The Real Business Behind the Game: Dr. Thom Van Every's Entrepreneurial Journey

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Most board game designers come from game industry backgrounds—they've worked at Hasbro, designed Magic: The Gathering expansions, or studied game design formally. Dr. Thom Van Every came from an operating theatre. The team a practicing medical doctor who happened to think business education needed fixing.

And somehow, that unconventional path produced one of the UK's most educationally effective strategy games.

This is the story of how a Guildford doctor with no game industry connections turned a frustration with their children's economics homework into a game played by thousands of families and 200+ schools. It's a story about determination, iteration, and the unexpected parallels between medicine and game design.

Early Life and Medical Career

Born: 1978, Surrey, England

Education:

• University of Bristol, Medical School (1996-2002)
• Foundation training, Royal Surrey County Hospital (2002-2004)
• GP specialty training (2004-2007)

Career: General practitioner in Guildford (2007-present), with interest in preventive medicine and health education.

Side ventures: Co-founded a medical education startup 2012 (creating training simulations for junior doctors), sold 2015. First taste of entrepreneurship.

Family: Married, three children (now ages 14, 12, 9).

"I never planned to be a game designer," Thom tells me over coffee at their Guildford practice. "I was a fairly standard GP with a side interest in medical education tech. Games weren't even on my radar."

The "Aha Moment" That Sparked the Idea

When: November 2018

The scene: Thom's dining room table, helping their eldest daughter (then age 8) with Year 4 homework about "wants vs. needs" and basic economics.

"She was supposed to understand why prices change based on supply and demand. The worksheet had cartoon images—lots of apples meant 'supply is high,' few apples meant 'scarce.' She was meant to circle whether prices go up or down."

"She could circle the right answer by pattern-matching keywords, but when I asked her to explain why, she had no idea. The concept was completely abstract to her."

The frustration: Educational materials taught kids to pass tests (keyword matching) without building understanding.

The question: How do you make supply-demand tangible for an 8-year-old?

The answer: Let them experience it through play.

Development Timeline: Five Years from Idea to Publication

2018-2019: Prototype v1.0 (The Failure)

First attempt: Complex stock market simulation with multiple markets, fluctuating prices, sophisticated trading mechanics.

Playtested: With family and friends (12 games)

Result: Complete failure.

"It was too complex. My kids hated it—rules took 30 minutes to explain, games lasted 90 minutes, and my 8-year-old was lost by Turn 3. My wife said, 'This isn't fun. If you want kids to learn, it has to actually be enjoyable.'"

Lesson learned: Educational value means nothing if nobody wants to play.

2019-2020: Prototype v2.0 (Overcorrection)

Second attempt: Simplified drastically—dice-rolling, draw a card, move forward. Barely any decisions.

Playtested: Family, local game café (25 games)

Result: Too simple. Adults bored, teenagers disengaged.

"I'd overcorrected. It was accessible to 8-year-olds but had zero strategic depth. You basically rolled dice and hoped. Nobody asked to play twice."

Lesson learned: Need balance—accessible and deep.

2020-2021: Prototype v3.0 (The Breakthrough)

Third attempt: Introduced location-based system (Beach, Town Centre, Hotel District). Kept it simple but added competitive positioning.

Playtested: 60 games across schools, families, game groups

Result: "This is when it clicked. The location system was intuitive—kids understood 'beach has lots of customers' immediately. But it created strategic depth—WHERE you positioned mattered, and adapting to opponents' positions mattered."

First positive feedback: Teacher in Reading used it with Year 6 class, reported students were engaged and grasped supply-demand concepts naturally.

"That feedback—the first time someone I didn't know said it worked—was the moment I thought, 'Maybe this could actually become a real published game.'"

2021-2022: Prototype v4.0 (Refinement)

Fourth attempt: Refined ingredient economics, added exotic ingredients, balanced pricing mechanisms.

Playtested: 100+ games, including tournament format at local game café

Changes based on testing:

• Adjusted ingredient costs (dragonfruit was £8, proved too cheap, raised to £12)
• Limited locations to 5 (was testing 7, proved too many)
• Set turn count at 7 (tested 5, 7, 9—seven was Goldilocks)
• Simplified demand cards (original version too fiddly)

"This version was 80% of the published game. The core loop worked. People asked to play again. The learning objectives were being met. I just needed to polish it."

2022-2023: Manufacturing & Publishing Journey

The challenge: Thom had a working game, but no publishing connections.

Decision point: Self-publish or seek publisher?

"I researched both. Publishers would take 18-24 months and give me 5-8% royalty. Self-publishing meant higher risk (I front all costs) but higher reward (£12-15 profit per unit vs. £2-3 royalty) and faster timeline."

Decision: Self-publish. Bootstrapped with £25,000 from personal savings.

Manufacturing: Found manufacturer in UK (supported local), ordered initial run of 1,000 units.

