The iconic game of family visual perception has reached its 30th anniversary this month. Invented by Marsha Jean Falco back in 1990, SET has been successfully challenging players to race to find as many SETs as they can, in order to win! SET not only provides players with fast-paced fun, but also builds skills of perception and exercises the brain. To celebrate 30 years of this timeless classic, PlayMonster has renamed September to #SETember. To commemorate the milestone, every Sunday, otherwise known as #SETSundays, is dedicated to challenging PlayMonster’s social media to solve SET puzzles.
The idea for the card game SET has a surprising origin. Back in 1974, Falco was studying the genetics of animals like cows and German Shepherds, in Cambridge, England. To keep track of all her data, Marsha created file cards with blocks of information for each animal. Rather than writing out numbers each time, she drew symbols to represent the information. Each animal had a different combination of symbols. Marsha began sharing her findings with veterinarians. To explain the math behind different combinations, she used the cards and symbols. While listening to Marsha, a veterinarian got excited and asked, “So if you combine these you have a set?” At that moment, inspiration struck! Marsha saw the fun in finding different combinations and was inspired to create her first game: SET. Over the years, she refined the game play by using her family and friends as test subjects. In 1990 SET was officially released!
“This is a moment of celebration for us; a moment to look back to remember the past 30 years,” says Lisa Wuennemann, Master Marketing Monster. “While back-to-school looks a little different for everyone this year, the need for children to exercise their minds and have fun remains the same, and what better way to do that other than with one of the most iconic card games of all time!”