How Did Guabaya Games Start?

If I had planned it, it never would have happened! And if I didn’t have daughters, it wouldn’t have happened either! I remember the exact moment the idea came to me. My daughters, who were around 4 years old at the time, were playing with a memory game uncle Fede had given them. They didn’t really know how to play it yet… but they loved using the tiles to make paths and patterns on the floor. I thought: “How lovely would it be to have a Costa Rica-themed memory game with all the most iconic things… it could work as a souvenir that tourists could actually use a lot once they go back home, since it would remind them of their trip while having fun with their families.”

I’ve never liked souvenirs that don’t have a practical use, since I try not to accumulate things without meaning. Or as Marie Kondo says, “You shouldn’t keep things that don’t spark joy.” And playing definitely sparks joy!

Thanks to a few graphic design courses I had taken a few years earlier, I decided to start creating the illustrations myself. That process took me about a year, since my drawing skills are pretty basic and I had to make lots of improvements before the designs were printable. At the same time, I was researching materials, suppliers, and stores that could carry my game… until finally, the first edition of the Costa Rica Memory Game was born!

They say that if you’re not a little embarrassed by the first version of your product, something’s off. And it’s true— that first version was very different from what we have now… and yet, it sold.

First version of the Costa Rica Memory

In the second print run, we made a big improvement in the quality of the materials. The second major update was increasing the number of tiles (it had 46, and now it has 50). We’ve done several print runs since then, and it remains Guabaya Games’ best seller!

My favorite part of Guabaya is creating new products… there’s this indescribable excitement every time an idea takes shape and comes to life! On average, we’ve launched one game per year, though I’d love to do even more in the future.

Many of our games have been illustrated by Costa Rican artists and designers. These collaborations have been so wonderful, and we definitely have more planned—because we truly hope to keep creating happy memories for a long time to come!