Let’s Do the Twister!
Games with playing pieces—like checkers, chess, and Pachisi—have been played by people the world over for centuries. But a milestone in board game history occurred when a game was developed that used the players themselves as the playing pieces. In 1965, ad designer Reyn Guyer, along with Chuck Foley and Neil Rabens, devised the game that would eventually become known as Twister. Players interacted with each other on a colored mat after a spin was taken. At first, hardly anyone gave Twister much chance of succeeding. That changed, however, after a few minutes of television exposure launched the game on a trajectory to worldwide fame. Today, more than half a century later, an estimated 65 million people have enjoyed playing Twister, the best party game around.
A MAN WITH AN IDEA
Born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, Reyn Guyer graduated from Dartmouth College in 1957. He joined his father’s company, the Reynolds Guyer Agency of Design, which specialized in creating store displays for products developed by Fortune 500 companies.
The original idea for Twister took root in 1964, when the S.C.
