Q-Less – a little game with a big story

By Katie Banning

It’s not every day that a 78-year-old man goes viral on TikToc, but for one game inventor, that is exactly what happened.

It began in the mind of Tom Sturdevant and after years of basement prototypes at his home in Paradise Valley, it was time to try it out. In a bar and grill in a little town called Bonners Ferry in 2016, a small group of friends met for lunch and tried out the game, Q-Less.

“They were all mesmerized.” Tom said. “That’s when I knew I needed to do something more.”

Sturdevant was an award-winning game inventor and song writer when his new idea was born. This wasn’t Tom’s first game-inventing rodeo, however.

In 1996 Tom’s first game came out. It was a card game called LETRAS, which he produced and sold himself. Soon after, he added EQUALS, also a card game, but with numbers instead of letters.

In 2000 he licensed a boardgame to Blockbuster Video called The Blockbuster Movie Game.

In 2003, Tom retired from the game business and focused on song writing, but he just couldn’t shake the game mindset and one day on a road trip, what would become Q-Less came to his mind.

It took nearly 15 years for it to come to fruition, but slow and steady wins the race.  In 2018, Q-Less hit the internet and became available to the general public.

It didn’t take long before the production was just too much for the kitchen table and outsourcing became necessary. Now, not only does he sell more than 150 games per day, but his son and daughter have both left their careers to help with the production of Q-Less. It’s a family affair.

Marketing on TikTok, Tom’s game was quick to attract an avid following, and you can find out what the hype’s all about for just $14.95 … or get a discount for buying in quantity. Family and friends would be tickled with a gift Q-Less game!

According to the Q-Less website, “Tom Sturdevant has been a foreign service officer, a Peace Corps trainer, a farmer, a filmmaker, an award-winning game inventor, and most recently, a songwriter. When he retired from the game business, Q-Less was nothing more than a few handmade prototypes played by family and friends.”

Q-Less is available on their website and in a handful of select specialty stores. Anything you see on any other platform or site is probably not authentic, so click Q-Less | The Crossword Solitaire Game to order. There’s also an app you can download in English, and it will be available in Spanish soon!