History of Creating "Movie Time"
She brought Xerox pages of lines from movies and we were instructed to pair up and identify the movies that produced the lines. We were terrible at the game but had so much fun in the effort. During the next few months, I wondered if it might be possible to develop an entire game based on Wendy's movie quote game.
The first thought was to have simple flash cards with the quotes but thought it would be more interesting to have pieces move around a board. The second idea was the realization that while some lines are quite memorable, they are not as widely known as others so there should be a point system that awards more points for correctly identifying more difficult or lesser known movies. For example, everyone knows what movie gave us "If you build it, he will come." But fewer can name the movie that brought us "Why don't you come up sometime and see me." Both are great lines but one in substantially more difficult so it should receive more points.
The prototype concept was to give the line and a number of clues, based on the degree of difficulty; the more clues you used the less number of spaces your playing piece would move forward on the board. We collected a hundred or so lines, fashioned a crude board and called together some friends and family for a field test. While they seemed to really enjoy the concept, they learned very quickly to use clues strategically to land on a certain space. I did not like the way that played so we retooled the rules and had another test with a different group. This time, we inserted the point system rather than have pieces move forward based on clues provided. From this test, we learned that the players needed some point of reference for all but the easiest quotes.
 One more rework and we had a point system 1-4 and the same references for all lines. Each quote included the actor(s), year of release and the line(s). When this version was tested, the participants played it exactly as I had envisioned. They used reasoning from the clues provided to figure out the correct answer. Another decision we made was to be a little different from all other games (that we know of) by having players begin play on any space they like. Since the object is to accumulate points, it seemed that a specific starting place was not necessary. So the concept was finalized. The game includes luck (roll of the die that determines level of difficulty), memory (of the movie) and strategy (when player lands on 'Your Choice'). When played by an individual, the game is a little difficult, even for rabid movie fans, but when played in teams of 3-5, players are surprised at how many questions they can answer.
About a year into the two-year development process, I discovered that there were three other movie trivia games on the market. All of these are general movie trivia with about one-forth of the questions devoted to quotes. Because I admire quality writing and believed that the lines were much more interesting than general movie trivia, I devoted the entire game to quotes. Maybe one day, we can put the game on CD or DVD movie, so you can play along at home, just like your watching a movie.
In most players' opinions, what is important is the number of questions offered. As with other trivia games, players want lots of questions so that they will not be hearing recycled questions in a relatively short period of play. Our game has more questions than any others with 1792 quotes from about 930 movies and there no more than four quotes per movie.
Designing the Actual Game Board
Also, the boards are visually unappealing with varying themes of colored squares. We wanted a board that was interesting and visually appealing. To create the board, I purchased a 35mm take-up reel on e-bay, had it chromed, photographed, and digitized. The photos are generally representative of movies but none came directly from the movies.
In addition to having fun playing the game, participants will get a little movie history whether they want it or not. For example, they will hear the first line ever spoken in an American film. "Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain't heard nothin' yet." (1927). They will know who first uttered, "Badges, I don't have to show you any stinking badges!" They will get the correct lines that are often misquoted. It's "If you want to call me that, smile." Not "Smile when you call me that." They will know who was the voice of ET, the Extraterrestrial and Pinocchio. They will want to see movies that they have not seen before. I had one person tell me that they were making a list of films they had not seen because the lines were so good.
The movies are as old as 1927 and as recent as 2002 "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Most of the quotes are from movies released in the last 20 years. Many of them are seen on television quite often.
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