When Exuma-born native James Deveaux found himself stuck in traffic in a New Jersey snowstorm in 1993, he began to brainstorm, determined to figure out a way to make a better living for himself and his family in his native country.
“The conditions were just too harsh over there,” Mr. Deveaux explained. “I thought, ‘Why be in New Jersey, stuck in traffic, when I could be at home, where there is no traffic block-ups.’ I used to have to go to work at 8:00 a.m., and I used to have to wake up at 4:00 a.m. to clear snow. I had four hours of work before I got to work.”
What came to his mind while waiting for the snowstorm to pass over was an object that is a classic pastime in the homes of millions around the world: He decided to create a board- game.
According to Mr. Deveaux’s promotion manager, Peter Adderley, the two-hour setback that the storm created caused the inventor’s creative juices to take on a desperate flow.
By the time he had arrived home, the invention of a board-game was near completion in his head, Mr. Adderley revealed. So, acting on his ideas, Mr. Deveaux scurried to his dining table and inked out his thoughts onto a kitchen napkin.
Twelve years after his idea was conceptualized, “BAHCHECK” is ready to hit local retail store shelves next month οΎ– just in time to make a great Christmas item for kids and adults alike.
The world famous Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island has already agreed to purchase 1,000 copies of the board-game. Custom-made copies of the game have been made specifically for the resort, to serve as a souvenir for guests who purchase the board-game from there.
A number of persons from around the world have also placed orders to receive “BAHCHECK” once it is launched, Mr. Adderley said, revealing that further information on the game and its inventor can be found at www.bahcheckcom.
“When you think of ‘Monopoly’ and ‘Checkers’ and ‘Chinese Checkers,’ the inventors of those games are all dead,” Mr. Adderley pointed out. “This is a board-game where we still have opportunity to actually play against the inventor, test our skills against the inventor of the game.”
Learning from the mistakes of Bahamian inventor Duke “The Game Man” Clinton, whose inventions of four games barely received recognition, and drawing clues from long ago-created games, Mr. Deveaux said that he wanted to create something that was simple and, most importantly, fun.
“I never even saw his games in stores,” Mr. Deveaux said of “The Game Man’s” inventions, adding that “If ‘Chess’ was to be created today, nobody would buy it.
“The inventor of chess had nothing to do back in those days but to think. There was no internet, no cell phones,” Mr. Deveaux said, chuckling. “People today want instant gratification. That’s what my game provides.”
By JEREMY FRANCIS, Freeport News Reporter
