), largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 20 million clients and has more than ...

. Later that year, Outset Media added a new division, distributing other companies' games in Canada, when it began to distribute the line of "opoly" games from US-based

Late for the Sky ''Late for the Sky'' is the third studio album by American singer–songwriter Jackson Browne, released by Asylum Records on September 13, 1974. It peaked at number 14 on ''Billboards Pop Albums chart. In 2020, the album was deemed "c ...

. In 2003, Outset Media made its first appearance on the Profit magazine's annual ranking of Canada's Fastest-Growing Companies. The company would appear on the Profit 100 list for six consecutive years from 2003 to 2008.

Professor Noggin's

Outset Media's most recognized brand is the Professor Noggin's series of educational card games. First published in 2002, the series now includes 39 different titles, and has garnered 14 international toy awards to date. Over 1,000,000 copies have been sold worldwide, and the series has been translated into French as "Professeur Caboche".

Cobble Hill Puzzles

The Cobble Hill Puzzle Company is the sister company of Outset Media Corporation. The Cobble Hill brand is exclusively distributed by Outset Media in North America and has a worldwide distribution in 25 international markets. Cobble Hill big box puzzles are wholly made in the USA. The

jigsaw puzzle A jigsaw puzzle (with context, sometimes just jigsaw or just puzzle) is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking and mosaicked pieces. Typically each piece has a portion of a picture, which is comple ...

, box board, and

shrink film Shrink wrap, also shrink film, is a material made up of polymer plastic film. When heat is applied, it shrinks tightly over whatever it is covering. Heat can be applied with a handheld heat gun (electric or gas), or the product and film can p ...

are 100% recyclable and the brand is considered environmentally friendly meeting all CONEG requirements, as well as meeting and exceeding all requirements by the CPSIA. The line includes 2000 piece, 1000 piece, 500 piece, 350 piece Family puzzles, 275 piece Easy Handling puzzles, 60 piece, Floor Puzzles and Tray Puzzles. In 2018, Cobble Hill puzzles are used throughout the Sony Picture Classics film, Puzzle (2018 film), directed by Marc Turtletaub and written by

Oren Moverman Oren Moverman (; born July 4, 1966) is an Israeli-American Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, film director, and Emmy Award-winning film producer. He has directed the films '' The Messenger'', ''Rampart'', '' Time Out of Mind'', and '' The Di ...

. Cobble Hill puzzles are used as props for the retail store and are widely seen in the Theatrical release poster, as well as throughout th
Official Movie Trailer.

Supplier of the Year

The Neighbourhood Toy Stores of Canada (NETS), a non-profit association representing independent toy retailers across Canada, has named Outset Media the "Supplier of the Year" six times (2004–2007, 2011, and 2013-2014), beating out companies such as

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment holding company founded on December 6, 1923 by Henry, Hillel and Herma ...

, Irwin Toy, Lego, Mattel, and

Playmobil Playmobil () is a German line of toys produced by the Brandstätter Group (Geobra Brandstätter GmbH & Co KG), headquartered in Zirndorf, Germany. The signature Playmobil toy is a tall (1:24 scale) human figure with a smiling face. A wide range ...

. In 2013, Outset Media was named Supplier of the Year by the Canadian Gift Association (CGA), formerly CGTA. This is the first time CGA has awarded a company who isn't focused specifically on the gift industry.

International partnerships

Outset Media has developed distribution partnerships with several European and American game and puzzle companies, including MindWare,

Patch Products PlayMonster (formerly Patch Products) is a manufacturer and marketer of family entertainment products that specializes in games, children's puzzles, toys, activities, and teaching tools founded in 1985. In February 2016, Patch changed its compan ...

(now PlayMonster),"Outset Media named Canadian Distributor for Patch Products"
Gifts and Tableware, January 23, 2008. Fat Brain Toys, Royal & Langnickel,

, SmartLab Toys,

Pressman Toy Corporation Pressman Toy Corporation is a toy manufacturer based in Richardson, Texas. Founded in 1922 by Jack Pressman, it currently focuses on family games and licensed products. History Jack Pressman founded the company in 1922 in Brooklyn, New York. ...

, Goliath Games, Popular Playthings, Cheatwell Games, Maranda, Monkey Business Sports, Cobble Hill Puzzles, and D-Toys Puzzles.

List of products

Games developed by Outset Media

* All American Trivia * All Canadian Trivia * American Trivia Family Edition * Artifact, The Hunt for Stolen Treasure * Beam Me Up * Camper Damper * Canada-Opoly * Canadian Trivia Family Edition * Charades In-A-Box * Chicago Cribbage * Conjecture * Family Scavenger Hunt * Noggin Playground Preschool Games * Pond Hockey-Opoly * Professor Noggin's * Quebec-Opoly * Rhyme Thyme * Silent But Deadly * Skullduggery * The Great Dragon Race * Ultimate Baseball Trivia * Ultimate Hockey Trivia * What? '' Games 100 Best Party Game Runner Up'' * What? Girls Night Edition

Games licensed by Outset Media

* Car Tag * Dung Deck * Fart * Humm Bug * Kids Charades * Know Your Partner * MindTrap * PickTwo * Saucy Charades * SideLinks * Telepaths * Them and Us * Theories * Word Thief

Games distributed in Canada by Outset Media

* 5 Second Rule * Bed Bugs * BuzzWord * CrossCribb *

Farkle Farkle, or Farkel, is a family List of dice games, dice game with varying rules. Alternate names and similar games include Dix Mille, Ten Thousand, Cosmic Wimpout, Chicago, Greed, Hot Dice, Volle Lotte, Squelch, Zilch, and Zonk. A version has bee ...

* Horse-Opoly * Malarky * Q-Bitz * Qwirkle *

Stratego ''Stratego'' ( ) is a Strategy game, strategy board game for two players on a board of 10×10 squares. Each player controls 40 pieces representing individual Army officer ranks, officer and soldier ranks in an army. The pieces have Napoleonic W ...

* What's Yours Like * Word Shout

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.outsetmedia.com Companies established in 1996 Card game publishing companies Board game publishing companies Game manufacturers