At your Peril

Retired Jay County High School teacher Lisa Schwieterman Wood remembers the night her son Drew asked her to play the new game he invented.

 “We were at the table at the house, and he said, ‘Mom, come over here!’” she recalled. “Just sitting at our kitchen table, my son showed me an idea, and the light bulb clicked the first game.”

Drew Wood, a 2011 Jay County High School graduate and Fort Recovery resident, created Poker Peril in August 2024. What started as a game shared with family and friends soon morphed into a full-fledged business. They’ve sold about 600 copies to date.

Drew and Lisa have attended various gaming conventions and festivals to market their product, including Gen Con in Indianapolis, Buckeye Game Fest in Columbus, Ohio, CincyCon in Hamilton, Ohio, and Buckeye Lake Pirate Fest in Buckeye Lake, Ohio.

Drew, 32, recalls how the idea first came to him — he was lying on the floor and thinking about a three-player card game he and his family could play. His imagination started to wander as he thought about Poker and variants like Texas Hold’em, drawing inspiration from his three years as a Poker dealer at Caesars Southern Indiana. Drew combined various card game elements to arrive at what’s known today as Poker Peril.

“That’s just kind of how it came about,” said Drew. “Just kind of felt kind of like an inspired thought.”

He and Lisa spent countless hours designing cards with artificial intelligence software as well as creating game mats and putting together sets. They went through several prototypes of the game and its design, shifting between different game mats and suppliers for cards, coins and other game pieces.

As of October, they had heat-pressed 30,000 felt game boards.

“We’re ambitious,” Lisa said.

Drew describes his creation as a family friendly Poker strategy game. Poker Peril starts players with five cards. Each turn, a player draws a card and selects one row — the number of rows depends on the number of players — on their playing mat to place one card. The goal is to earn the highest-scoring combinations in each row and outscore opponents. Combinations are modeled after poker hands, such as a royal flush or full house.

The “peril” aspect of the game comes with special cards drawn at the beginning of the game by players. They can grant special exceptions such as allowing additional points for certain hands, viewing your opponent’s cards or other actions.

The pirate theme that debuted with Poker Peril’s first version is one of many on the way. Drew and Lisa recently launched a special edition Christmas-themed set with a neoprene game mat. Drew has also been working for about nine months on a digital version of the game. He hopes to release it on the App Store and computer software distribution service Steam in the spring.

Drew Wood also collaborated on a 3D-printed card holder, pictured above, for Poker Peril. It’s designed for players to easily draw a single card each turn. (The Commercial Review/Bailey Cline)

 

Lisa pointed out they can also customize items. She recalled Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, requesting race cars painted on the game bags. 

Drew and Lisa will have a space at the Delts’ Holiday Crafts and Gifts Show on Saturday. They plan to attend ArcadeCon in Dayton, Ohio, from Friday through Sunday. They’re also hosting a learn-to-play night at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, at Brew Nation, 110 S. Main St., Celina, Ohio, as well as a family card tournament at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, at Evergreen Winery, 4249 Siegrest Jutte Road, Coldwater, Ohio.

Lisa spent nearly 20 years as a registered nurse in the community, having worked at Jay County Hospital and as a home health care and hospice nurse for Jay County Home Health Care. She served as a nurse at Jay School Corporation for five years before pivoting to a four-year biomedical science program offered through nonprofit Project Lead the Way at Jay County High School. Lisa taught for 16 years before her retirement at the end of the 2022-23 school year.

She dresses for the occasion at game events, wearing themed Poker Peril shirts, complete with nails and earrings made to look like playing cards. Other themed items, including a pirate hat and pirate rubber ducks, have also made their way into her collection.

She talked about the journey she and Drew have had designing and distributing Poker Peril. Promoting the game, she explained, has been a bright experience.

“It gives us a sense of the ability to give back to others and bring a piece of happiness to the world,” Lisa said. “People need more happiness … no politics, no drama, just (put) some happiness back in the world.”

Drew graduated with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Anderson University. He taught sixth and seventh grade social studies in Greensburg for a few years and was a special education teacher at Jay County High School for one year.

What does Poker Peril mean to Drew?

“Well, that’s, I think, something I’ve been trying to figure out,” he said.

He talked about how as he’s progressed with development and promoted his business, he’s seen how the game impacts players. His mindset flickered from family to business. Although he’s turned his focus on the game into a full-time career, Drew said he hasn’t forgotten the core of game-playing.

“It’s about people, it’s about playing with families and having good times, getting off the phone,” he said.