You've seen the billboards around town. You've heard the game being played on your favorite radio station. You might have even seen the Ford Focus covered with blots tooling around town. The inventor that created Pictionary, Rob Angel, now brings you the only game that allows players to release their creative and persuasive skills as they uncover images of each Th!nkBlot. The game will launch in Seattle with in-store demonstrations at various mass retail outlets, and be available exclusively in the area for the next three months.

In celebration of the Seattle launch of the Th!nkBlot, a $10,000 donation will be made to Rise n' Shine, a local non-profit organization. In addition to the fact that Seattle is Angel's home base, it's also been the ``laboratory'' where he and friends tested the game concept in it's different stages. The new board game challenges players to use their imagination to see as many different images within the wacky and eye-catching shapes formed by black ink. As images are revealed, players will be surprised by their opponent's creativity. But finding the image is not enough because players must also convince others to see what they see - any way they can. The players lucky enough to find the bonus images get extra points, bringing them closer to the final win.

``I actually had the idea for a game based on inkblots in a meeting,'' says Th!nkBlot inventor Rob Angel. ``Admittedly not paying attention to the proceedings, I wrote out the rules for the new game on the spot, forgetting that I was even in a meeting. This is a great way for friends, and strangers, to have hours of creative fun. They can let their imaginations run away with them in spotting the blots, but then they have to try to convince the other players that they see the same thing. It's sure to create hours of entertaining debates.''

Armed with a scorepad to write down their individual answers, the first player rolls the die to determine what they should be looking for in one of the 75 Th!nkBlot images. The 12-sided die reveals different categories and the players must look for objects relating to that category. They will have to look for Th!nkBlot images relating to categories from animals to food to clothing. If a blot is rolled, they players can look for anything they imagine. Once the category is determined, the timer gives the players 90 seconds to spot as many images in the blot that as can. They then write these images down on the scorepad. The fun begins when players have to convince the others that they too see the image. If they are successful points are scored. Also, on the back of each Blot are the top five answers. A player who matches one of these answers scores bonus points.

``The new Th!nkBlot game expands Mattel's portfolio of games, geared to adults 18-years and older with a creative twist,'' says Phil Jackson, Vice President of Games & Puzzles Marketing for Mattel, Inc. ``Players will love the fact that winning the game is based not only on their creativity, but also on their powers of persuasion. Th!nkBlot joins our expanding line as we continue to grow our games division to appeal to children, families, and adults. It's a new way to reach an audience that grew up playing traditional board games and are looking to bring back those great experiences with a game that they can call their own.''

The new Th!nkBlot game is currently only available in Seattle and is planned to be available nationwide in the Fall with an approximate retail price of $24.99.

The RTM staff had the opportunity to play a few rounds of Th!nkBlot at the Mattel showroom during February's American International Toy Fair and found it to be one of the more creative, fun games of recent years and we anticipate the game to big a big hit for Mattel.

[Updated 4/10/2000]