Behind the Scenes with Team Digger!

Have you ever wondered how a spark of an idea becomes an award-winning game? It takes time, tons of creativity, play testing, and a lot of behind-the-scenes work! Every educational board game published by SimplyFun is unique in its own way, and the steps to bring it to market are equally outstanding!

Let's take a peek behind the curtain of SimplyFun's newest Math & STEM game, Team Digger.

Selecting Team Digger

SimplyFun partners with renowned game designers around the world and evaluates and selects which games to produce based on a range of criteria.

Team Digger was brought to SimplyFun by Phil Chase, the game designer of best-selling title Digger's Garden Match. "There was a lot to this prototype that we liked immediately," says SimplyFun's Director of Product Development, Stacy Longstreet. "It had so much potential and included some skills that we did not yet have in any of our other games." From there, the team got to work.

First Steps

Determining the targeted age of players was one of the first steps in the process and from there, the direction of the game started to develop. Requests for 'early coding' games had come through, and the product development team knew that this game had the fundamentals for teaching this skill. Team Digger was ultimately designed for kids ages 6 and up to teach early coding, sequencing, and spatial reasoning skills.

Adjusting Playability

Most of the original theme of Team Digger remained in place, but the playability was simplified to make it a bit more enjoyable for a six-year-old. For example, in the prototype, a player's turn ended if they were unable to complete a sequence to uncover a tile. That's not much fun for a young child, so the team added the ability to 'chase your tail' in the rules which lets the player take a peek at a hidden tile on their turn instead of doing nothing. Getting the balance of the game correct was also something that took a lot of repeated play to determine and get right. The game needed to be challenging enough but not too easy, either. That said, allowing players to win more often than lose was important to the design of the game. Team Digger is a cooperative game, so everyone works together as a team to try and win. By adding the ability to trade cards, players engage and interact with one another even when it's not their turn. It's a subtle lesson but shows how projects in life are often achieved when people work together instead of alone!

Game Design

All SimplyFun educational board games are designed by talented in-house artists. When designing Team Digger, the first item on the list was the Digger dog pawn, as the lead time to produce these types of pieces are the longest. Using 3D software, Digger started coming to life. The pose was important for ease of manufacturing as well as allowing it to balance and not fall over during gameplay. During some of the many play testing sessions, the team learned having a visual aid for 'left' and 'right' would be helpful, which was not included in the original design. Each Digger pawn includes a left and right arrow on the base to help players determine these directions more clearly.

Overall, the target age range of the game is one of the major factors when determining the art style and design of the game. The goal is to bring the game to life with great, relatable artwork and to ensure the skills and mechanics of the game are in line with the target age.

Playing with Themes

During the creation of the Digger pawn the team had the idea to use a sculpted clay design for the game. They explored what the board might look like using this idea, and after determining they'd need to simplify the look of the board, ended up carrying this theme throughout the entire game, including the playing cards. This process is time consuming, as the artists always sketch images by hand before bringing them into a 3D program to begin creating the sculpted versions. Once sculpted, the design goes into another program where color is added, and final polishing is done.

The Final Product

Team Digger launched on March 1, 2023, after nearly seven months of development. It is SimplyFun's newest Math & STEM game and joins other award-winning titles in this category including Grill Party, Planet Voyagers, Sumology, and many more.

So, ditch the screens and plan your next family board game night with Team Digger!

 

The Evolution of SimplyFun's Digger!

Ruff! Meet Digger, one of Tibbar's closest friends and the first buddy to appear in a SimplyFun Game! In his early career as a SimplyFun Buddy, he graced the cover of our Walk the Dogs box. Although his name was undecided then, his excitement and spontaneous character showed through.  

Digger loves to match things and join them together, so his signature Digger's Garden Match is a perfect fit for his skills. His latest adventure explores early coding skills with Team Digger, but you can find him in various early childhood education games. Let's journey through the evolution of our favorite doggo, Digger buddy!

"My name is Digger and I am so excited to meet you that my tail won’t stop wagging. Will you join me in the garden? We can dig three holes, run in five circles and count all the sticks we find. Oh, did I tell you I love math? I’m always counting, it’s easy for me and it will be for you, too. I’d like to count with you. Come on…let’s see how high we can count together." -Digger

 

Digger's Early Years 2004-2009

2004 Walk the Dogs is Born

Digger was born during the production of Walk the Dogs, before our famous Tibbar bunny or the concept of our Buddies. At that time, Digger was nameless and was simply the main dog featured on the cover of all the cards.

 

2006 SimplyFun Digger Dog Puppet

In 2006 this nameless pup became Digger and grew into a plush character featured in our line of SimplyFun Buddies puppets.

 

2008 Digger Featured alongside Tibbar Bunny

Digger's first appearance in a product alongside the other buddies was in Tibbar's Everyday Felt Adventures and Tibbar's Big Box of Words. The two products shared art assets.

 

2009 Best-Selling Game, Digger's Garden Match, Is Created

In 2009, Digger became a player avatar for the first time in Tibbar's Apple Race alongside Tibbar, Pickles, and Rupert.

In the same year, he starred in a self-titled game, Digger's Garden Match, which received a Mom's Choice Award and was honored with the Top Fun, Tillywig Toy Award

 

Digger 2011-2014

 

2011 Pickles' Veggie Pick

In 2011, Digger appeared as a non-player element in Pickles' Veggie Pick.

 

2012 Digger Makes a Few Guest Appearances 

In 2012, Digger took on his second role as a player avatar in Math Room, which happens to use the same character art from his first avatar appearance in Apple Race.

 

2014 Best Supporting Doggo in Popular Kindergarten Games

2014 is a busy year for Digger as he plays avatar in Save the Pie, trying to keep away from Beary Bear alongside Tibbar, Pickles, Bubbles, and Puddles. He is also featured in Buddy Hop and Unravel.

 

2015 Digger Gets His Driver's Licence in Take Us Home

Digger takes on another starring role in Take Us Home. This time Digger has managed to get his driving license and is featured on the player pawns. He's very helpful.

 

Digger 2016-Present 

 

This blog was originally published on March 24, 2023. It was updated on November 24, 2025.