Former Charles City man, daughter, looking to change the world, one game at a time

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Dr. David Breitbach — chiropractor, neuroscientist, psychobiologist, relationship coach and Charles City High School Class of 1980 valedictorian — has added another title to his curriculum vitae: game maker.

Breitbach, the son of Norma Breitbach of Charles City, now lives in Westby, Wisconsin, and runs The River of Ahz Health & Wellness in nearby Viroqua.

He says his professional work revolves around relationships and healing, and he was working on a relationship activity for adults when his then-6-year-old daughter, Kessie, said, “Well, kids need to relate, too, Daddy.”

“She said, ‘We’re going to make a game and it’s going to be called Dragon Wings and it’s going to help kids learn how to get their wings and learn how to fly,’” he said.

Breitbach has developed a philosophy of healing and relating that has led him to give seminars and retreats around the world, in Scandinavia, France, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Israel.

“I’ve learned a lot about different cultures,” he said. “I lived in New York for about 15 years. To learn all these different cultures is fascinating to me.”

Combining his worldview and his understanding of relationships — and his daughter’s enthusiasm — “We decided this is how we are going to change the world,” he said. “If you help kids and adults learn how to relate better, it changes everything.”

Breitbach said he and Kessie, who is now 8, set about creating a game that was so fun to play that no one had to care that it was also having a positive impact on their lives. It’s described on the box as “A catalyst game for kids (& their adults).”

“All the activities here are really just fun and active or sharing or exploring,” he said. “You might run around and hop like bunnies, or you might ask a question: ‘What color do you feel you are on the inside?’”

Every space on the board is a different activity, and most activities have five variations, so there are 374 different possible activities involving movement, interaction and imagination.

“When you play it it’s different every time, but still familiar,” Breitbach said.

“A lot of the activities help you develop yourself, but also help your ability to join in with people, to learn about them, to be curious about them. It helps you understand their feelings or their emotions so you learn empathy — your what they call emotional intelligence gets raised,” Breitbach said.

“That’s the effect, but the fun part is it’s just so fun to play.”

The game is designed for children from ages 5 to 13, but adults can play it with their kids, or even by themselves.

“Kessie and I designed it and she was my fun evaluator,” Breitbach said. “She just kind of checked in on everything: ‘No, Dad, nuh uh,’ or ‘Yeah, I love that! That’s my favorite.’ She was great that way to make sure all the words and directions were understandable.”

The game includes activity cards, and when an activity is completed the player gets a magic jewel.

“When you collect five magic jewels you can fly,” Breitbach said. “That’s the fun part, as you go around you collect different colored jewels. You need to get a heart jewell, because that’s what powers the wings.

“There’s a spinner and board space guide that has all the directions for each board space and what you do on each one,” he said. “And so you may walk on tiptoes because dragons can fly very quietly and very carefully.

“There are flying lessons. You pretend you’re in a bubble floating, learning to fly slow, or you might be in a volcano learning how to fly fast, or in a tornado in a swirl, or on a rainbow.

“Once you can fly … you fly to the castle to celebrate. Everybody goes, ‘Yay, you can fly!’ But then you go back and keep helping others learn to fly. The game ends when everybody can fly.”

Breitbach started with a few prototypes made through an online game-making company, which he play-tested with various audiences in the United States and abroad for almost a year, making revisions. Now he is expecting delivery of several hundred copies of the finished product, ready for Christmas sales.

“It’s not cheap,” he said about the production process for limited runs, but it’s less expensive than in the past when a minimum run of games through a game producer might require thousands of copies to start.

The game currently sells for $59.95, which Breitbach acknowledges is more expensive than typical board games, but he touts its quality construction and compares it with a video game or a high-end board game.

The game will be available for $49.95 to those who don’t need it mailed. He said his mother, Norma, will have some available at Breitbach Chiropractic in Charles City.

“The next step will be, OK, how do I make it bigger?” Breitbach said. “That will mean bringing more people on board, going to toy shows, like the Chicago Toy Fair, showing it to people who are in the business.

“Next year I’ll look to expand it, whether to do it myself or talk to Hasbro or Lego or somebody like that and join with them,” he said.

“I could definitely see board books, and we have a cartoon series all planned out, and action figures. But to go from just creating a game to that, it’s going to take investors or getting involved with someone else.

“We’ll take this one step at a time,” he said. “If it helps a thousand people, great. If it gets to sell millions, that will be amazing.

“My focus is how am I gonna help people, and I know that it will come to fruition in time and the way it needs to.”

For more information on Dragon Wings, go to dragonwingsgame.com.