Rochester Hills, Rochester, Troy

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

Robin Buckson / The Detroit News Spooks: The Haunting Mystery Game is the brainchild of Dr. Paul Koch, a Rochester Hills High graduate. He's sold about 1,000 copies.

Board game is played on theme of Halloween

Doctor invents fun activity for party, then puts it on market

By Joe Menard / The Detroit News

Robin Buckson / The Detroit News Spooks, reminiscent of Clue, features a 52-card deck that can create 546 game possibilities. Sensations accompany the characters. Spooky game Spooks: The Haunting Mystery Game is available at http://www.spooks.us/ by calling (877) SPOOKS-US or by visiting the Little Professor Book Center in Dearborn, Hobby Town USA in Ann Arbor and Riders Hobby Shops in Taylor, Canton and Madison Heights. Cost is $19.95. Robin Buckson / The Detroit News Dr. Paul Koch says Spooks, free of demons and devils, is fast paced and suitable for children as young as 8. Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

ROCHESTER -- A 1969 Rochester High School graduate hopes to spook things up this Halloween season with a new mystery board game.

Paul Koch, an emergency room physician, created Spooks: The Haunting Mystery Game in 1998 after unsuccessfully trying to find a Halloween-themed game for a party he was hosting.

The lack of Halloween games prompted Koch to invent his own, and it immediately caught on.

"I was amazed," Koch said. "Everyone enjoyed the game so much, they didn't want to go back to the party."

Koch said he tossed around the idea of patenting the game for a while, and after all the positive feedback he received from friends, he decided to apply for a patent and produce the game commercially.

"It has been a lot of work," he said, adding that the game first hit stores just before Halloween last year. "I'm a doctor. I don't know anything about business or marketing."

The game is similar to Clue, he said, but one of the differences is that characters are not only spotted in rooms, they are also accompanied by sensations such as a chill or fog or screams. The 52-card deck can result in 546 game possibilities.

"Everyone participates and sees what cards are played. It's very fast paced," he said, adding that it is safe for children 8 and older. "It's all very family-friendly. There's nothing evil here, no demons or devils."

Koch, who now lives in Dearborn, played a hand in every aspect of the game's development, including the artwork. One of his favorite features is the dead card pile, a plastic coffin where played cards are discarded.

"It's become known as the game with the toy coffin," he said.

Koch has sold about 1,000 copies of the game through his Web site and a handful of Metro Detroit stores. He's creating more characters for a second edition of Spooks and has another game in the works called Spys.

"This is all still so new to me," he said. "I'm just pleased that people enjoy it. That just feels good."

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