More than 40,000 copies sold: the music game Hitster has created a sensation in Quebec

Declared a “Game of the Year,” Hitster focuses on musical knowledge, and has been a “huge hit” with us since the holiday season, when it sold more than 40,000 copies in just a few months.

“To say it was popular is not doing it justice. We received the game about two months before Christmas and it rose to number one in sales for the year. It's unbelievable,” says Jean-Philippe Giguere, store manager of Imaginaire in Laurier Quebec.

The sound of the bell is the same in many of the toy stores in the greater Quebec area that I have contacted Newspaper, as “just in time to say so” stocks have soared in recent weeks. We're told that its popularity is far from fading.

They don't belong to anything a test Television or not the subject of a major promotional campaign, it was certainly 'word of mouth' that propelled the music game to the top of the charts. What's special about it: You can listen to songs using a QR code linked to the Spotify platform (see box).

“We really had a lot, and it was over very quickly. It's not a game that's been hyped the most, but it's very popular,” says Vicky LaMontagne, Benjo's marketing director.

This “hype” around Hitster is proof that it is an “excellent game”, confirms Paule Rancourt, general manager of Cadeau KID, the main distributor of the game in the country.

“It's easy to play and it's multi-generational, plus there are enough cards so we can play multiple times,” she said, adding that a French-speaking version is in the crosshairs and should be ready next spring.

“I'm pinching myself!”

For his part, Hitster's creator, Markus Carlsson, a Swede based in Stockholm, still can't believe that his game, invented over an evening with friends, is such a hit on the other side of the Atlantic.

“I'm pinching my arm!” he says, all smiles, in an interview with Newspaper.

In fact, during a summer evening in 2019, the prototype of the game was created. “I put song titles on pieces of paper and my friends had to guess the title and year of release,” says the 40-year-old businessman, a huge music lover, who is studying psychology and finance at university. “She wanted! But, not just to be nice to me. Then I told myself I was onto something.

The huge success of his game, which is now sold among others in the United States, Canada, throughout Europe and Australia, prompted Mr. Carlson to take a break from his job as an executive at a consulting agency, to focus on other game concepts, which he said would not include music. this time.

In Canada, Hitster is on sale at more than 800 points of sale, including nearly 500 in Quebec.

What is Hester's game?

• A music knowledge game, where songs must be placed in a timeline that corresponds to their release date.
• The game contains 308 song cards from the years 1908 to 2023.
• Players create a musical timeline by listening to excerpts.
• The first player to have 10 cards in their table is the winner.
• Players must have the Spotify app on their phone to play.