In Washington, just a bicycle ride away from Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters, Margaret Johnson is working on her next iOS learning game for children and using the last three years — a period of accidental research and development in platform and retail distribution — to help shape her creative machinations.
Johnson, a self-described craftswoman with a passion for tying gaming to child learning, is the co-founder and CEO of Sabi Games. Sabi shipped its first title, ItzaBitza (pronounced similar to “itsy bitsy”), on Windows in November 2008. The software, available as a digital download and temporarily sold in Target s tores, received critical acclaim for its “Living Ink” technology that brings drawings to life — the American Library Association listed it on its Great Interactive Software for Kids Fall 2009 list.
But as desktop software, ItzaBitza, which gives life to imagination, was fighting death at the hands of a poor economy and a consumer population shifting away from desktop software toward mobile applications.
ItzaBitza eventually found traction through Steam’s gaming platform and its millions of members. Today, Sabi is a lean, cash-flow positive operation in the midst of transition.
From Dead or Alive to Living Ink
Several years ago, Johnson’s daughter, then just 8 years old, underwent an operation to remove a brain tumor. Following the surgery, Johnson’s daughter would often play the Xbox title Dead or Alive, and the game play helped boost her self-esteem.
“It was totally inappropriate, I...
