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Grow Jogos e Brinquedos

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Grow Games and Toys
Native name
Grow Jogos e Brinquedos
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryToy industry & Game industry
Founded1972 (1972) in Sao Paulo, Brazil
FoundersGerald Reiss, Roberto Schussel, Oded Grajew & Valdir Rovai
Websitelojagrow.com.br

Grow Games and Toys (Portuguese Grow Jogos e Brinquedos) is a company based in Sao Paulo, Brazil which produces and markets toys and board games. It is widely recognized in the country for both the diversity of its products and for bringing to Brazil some of the greatest classics of both genres.[1][2]

History

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Four engineering students from Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo, Gerald Reiss, Roberto Schussel, Oded Grajew and Valdir Rovai, met in the 1960s, and after graduation they decided to join in their own business. After considering several options, such as a clothing company and a brokerage, Reiss returned from Europe fascinated with the war strategy game Risk. Seeing that almost none of the board games available in Brazil were national, practically all were imported, an opportunity arose. In August 1972, in a garage in Mooca, in São Paulo, they founded Grow Jogo e Brinquedos, named after the combination of the initials of the four founders – Gerald, Roberto, Oded and Valdir, which for the sake of "sonority" its letter was replaced by W. After creating their version of the war game, called War, they manually built the boards and offered them to toy stores. After its release in October, the first five thousand units of War were sold out. The success of War led to a second game in January 1973, Diplomacia (Based on the game Diplomacy).[3][4] Throughout the 1970s, Grow also decided to invest in games for children, with Super Trunfo (Based on the game Top Trumps and puzzles.[5]

In the 1980s, Grow started to invest in licensed products, starting with the characters from Disney in 1982. Even the Brazilian presenters Gugu and Eliana inspire well-selling toys.[6] Grow was also responsible for publishing in Brazil the first edition of RPG Dungeons & Dragons in 1994.[7] Currently, the company produces more than 300 products in its factory in São Bernardo do Campo, with 85% of the production being "cartonizeds" (playing cards, puzzles, and board games) and the other 15% being dolls.[8] Since 2013, it has also been operating in the field of electronic games, with online versions of board games such as War and Imagem e Ação.[9][10]

References

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  1. ^ Visão, Edições 20–23. 1993.
  2. ^ Diego Possamai (9 April 2011). "Ludo Magazine Brasil segunda edição". Rede RPG. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
  3. ^ "The history of WAR – the first strategy game in Brazil is from São Paulo". Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  4. ^ Grow, we grew up inspiring meetings.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 March 2005. Retrieved 17 March 2005.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ "Featured Client: Grow Brinquedos e Jogo S.A." Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  7. ^ Visão, Edições 20–23. 1993.
  8. ^ "Learn about the process of creating toys that bring joy to little ones". Archived from the original on 7 February 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  9. ^ Grow enters the games market with 'Image & Action' for cell phones
  10. ^ http://g1.globo.com/tecnologia/games/noticia/2015/10/jogo-de-tabuleiro-war-ganha-versao-digital-for-tablets-and-computers.html [bare URL]