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Watch Ya’ Mouth creators have ties to Mid-Ohio Valley

Game creators’ family live in Walker, Spencer

Photo Provided Peter and Alison Denbigh at the offices of amazon.com for the game they created, Watch Ya’ Mouth. The game is a hit seller on amazon.com.

PARKERSBURG — A husband and wife with ties to the Mid-Ohio Valley have created the hottest selling game on Amazon.com.

Alison and Peter Denbigh of Staunton, Va., came up with Watch Ya’ Mouth just this year and are busy organizing production by six suppliers to fill orders. And Christmas is around the corner, she said.

“We are humbled by the response we have received from this game and we love helping people laugh and bond with their families,” Alison said.

The game involves a device much like a cheek retractor used by dentists that stretch the lips to expose the teeth. Players try to guess what the person wearing the retractor is saying and the players who do it fast and correctly win the points,

But playing Watch Ya’ Mouth is easier said than done. Talking with the retractor isn’t easy, Alison said.

“It’s really, really difficult to say certain words if you can’t close your lips,” she said.

Among the toughest phrases are “Fumble the Ball,” “I Just Filled My Pants,” “Jiggly Jell-O,” “Mama Mia” and “Mop the Floor,” Alison said. B’s and P’s are extremely difficult to pronounce, she said.

“Parkersburg would be extremely hard to say,” Alison said.

The couple has family in the region. Her maiden name is Varner and she lived in Parkersburg until the sixth grade, attending Emerson School before her the family moved to Winchester, Va.

She is the daughter of Roger Varner, who is retired and lives in Walker, and Patty and Mark Taylor. Peter is from Spencer, the son of John and Karen Denbigh.

The base version of the game is $19.99 and comes with the retractors, a timer and 143 cards from which the players get the phrases, which are suitable for ages 8 and up. Expansion decks are available for $12.99 and include family-oriented or adult-natured phrases.

It was Peter’s idea for the game from the movie “The Boss” with Jenny McCarthy, from a scene where she is having her teeth whitened. They experimented and developed prototypes, tweaked it and got it ready for Kickstarter in May.

The goal was to raise $6,000, enough to begin production and fulfill the orders from Kickstarter, Alison said.

However, they exceeded expectations and raised $27,000, she said.

Kickstarter “is a fantastic way to get an idea out there” to see if there is demand without putting out a lot of money up front, she said.

Now the Denbighs are looking for suppliers to manufacture the game to meet demand, contending with counterfeiters and knock offs and dealing with distribution. Alison, who has been in finance for 15 years, now works fulltime for their company, Skyler Innovations.

They have distributors in Canada, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom and the game is in Toys R’ Us, Target and independent toy stores. It is the No. 1 selling game on amazon.com in three categories, toys, card games and Launchpad, a division of Amazon.

“We’re surprised and we are honored,” Peter said. “I call it the entrepreneur’s dream.”

The reward, after learning from the many failures and successes, comes when everything comes together and a dream is fulfilled, he said.

“It really is possible to make a living doing something you love,” he said.

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