In this cooperative math card game for kids, your Elevator is full of Monsters trying to go to work. If the Elevator gets too heavy, it breaks and everyone loses. If the Elevator reaches the 20th floor without breaking, everyone wins! 

Monsters in the Elevator is for 2-6 player, ages 7-to-11 (and up). It takes 2 minutes to learn and 5-20 minutes to play.

There are two decks: The Draw and the Floors. The Draw deck contains Monsters with weight numbers on their bodies.

Each Floor of the Elevator is a new round of the game, where players check the new Floor card and the Monster cards in the Elevator to see if any of those Monsters exit (get discarded).

Then the players each enter a Monster card from their hand into the Elevator at the same time...

and finally they add up the weights of the Monsters in the Elevator. If the sum is above the Elevator Capacity (50 x the number of players), the Elevator crashes and everyone loses.

Otherwise, everyone is dealt a new card and play continues to the next Floor. All the players win if the Elevator makes it safely to the 20th floor!

There are also Actions in the Draw deck that you can choose to play instead of a Monster, including cards that Change the Floor up or down, cards that make one Monster Exit to Get Exercise or take a Phone Call, or cards that completely clear the Elevator with Giant Bees or a Fire Alarm. Families can decide how much they want to keep their hand secret and how much they want to share for easier cooperation.

Finally, in the Advanced Mode the Floors are shuffled and played face-down, and without knowing what Floor might show up next, the likelihood of crashing goes up and the game gets much more intense with every round.

WHAT IS IN THE BOX? 

The standard deck contains 96 cards: 20 Floors, 64 Monsters, and 12 Actions (4 All Monster Exits, 4 Single Monster Exits, 3 Change the Floor, and 1 Swap a Monster).  A new card is being added for this Indiegogo with every 100 new contributors-- check out the updates!

My name is Jason Wiser. I teach Art, Animation, and Game Design at Harvard, Tufts, Emerson, and Northeastern Universities. I used to work in console games, but now I make games for my daughter, Yaela, and she loves to share them with others! 

When she started to enjoy math, I designed Monsters in the Elevator with Yaela to help her build math confidence and to learn and practice important skills like estimation and arithmetic. Yaela has been playtesting my games for years, and she was very excited to be involved in this project. She named many of the monsters, decided which art should go with which weight, and created the Advanced Play mode by suggesting we mix up the Floors to remove the carefully crafted pacing, and place the Floors face-down to remove the ability to plan for the next Floor, creating far more intense gameplay experiences!

We have playtested the game for many months and found kids love the cute Monsters and the excitement of trying to survive each round.  Parents love watching their kids get into the calculations to see if the weight is too much on each Floor, and to measure the impact of their choices throughout the game.

We have a fantastic support team of three senior students from The New England Institute of Art: Madeleine Bracket, Jeannie Holmes, and Anna Giannuzzi, who are helping us run demos, design marketing materials, and generally saving the day behind the scenes.

It has been so exciting watching kids get thoroughly engrossed in the math of this game. We want to get Monsters in the Elevator into as many homes, schools, and libraries as we can.

We are trying to hit a funding goal of at least $2,500 to meet minimum quantities for quality manufacturing and the production of new cards.​ For every 100 people who donate at any level, we will add a new card to everyone’s deck! For every 50 copies of the game claimed through this campaign we will donate a copy to a library or a school. Help us bring this game to more kids!

We are so excited to be 1 of 5 Finalists in the Hasbro Gaming Lab family game challenge! We need at least 100 different backers to qualify to win, and then the judges will decide (including Shark Tank Judge Daymond John!) . 

• The main Perk is the game, but given the enthusiasm we have seen for the character designs I am offering stickers and stuffed monsters as well. I love teaching game art and design to students of all ages, so you can expect some Perks about opportunities for art and game development lessons with me.
• Those who contribute will have access to contests during the campaign!
• Even if we do not meet our goal, anyone who contributes will get their Perks.

Read the first reviews,

•  Indie Game Report:

"Monsters in the Elevator is a fantastic little cooperative card game with a real kid-friendly sense of humor. This game packs some nice strategic and educational concepts into a quick, cute and light package. Since you can teach the rules in a matter of a few seconds, I’d highly recommend this game to a family of young gamers."

•  GeekDad:

"...it’s a cute, quick game that kids will enjoy. There’s a lot of room for some fun variations on the rules to make it more or less challenging, and I could see it being a nice tool in classrooms or anywhere you want to give kids a little practice with addition."

• Cardboard Republic: 

"With easy to teach rules, an amusingly offbeat premise, and just the right mix of light decision-making alongside an inherent unpredictability over what the other players will do, this is one 20 minute Filler Game that pushes a lot of the right buttons. "

• We have been thrilled to hear from parents and librarians who got early copies of the game, how much their kids are enjoying it and learning! One librarian said her after-school group was improving their literacy as well as their math: "They learned a new word today, thanks to the Flatulence card. That was pretty awesome. :)" 

"The game is fun and educational!"

"I love that we can interact with people while we are playing!"

(after seeing their child contribute to a team discussion on the math for proceeding to the next floor) "I want this for my kid right now!"

The beauty of a "Flexible" campaign on Indiegogo is we can guarantee everyone who contributes will get their promised Perk. The game will go to press within a month of the end of the campaign. The printer is ready. We just need your help to make it happen!

We want to share Monsters in the Elevator with as many kids as we can. Please help us get the word out about this campaign by using the Indiegogo share tools!

• Support us on this Indiegogo! 
• Get an extra copy for another 7-11 year old in your life!
• Follow us on facebook, twitter, or sign up for email updates!
• Share this campaign with friends you think might like it using the "Share This Project" buttons!
• Please email us with any questions or concerns!

PLEASE NOTE: To get a copy/copies of the game please click on a "Perk" option.  The cost of shipping will be added before you donate, as needed.

CANADIANS: I calculated the wrong shipping for you on the regular Perks, and so I set up this Perk just for you!

Finally, a plug: Please also check out the Indiegogo campaigns by the other 4 Hasbro Gaming Lab Finalists:

Steve Ehrensperger: Aardvark's Runaway Railroad

Michael Eskue: Trash Pandas

Eugene Bryant: Cloud Control

Kelly North Adams: Chibi Quest