Blue Orange USA

In 2000, Julien Mayot and Thierry Denoual founded Blue Orange Games with the idea to spread the timeless pleasure of sharing good times with family and friends around a great game.

Blue Orange Games has built a reputation for award-winning games with remarkable quality and high play value. Based in San Francisco, we conceptualize, design, and promote our games in-house. Designed to be easy to learn, fun for all ages, and build upon important skills, our games grow with families and make lasting memories. Design, quality, and durability are our priority.

We started with a single game, Gobblet, which Thierry Denoual invented after a flash of inspiration while in a coffee shop in the late 90’s. After consulting chess masters, mathematicians, and hiring a wood worker, Denoual partnered with Julien Mayot to bring the game to the market. Julien loaded an old Jeep with 1,000 Gobblet games and embarked upon a 3 month road trip 22,000 miles across the United States, visiting 500 stores and selling 10,000 games!

The partners, both natives of France, named their new business Blue Orange Games, taking inspiration from the surrealist poem by Paul Eluard, “The Earth is Blue Like an Orange.” The pair felt the name was in line with their vision of a happy planet, which the company furthers by following eco-friendly business practices to provide fun games for all.

Seventeen years later, Gobblet has sold over a million copies and Blue Orange is an industry-acclaimed company with a catalog of over 100 games that are sold in 15 countries worldwide. Our games can be found at more than 3,000 specialty stores in the United States, and larger chains like Barnes and Noble, Whole Foods, Fred Meyer, and Michaels.

Each year, we carry out the tradition of the road trip that started it all. Our team of “Game Gurus” visits every one of our retailers in the United States. Meeting face-to-face has created strong relationships with our retail partners. In-store game nights and conversations with customers and players alike play a key role in our creativity, as the interaction inspires improvements, new games, and mutually beneficial marketing actions.

Looking towards the future with an eye for constant innovation, we are dedicated to our mission to bring hot games to a cool planet.