Helvetiq

Our story began in 2008 with a game about Switzerland. As our founder, Hadi Barkat, was preparing for a citizenship test, he experienced a genuine moment of fun and learning. He quizzed his Swiss friends, but they did not know as much as they wanted or claimed. They all had a good laugh about it. The idea for creating the game was born. The 3000 copies we saved every penny to make sold within a month. It was beyond expectations! We realized that people were passionate about playing intelligently and learning in a fun and accessible way.

The first game became a classic, selling over 30’000 copies in Switzerland alone. Success is inspiring, and so we continued to create in Switzerland and beyond. We designed new games. We came up with ideas for book titles. We even made non-game non-book objects. Each title has its origins in something authentic, not the outcome of a contrived effort to find markets.

After Switzerland, we were curious to know if this was a Swiss-only phenomenon. We ventured into in Belgium and the USA and it worked there too. We now have partnered with distributors in over 15 countries.

Some of our best-sellers include Beer Hiking Switzerland, the matchbox collection and our little Bandido game.

What’s next? We like to publish titles that catch attention and make people smile. Ones that inspire them and make them see the unknown in the familiar.