Qhen, in July 1993, Ignacio Guardia entered the Leclerc Center of the BAB, in Anglet, at the time managed by the unforgettable Gilles Zemour, Natcho – this is how he is nicknamed by his colleagues – unpacking boxes delivery to the Cultural Space, would never have imagined extracting his own invention from it, 29 years later. A dice game that he called “100 for 100 winner” and that he is offering this Christmas period.
Its format, similar to a deck of cards, and its price (8.90 euros, editor's note) have snowballed. “I am even more delighted that all Leclerc stores in the Basque Country have highlighted it, but also Intersport. And two left…”, reveals the inventor.
“I loved comics and my department manager at the time, Dany Pascaut, quickly realized that I was passionate about them. Little by little, I became responsible for the bookstore and then responsible for the entire Cultural Space, with the TVs, computers, video games,” he says.
The game creator cap arrived later, by chance. “It took me about nine months ago. From time to time, I play Yam's and when I went to bed one evening, I had a flash. I imagined a simple little game to play with dice. I got up to write down all my ideas and in the morning, everything was created, my game, its rules. He gets closer to everything and no game in the end,” Natcho continues.
This “100 for 100 winner” is close to 421 because we have to count the dice, but also to Uno because there are bonuses, even special penalties. “Instead of cards, I imagined, in addition to the four classic dice, which you throw first, a fifth die which validates the draw with a visual for each of the six faces. One can make you go back, the other skip a turn, another cancels the winnings of your turn, or you can hit the jackpot by doubling the total of the four dice drawn, or even a joker which allows you to choose the bonus that interests you,” explains the inventor.
Why “100 for 100 winner”? “Because over the rounds, with two, three, even eight players, you accumulate your draw,” continues Ignacio Guardia. The first to reach the total of 100 wins. It's a super simple game to understand. It's like cycling, you do it once and it's for life. » But with the help of a card explaining the rules of the game, all the same.
A race against time
“At the store, few people knew about my project,” he continues. I still spoke about it to my CEO, Jean-Claude Dumasdelage, which was the least I could do and I offered him my game. We have such freedom here that we can take a lot of initiatives. »
Ignacio Guardia registered the rights for the brand, the dice and for two formats before having them manufactured in France as well as for a possible version with cards for children.
For this daring entrepreneur, the die is cast. “I am very satisfied with the response from the first customers who bought some for Christmas and then came back for acquaintances. »
