Planet Money: BOARD GAMES 3 – What’s in a Name?

Episode Date: January 22, 2026
Hosts: Erica Barris and Kenny Malone
Main Theme: The high-stakes, surprisingly human, and often unscientific process of naming and theming a mass-appeal board game for big-box retail, as Planet Money partners with Exploding Kittens to bring their own game to market.

Episode Overview

This episode follows the Planet Money team as they, in partnership with Exploding Kittens, tackle one of the most crucial aspects of launching a board game: picking the name and the theme. Drawing inspiration from the Nobel-winning paper "The Market for Lemons," their card game is rooted in economic principles of asymmetric information and mounting distrust—but to succeed in the real world of Target and Walmart, it needs something much catchier than that. The show digs into why naming is everything, explores the messy creative process, tests candidates, faces global marketing snags, and finally reveals the game's name: Sell Me a Sasquatch.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Naming Matters So Much

• Story of Yacht/Yahtzee:
  Kenny recounts (00:06) the origin of Yahtzee, a dice game originally called "Yacht." The pivotal shift from "Yacht" to "Yahtzee" showcases how a name can make or break a game's success:

  “A good title or a bad title will absolutely sink a really great game.” – Kenny Malone (00:34)

• Expert Warning:
  Long-time game consultant Jamie Wolanski, known for bringing Settlers of Catan to Target, reinforces the message:

  “Picking the right theme is going to be critical to making it work, because a good title or a bad title will just absolutely sink a really great game.” – Jamie Wolanski (03:15)

2. The Unscientific Art of Naming

• The Exploding Kittens team describes their prototyping process: spend “0%” energy on theme until the game’s mechanics work, then pivot to theming and naming. It's all about what “sticks.”
• Art Director Stefanie Pesta:

  “This part of the process is a lot of like, seeing what sticks…we're kind of looking to capture that feeling.” (12:35)

• The process is compared to cooking by instinct rather than recipe—a tough pill for econ-journalist types.

3. The Three Feet, Three Seconds Rule (The Retailer’s Perspective)

• Jamie Wolanski breaks down consumer psychology:

  “You have literally three seconds to get that person to decide to pick up that box, flip it over, learn a little bit more about it…and take it home.” (15:05)

• Planet Money’s audience (millennial, 28–44, often women controlling household purchases) and purchase motivations: gift-giving or immediate game night needs.

4. The Big Three Theme Pitches from Exploding Kittens (09:20–12:19)

• Misfit Mascots:
  Trade whimsical mascots for a hypothetical team.
• Sell Me a Sasquatch:
  Collect and trade cryptids—adorable, mysterious creatures like Sasquatch and the Loch Ness monster.
• Cats as Salespeople:
  Anthropomorphic cats take on classic deal-making professions.
• The process favors what "feels" sticky and memorable over data or metrics.

5. Why "Sell Me a Sasquatch" Stuck

• Despite initial reservations about data-light decision making, “Sell Me a Sasquatch” keeps resurfacing.
• Nostalgia’s power: tapping into memories of "The X-Files," "Unsolved Mysteries," and pop culture cryptids connects with millennial shoppers.
• The rhythm and “fun” of the name itself make it memorable.

6. The International Dilemma (23:05–24:16)

• European partners warn that “Sasquatch” doesn’t translate; few outside North America recognize the term.

  “We would have to either translate the word Sasquatch to something else and suddenly the game doesn't have the right name, or we’d have to leave that in English and just let people scratch their heads.” – Kelly Vopilek (23:58)

• Options to retheme (e.g., swap meets with silly objects, reviving the car theme) fail to resonate. The team is stuck until the original “Sell Me a Sasquatch” again wins out for its unique, sticky appeal.

7. Final Decision and Moving Forward (34:16–36:38)

• After dozens of alternatives, Exploding Kittens and Planet Money embrace the “American” version—Sell Me a Sasquatch—even if it’s less internationally viable.
• Next steps invite listener participation:

  “We need creative ideas that fit into the Planet Money wheelhouse. Like invented creatures with an economics twist—Toxi, the toxic asset. A literal black swan, a sad, very slow deer: stagflation.” – Erica Barris (35:56)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the pressure to get it right:

  “I was kind of joking and now I actually do feel genuinely a little nervous about this now. I think what I found so genuinely nerve wracking is that we did not have a Yahtzee yet. We just had yacht.” – Kenny Malone (07:35)

• On theme selection challenges:

  “We were not just choosing something that would appeal to a potential customer. We were choosing something that Walmart and Target think will appeal…” – Kenny Malone (08:32)

• On trusting the gut:

  “It’s like when someone gives you a recipe and they just say, ‘Oh, you’ll know when it’s done.’ Like, NO, tell me how long and at what temperature!” – Erica Barris (12:51)

• On Sell Me a Sasquatch’s nostalgia:

  “That was surgical nostalgia, right to my elder millennial heart. To Sunday evening with dad safely watching spooky X File stories.” – Kenny Malone (19:07)

• On international market challenges:

  “We’d have to leave that in English and just let people scratch their heads and say, ‘I don't know what that word is. I can’t pronounce it... I’m going to move on to the next game.’” – Kelly Vopilek (23:58)

• On finally committing:

  “We came up with 400 million other titles, and everyone kept coming back…you’ve got to at least give us something better than Sell Me a Sasquatch. And we just couldn’t.” – Kelly Vopilek (34:16)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:06 – Origin Story: How Yahtzee got its name, lesson on the value of a good name.
• 02:26 – Exploding Kittens explains their prototyping & theming process.
• 03:15 – “The most critical thing…is naming it” – Jamie Wolanski.
• 09:20–12:19 – Exploding Kittens’ three initial theme/name pitches.
• 15:05 – Jamie Wolanski unveils the “three feet, three seconds” retail rule.
• 18:14 – Decision: The team's emotional and nostalgic connection to Sell Me a Sasquatch.
• 20:08 – Jamie hears the proposed title for the first time, assesses its appeal.
• 21:47 – Jamie gives Sell Me a Sasquatch a “nine out of ten”—then, with the addition of a fairy, a “ten.”
• 23:05–24:16 – The international market’s challenge with “Sasquatch.”
• 29:02–31:39 – Ideas that don’t make the cut, listener feedback on bad car-themed names.
• 34:16 – Final decision: Sell Me a Sasquatch is officially the title for the US market.
• 35:56–36:38 – Call for listener cryptid and econ-creature ideas.

Takeaways For Listeners

• The name and theme are paramount for a game's success in retail; you get “three seconds and three feet” to win a customer in the aisle.
• Despite the desire for data-driven processes, creative decisions in publishing often come down to gut feel and group instinct.
• Nostalgia and “stickiness” can win out over broad logistical challenges—even major internationalization issues.
• Listener input is integral: Planet Money invites participation in building the final card set for Sell Me a Sasquatch.

How to Get Involved

Submit your cryptid or econ-creature ideas at: planetmoneygame.com
Deadline: End of this month!

Final Thought:
The journey from “game rules” to shelf-ready product is harrowing, wild—and, apparently, a little bit magical (and maybe a little furry).

“We were feeling about as good as we could possibly feel about cracking our name and our theme and turning our yacht into a Yahtzee.” – Kenny Malone (22:29)