About

Hi there! Cassie Sikes (designer) here to give you the breakdown of how Jibber Jabble came to be.

The idea for Jibber Jabble was born during a family vacation to Broken Bow, Oklahoma in May of 2020. The COVID pandemic had just cancelled my family’s big European trip, so we decided to spend the weekend tucked away in the woods, playing games and soaking up some much-needed quality time.

One afternoon around the campfire, I had this random idea to play a “guess the secret word” game, but with a twist inspired by an improv game I used to play as a kid. One person would have to guess a secret word based on clues provided by the rest of the group. The catch? Those clues had to be spelled out one letter at a time—without anyone talking about what word they were trying to spell.

One round in particular still cracks me up. The secret word was Cinderella. My brother started the clue with the letter “S,” and I—way too confident—jumped in with an enthusiastic “H,” convinced we were spelling SHOE. You know, because Cinderella lost her glass shoe? Meanwhile, everyone else was staring at me like I’d lost my mind because they were spelling SLIPPER. It took a full three minutes before someone realized what I was doing and finally tossed out an “O.” I admit now that SLIPPER was probably the better clue, but at the time, I stood my ground that SHOE was basically the same thing. After all the finger-pointing and laughter, it became pretty clear—we were onto something special.

Over the next few months, I introduced the game to a handful of friends and family members. One evening at a restaurant with some friends from church, the name Jibber Jabble started to take shape. A friend later said, “I loved that jibbling jabbling thing we played the other day!” (Thanks, Kelly!) For the next year, I called it Jibble Jabble—a slight variation from the name it has today.

In September of 2020, my brother Devin and I went to visit family in Houston. We spent time on the lake, ate great food, and of course, played the game. On the flight home, I decided to make a rough design and have a couple of custom copies printed. I didn’t plan to do much more with it at first—it was just something fun for friends and family—but by 2022, I started thinking maybe I should share it with more people.

On November 14, 2022, a shipment of 100 copies of Jibber Jabble arrived on my doorstep. My goal was simple: give some away, sell a few, and maybe break even. I wasn’t focused on making money (though that would’ve been nice)—I just wanted to share my game with others. Without a website or social media, most sales came from word of mouth and eventually slowed down. Still, the first batch sold out! I ordered 250 more with an updated design, but life got busy and Jibber Jabble ended up collecting a bit of dust in my closet. Even so, everyone who played it seemed to love it, and I held onto the hope that I’d find time to bring it back one day.

Fast forward nearly two years. I decided it was time to give Jibber Jabble a real shot. Around the time of a presidential election (when everyone was glued to social media anyway), I posted a quick Facebook ad and officially launched the Jibber Jabble website. My modest goal was to sell 30–50 copies by the end of the year. To my surprise, I hit that goal in less than 24 hours—and nearly sold out by Christmas. The feedback was incredible. I realized this little campfire game might actually go places!

In January of 2025, Jibber Jabble got a facelift and a new manufacturing order—this time with the goal of reaching a wider audience at board game conventions. First up was TokenCon in Midwest City, Oklahoma. I reserved a vendor booth and recruited my brother and sister-in-law to help. None of us had ever attended a board game convention before, but it went surprisingly well! The attendees were enthusiastic, the vendors were supportive, and the play-and-teach sessions were a hit.

Riding the high from TokenCon, I packed everything up and set my sights on The Great Plains Game Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska. Their vendor area was already full, but I still planned to attend and host some demos. Then, at the last minute, a booth opened up and the coordinator reached out to ask if I wanted it. Of course I did! I loaded up my car with booth supplies, snacks, and a lot of excitement, ready for another adventure.

Little did I know, something big was about to happen. 

The convention was packed with gamers eager to play, learn, and fortunately – buy. But to be honest? It was a roller coaster of emotions. Hours would go by with people trying to avoid eye-contact as they walked past my booth. And then a surge of people would come through excited to learn about and buy my game. I was starting to get a little weary of how much work it was going to take to keep up with the self-publishing route. Maybe it would be worth it to start looking for an established publisher instead. Well… I didn’t have to look long. 

Actually, I didn’t have to look at all. In the most serendipitous moment I could have imagined, two reps from AllPlay came up to my booth. I gave them pretty much the same spiel I had given to everyone else. They politely listened, and maybe even gave me some head nods? But eventually, they walked on to the next booth. I’m embarrassed to admit I didn’t really know who AllPlay was until I googled them later that evening. When I saw they were an extremely well-respected publisher I realized I might have missed out on the perfect opportunity. Thank goodness that wasn’t the case! On the last day of the convention, one of the reps came back by my booth. Apparently they had played Jibber Jabble as a part of the “Play-to-Win” library and had a great time. He said he couldn’t make any promises, but asked if I would be interested in reaching a wider audience. And of course, I quickly said YES! 

Within a week I was on the phone with their COO. Just a couple weeks after that, it was official. Jibber Jabble had been signed by AllPlay!

Fast forward to today. I officially sold out of my version of the game on November 26th, 2025 (having sold a total of ~800 since the beginning). Development is currently in progress for the AllPlay edition of Jibber Jabble, with hopes of releasing it at Gen Con 2026. Until then, early production copies will start to go out to board game media – so you may see updates on occasion if you follow along on social media! The new art, done by the talented Sai Beppu, is truly such an upgrade. And I’m pleased to say AllPlay has stayed true to the core game mechanics (while adding some great twists of their own). I am SO happy with how it is turning out and can’t wait for everyone to see it!

All that said, I have one final note to wrap up this whole story:

When this journey started back in 2020, I never dreamed it would go this far. Honestly, it wouldn’t have happened if not for the incredible I support I received along the way from friends, family, and those who genuinely just loved my game. But the biggest credit has to go to God. I don’t know why He gave me this gift of an idea. I certainly didn’t earn it. But everything came together so perfectly that I have to believe He has His reasons. I’m excited to see what those are, and exceedingly grateful for this blessing. I would love for this game to somehow have a positive impact on His kingdom! If you are reading this and are at all curious about what faith in Jesus and God looks like, I’d love for you to reach out. I realize this may seem like a weird way to end this story, but for me, it’s the core of the story. I may have “designed” Jibber Jabble, but He is the true designer. 

Stay tuned to see what comes next!