New Jersey family invents life-sized board game during pandemic

Dec. 16 (UPI) -- A New Jersey family's project to pass time during the COVID-19 pandemic is proving to be profitable after they started selling copies of their life-sized board game.

The Aversa family said they designed game called What's Next? at their Williamstown home as a family activity during the pandemic.

"We just wanted to get the kids off the screens and around their family," mom Marlee Aversa told WPVI-TV. "They can play this for hours on end, and it's just laughter and family memories they're making. And they are getting exercise."

The game is comprised of weatherproof tiles assembled by the players, who act as their own game pieces.

"You lay out the squares on the floor, and then you get the large die it comes with, and you roll," dad Jerry Aversa said. "Wherever you land, you have to do the activity."

The activities range from exercises to animal impressions.

"We have things like you have to drop and do three push-ups," Marlee Aversa said. "That's always a funny one. Then we have one where you have to bock like a chicken."

The parents started selling the game online after other families expressed an interest in trying the game. The Aversas said the game has proven so popular that it soon will be available from Walmart's website.