Name: Nick Metzler

Location: New York City, NY

YIC: 2010 Senior Category Winner & 2011 Senior Category Winner

Invention(s): That’s Cheating (2010) & Squashed (2011)

Where are your inventions now?

Squashed has been in the market for 11 years, and while it's not actively getting produced anymore, it still ranks very highly on Amazon reviews. That's Cheating! has yet to debut into the market. 

Have you invented any other toys/games since the YIC?

Oh yes!

Jumanji (newest version)

Hail Hydra

Love Is Blind Board Game

Harry Potter Catch the Snitch

and many many others!

Also a challenge on Survivor and I'm working on a couple video games right now! 

You can also watch me in a reality competition game show called “Got to Get Out” on Hulu: Got To Get Out | Official Trailer | Hulu

Are you planning to work or study in a related field (STEM, design, entrepreneurship, toy/game industry, etc.)?

Yes! I have been designing and building board games since I was 4 years old. Before I graduated middle school, I had designed over 20 board games, with just cardboard, markers, and some random game pieces that I could find around my house. 

When I was 16, I won the Young Inventor Challenge for my first published game, Squashed. This became the flagship game for PlaSmart and had global distribution in 20+ countries for 10 years. 

By 22, I became a full-time game designer for Spin Master, bringing over 35 games to market over 6 years. 

Being a game designer has been my dream job, ever since I was that 4 year old kid, sitting on my bedroom floor with cardboard and markers. It was a pursuit of passion and I’m thrilled to be in a place where I can share that knowledge to hopefully bring more fun games into this crazy world with https://www.metzlergames.com/. 

(Nick won the 2015 TAGIE Young Innovator Award, too! Here he is with David Yakos, President of Streamline Design.)