Buffalo Games manufactures its line of games and puzzles out of its 87,000-square-foot facility in New York.

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Buffalo Games employees have fun on the job. And why wouldn’t they? The company – named for the city in New York it calls home – makes, markets and distributes games and puzzles. “We’re in a fun industry, and we work hard to keep fun inside the building,” founder and President Paul Dedrick says. “People play, have fun and laugh. There aren’t many industries you can have fun in like the toy industry.”

And the company’s motto, “To make life more fun and rewarding,” encourages a fun atmosphere, he adds. Dedrick says Buffalo Games varies from most toy company competitors because all processes are conducted in its 87,000-square-foot facility. “In our industry, most toys are manufactured overseas, so we are one of the few to go against the grain,” he says.

Offshoring presents challenges for competitors, says Mark Predko, director of sales and marketing. “[They] have to forecast and guess an entire year’s sales ahead of time,” he explains. “The market changes, and [they] either make too much inventory or not enough.

“We can do it in a couple weeks,” Predko continues. “We can make the things that are selling and, subsequently, not make things that aren’t. It has given us a competitive edge, because the costs coming out of overseas manufacturers has increased dramatically.”

Making Fun
Buffalo Games has more than 5,000 active retail accounts in the United States and Canada, Predko says, including mom-and-pop shops and large retailers such as Target, Toys “R” Us and Wal-Mart. The company’s product lineup includes six family board games, five card games and more than 150 jigsaw puzzles.

The company focuses on two main toy categories – party games and adult jigsaw puzzles – and ranks in the top 3 in those markets, Dedrick says. Buffalo Games’ main competition comes from Hasbro, Uni­versity Games and Ceaco.

The process of taking an idea and turning it into a game is an intricate one, Dedrick says.  “A lot of ideas start from an outside inventor,” he explains. “Our design and marketing departments work together to determine if [a game] is simple, fun and inclusive. If we decide to include it, then we do a lot of internal development to give it a name, package design and content.”

To be included in the Buffalo Games lineup, games must be easy to learn and enjoyable for the widest possible audience. “You don’t have to be a trivia expert or have physical dexterity,” Dedrick explains. And the company is very particular when accepting a new game into its line.
“We might look at 300 to 400 games in a year, yet we might only launch one to three,” he says.

Barebones Beginning
Dedrick and his wife (at that time his girlfriend) Eden started Buffalo Games in 1986 as “a two-person operation with no revenues,” he says. “It was pretty close to a garage operation. [We had] a phone line and a small shipping area.”

The couple got into the toy business to market her dad’s inventions, including board games such as London Murder Mystery Party, Guilty Party and Speechless and puzzles such as The World’s Most Difficult puzzle and City Character puzzle.

“My wife grew up in the toy business because her dad was a toy inventor,” Dedrick says. Eden’s father at one time worked for Fisher Price.

In 1993, the company built its first facility, which included a warehouse and offices. Buffalo Games began manufacturing its own products in 1996. “We saw a lot of advantages of being a domestic manufacturer since the product is in our control and under our roof,” Predko says, adding that most of Buffalo Games’ suppliers are domestic, as well.