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After locating success last year, the creators of Ave-themed card game, Down the Ave, acquired their company from UW, and have now created their newest game, Keep It PNW. Down the Ave LLC emerged from the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship’s “Creating a Company” course, and have since branched out on their own.

Down the Ave, and now Keep It PNW, is played exactly like Cards Against Humanity in which one player is the judge and pulls a prompt card and then the other players put down answer cards that they think best fit the prompt card. While Down the Ave was UW and U-District themed, Keep It PNW expands its horizons to include the entire Pacific Northwest.

Keep It PNW plays with Pacific Northwest stereotypes, such as references to the outdoors, as well as movies like “Twilight” and “Sleepless in Seattle.” An example from the game’s website exemplifies this, saying, “I rescued my 4th dog from _______”, with answer cards like “A convincing MLM scheme,” “A tattooed barista,” and “A hippie in finance.”

The creators of Down the Ave are all Pacific Northwest residents themselves, so finding inspiration for their follow-up game wasn't too difficult.

“We took our experiences and reached out to other sources through surveys or asking friends, family members, and other students to get more details on … [what it’s like] being residents here,” CEO Sarah Cabarteja said.

Down the Ave was originally created in the height of the pandemic as a means to bring people together through shared experiences, and Keep It PNW is continuing that message.

“Keep it PNW brings together people of different backgrounds who have all experienced similar experiences in this area, so even if they've only been in the state for a year or so, they would still understand a lot of the references, and they would be able to laugh about the same shared experiences,” Cabarteja said.

After graduating from UW in 2021, the Down the Ave team filed for LLC status, and expanded production after selling over 500 games in their first year. They bought the company from UW, and since then have learned about running a business and the taxes, sourcing manufacturing, and marketing they entail. They have had a lot of support and mentors who have helped guide them through their journey.

“We’ve actually teamed up with another company called Major Elements,” Cabarteja said. “They were a candle company that also came out of the same program as us and one of their owners actually joined our team in operations. They've been helping guide us based on his own experience of coming out of the program and graduating.”

Down the Ave LLC is an inspiration to other students going through UW’s “Creating a Company” series. Cabarteja credits their success to the diverse set of skills their group brought to the team, as well as their use of the resources available to them.

“Being really hands-on in the whole process is super important to really learning how to do it yourself, instead of just having your professor do it,” Cabarteja said “Your professor is a great guide and resource during all of this, along with the Buerk Center, but a lot of this you’ll have to go and source yourself.”

Cabarteja and CPO Rahma Kamel have been able to manage Down the Ave, while also having full-time jobs. They meet every few weeks to make sure they are on the right track and planning for the future. While they are focusing on wholesale right now, their plans for the future are to see their games on the shelves of many stores.

Down the Ave and Keep it PNW are currently sold at Blue Highway Games in Queen Anne, as well as all three of Third Place Books’ locations. Down the Ave is also available at the University Book Store. The games are also available to order on their website.

Reach writer Paige Stanley at arts@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @paigestan10

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