Challenges:

• Component quality issues (first sample had flimsy cards, demanded better cardstock)
• Artwork iteration (hired illustrator, took 4 revisions to get tropical theme right)
• Rulebook writing (wrote 8 drafts trying to make rules clear)
• Logistics (warehousing 1,000 game boxes in garage)

Launch: September 2023, via website and local game shops

First year sales: 600 units (slower than hoped—marketing was hard without budget)

2023-Present: Growth & School Adoption

The turning point: Teacher conference presentation, April 2024.

Thom presented Smoothie Wars at UK Association of Teachers of Business Studies conference. 200 teachers attended their workshop.

"I showed them the game, explained the educational value, had them play a quick session. The response was overwhelming—50 teachers ordered classroom sets that day."

School adoption: Word spread through teacher networks. By October 2024, 200+ schools using Smoothie Wars.

Current status: 2,500+ units sold, growing steadily, considering first expansion pack.

Balancing Medical Practice, Entrepreneurship, and Game Design

The logistics question: How does a full-time GP find time to run a game business?

Thom's answer:

"I work 3.5 days per week at the practice (Monday-Thursday). Fridays and weekends, I work on Smoothie Wars—fulfilling orders, customer support, developing new content, playtesting variants.

It's exhausting sometimes. But medicine pays the bills and gives me stability. Smoothie Wars is the creative outlet and entrepreneurial challenge. They balance each other.

Medicine is high-stakes, life-and-death decisions, regulated environment. Game design is creative freedom, experimentation, playfulness. I need both."

Design Philosophy and Influences

What shaped Smoothie Wars' design?

Game influences:

• Ticket to Ride: Accessible, family-friendly, short teach time
• Catan: Resource management, competitive but not destructive
• Splendor: Engine-building, elegant simplicity
• Modern economic games (Acquire, Container): Business mechanics

Non-game influences:

• Medical training: Systems thinking, balancing multiple variables (physiology has 10+ systems that must balance—games require mechanical balance too)
• Entrepreneurship: Real business experience (cash flow crises, competitive positioning, pricing strategy) informed authentic game mechanics

Philosophy: "I wanted a game where learning is embedded in the mechanics, not pasted on top. The game had to be genuinely fun first, educational second. If it felt like homework, it would fail."

The Vision: Making Business Strategy Accessible

Why business strategy specifically?

"Most kids learn maths, science, languages in school. But financial literacy, strategic thinking, business concepts? Often neglected until A-Level or university—if then.

Yet these are life skills. Understanding supply-demand helps you navigate career choices (oversaturated vs. scarce job markets). Cash flow management applies to personal finance. Competitive positioning applies to job interviews, university applications.

I wanted a tool that teaches these concepts to 10-year-olds in a way that sticks. Smoothie Wars is that tool."

Future Plans and Potential Expansions

What's next for Smoothie Wars?

Confirmed: Expansion Pack 1 "Market Mayhem" (Q3 2026)

• 3 new locations
• 30 event cards
• 6 new exotic ingredients
• Advanced rules integration

Exploring: Digital version (2027+)

• Mobile/tablet app
• AI opponents for solo play
• Online multiplayer
• "In discussions with developers, no commitments yet"

Considering: International versions

• Translating to French, German, Spanish
• Adapting for cultural contexts (different fruit preferences, currency)

Definite: Enhanced educational edition

• Expanded teacher resources
• Curriculum-aligned lesson plans
• Assessment tools
• "Teachers keep asking for this—it's a priority"

Advice for Aspiring Game Designers

Thom's lessons from five years in the trenches:

1. Playtest ruthlessly. "I thought v2.0 was great until I tested it with 10 different groups and all gave similar feedback: too simple. Trust playtesters over your own judgment."

2. Iterate, don't perfect. "I could've spent another year polishing before launch. But launching v5.0 and getting real-world feedback proved more valuable than perfectionism."

3. Know your constraints. "I'm not a game industry insider. I couldn't get meetings with big publishers. So I leaned into my advantages: medical credibility (for educational positioning), entrepreneur network (for marketing), and genuine passion (for persistence). Play your own strengths."

4. Educational games must be fun first. "The moment it feels like a 'learning tool,' kids resist. Fun opens the door; learning is what they take away without realizing."

5. Bootstrap if you can. "Self-publishing gave me control and higher margins. But it also meant risk. I had £25K on the line. Only do this if you can afford to lose the money."

Personal Reflections: Seeing the Game in Classrooms

The emotional moment:

"I visited a Bristol secondary school that had emailed me. They were using Smoothie Wars in Year 10 Business Studies. I sat in the back watching. Twenty students, fully engaged, laughing, groaning, strategizing. Then the debrief—students articulating supply-demand concepts in their own words.

I teared up a bit, honestly. This game was an idea in my head five years ago. Now it's teaching kids, doing exactly what I hoped it would. That's the moment entrepreneurship feels worth it—impact beyond profit."

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About the Author: Sarah Mitchell interviewed Dr. Thom Van Every over two sessions in 2024, discussing the creation and impact of Smoothie Wars. She specializes in profiling educational entrepreneurs and game designers.

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Experience the game Dr. Thom created to transform business education. Order Smoothie Wars and bring strategic learning into your home or classroom. Read our complete educational guide to see why 200+ schools have adopted it.