Robert Angel is a Canadian-born American board game inventor who created the word guessing game

Pictionary ''Pictionary'' (, , ) is a charades-inspired word-guessing game invented by Robert Angel with graphic design by Gary Everson and first published in 1985 by Angel Games Inc. Angel Games licensed Pictionary to Western Publishing. Hasbro purch ...

in 1985. Since selling Pictionary, he has invented other board games and products. Angel later became involved with

non profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

companies.

Career

In 1982, following his graduation from

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, s ...

with a degree in Business Administration and while working as a waiter, Angel invented Pictionary. After work, Angel would gather with friends to play a version of the game that required each player to randomly locate a word in the dictionary, then sketch it for his teammates. Two years later in 1984, Angel moved to Seattle and found his old notes on the game. After a few positive play tests with family he decided to go into the games production business. Angel compiled the original word list, and business partners Terry Langston and Gary Everson joined the company to design it. They produced the first 1,000 games in Angel's apartment. Angel first published Pictionary in 1985 through Angel Games, they sold 6,000 copies in one year at $35 each. They licensed the game in 1986 in a joint venture between The Games Gang and

Western Publishing Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was an American company founded in 1907 in Racine, Wisconsin, best known for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also ...

. Then in 1994,

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 ...

took over publishing after acquiring the games business of

. In 2001, Pictionary was sold to

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

. At that time they were in 60 countries and 45 languages, with 11 versions just in the US and a total of 32 million games sold worldwide. Angel developed another game adult board game called ThinkBlot. While the game was not as successful as Pictionary, it was still a hit for 2 years. Angel has also worked as a film and television producer on ''Finding Hillywood'' (2013) (aka ''Film Festival: Rwanda''), the 1997 game show

, and ''It Snows All the Time'' in 2015.

Personal life

Angel is the board president for Inspire Youth Project, an organization that provides emotional support programs and stability for children and teens affected by

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

Published games

* Pictionary: Hong Kong Golden Edition * Pictionary: Party Edition * Pictionary Junior * ThinkBlot

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Angel, Robert 1958 births 20th-century American businesspeople American board game designers Businesspeople from Seattle Businesspeople from Vancouver Businesspeople from Washington (state) Canadian emigrants to the United States Living people Naturalized citizens of the United States People from Spokane, Washington Western Washington University alumni