Meet Anthony Masi | Owner of Stop The Killer Games

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anthony Masi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anthony, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Before I owned a gaming company I was a film producer in the horror genre. In 2021 I had the opportunity to produce a remake of the 1984 cult horror classic SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT. My business partners were merchandising the title for various products to re-introduce the title to the zeitgeist and the idea of a board game came up. I am also a professional close-up magician and I invent my own illusions, and the idea of a board game intrigued me because it felt like another form of magic trick. I had a general interest in board games and what I’ve always liked about them is that they are usually unique experiences that gather people to create something special together, which is essentially how I approached inventing magic tricks. So in my spare time I started developing a board game for SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT, and I immersed myself in studying the fundamentals of good tabletop game design through books and instructional videos. I became obsessed with the process and in a few months I called my partners and said, “Can you meet me for coffee later this week? I have something to show you that I think you’ll really like!” I brought the prototype that I created for the game and played it with them, and they had a blast! It was there that we decided a board game based on the movie would be a really good idea, and that’s the game that started the whole Stop The Killer Games adventure rolling!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I have been a lifelong horror movie fan, and when I started designing the SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT game I realized that board games based on classic horror films were few and far between. I knew that if I created the games fans would buy them. As I started designing them it became obvious why these types of games weren’t readily available for horror fans, and that’s because they aren’t easy to design! They take many hours to design and test before they are fully realized, and this was a lesson I quickly learned by studying tabletop game design. We decided to use Kickstarter to raise funds for the SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT game and in 30 days we raised $85,000 (we only wanted to raise $20,000). The success of the Kickstarter proved that there was indeed a market for board games based on horror movies, and that’s when I got the bug to keep moving forward and to make Stop The Killer Games a serious brand. To keep things moving quickly and capitalize on the excitement on this first game, I took a tip from games like Monopoly and Clue, and re-branded the SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT game with another 80s horror gem – MY BLOODY VALENTINE – and launched a second Kickstarter. Monopoly and Clue do the same thing so why couldn’t I? MY BLOODY VALENTINE had good success as well, and so we re-branded the game two more times with HALLOWEEN II and GHOST FACE (the killer in the SCREAM films). The company continued to make an impression to horror fans and this is when we established our mission, staying power, and quality. We were corning the niche market of board games based on horror movies, which was exhilarating. We also added tie-in novels to MY BLOODY VALENTINE and SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT by working with an incredibly talented writer named Armando Muñoz. Like tabletop games, tie-in novels for old horror movies was another untapped business opportunity, so we added those to the catalog as well, all officially licensed, of course. I was operating pretty much as a one-man show working with contractors and coordinating everything from design to marketing and fulfillment, and it came time to expand because I was underwater and needed help. I reached out to my great friend, Nate Ragon, who is another die-hard horror fan that I’ve produced some live events with, and he joined the team to be a valuable part of this crazy adventure. Working with Nate has been a wonderful experience and between the two of us we’ve been able to develop and bring to market a bunch more games. One of the highlights of the success of the company was working with horror director, Eli Roth, who reached out to us asking if we could great a game based on his horror film, THANKSGIVING, which our team raced to complete within 9 months, and it’s currently shipping to our customers to enjoy playing this Thanksgiving. We have also created card games for two Jim Henson titles, THE DARK CRYSTAL and LABYRINTH. One thing that we very quickly realized is that while we are a gaming company, our customers are horror movie fans first, and gamers second. Therefore, we have a simple mandate to make games that aren’t too difficult to play. My greatest fear is selling a board game to a horror fan for a movie they love and then they read the instructions and go, “It’s too complicated,” and the game just sits on their shelf collecting dust, and even worse… they never buy another game from us again. We work with a fantastic board game designer now and for the new games we’ve designed he has followed this mandate, and our customers keep buying the new games. So the gut feeling to lean into easier-to-play games proved to right way to go, and we are now designing games at various skill levels for those fans that want more complex experiences. Pick up our BASKET CASE game to try and elude a monster hiding in a basket, play our HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME solitaire game every year on your birthday, or try to survive the CANDYMAN by looking in the mirror and trying not to say his name 5 times!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If you love board games you have to visit Geeky Teas & Games in Burbank! For a $5 entry fee, you can stay for hours and play any of the hundreds of board games they have in stock. The place is huge and quite addictive! They also have cats freely roaming around so cat lovers will get a double-dose of fun. And for the ultimate magical experience, visit the world famous The Magic Castle in Hollywood! You need a pass to get in, so contact me if you want to go.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to give a shoutout to Scott Schneid – who owns the rights to the 1984 film SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT – for suggesting the idea of a board game in the first place. It was his suggestion that set me on the path to designing a game based on the movie. I’d also like to give a shoutout to a company called Fright-Rags, Inc., the company we partnered with to do the illustrations for our first game and help promote it. Without their involvement, the game would not have looked as beautiful as it did, and we still work with Fright-Rags on some of our games to this day.

Website: https://www.stopthekiller.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stopthekiller/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stopthekillergames/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@stopthekiller