Our Story
Savanna all grown up with her doily in Guatemala with Tomas, Maria and her dad in 2014.
The Flying Lion was just a cuddly little cub when he started in the games industry. Savanna wasn't much older. As a third grader, Savanna had to crochet a doily. Was it God, Evolution, or Chance that caused her to talk with her friends as she completed the last few rows of her work? She didn’t notice she’d used too many dropstitches and her doily curled a little at the edge. Then it sat on the table for over a year and no-one thought much of it. Until...
One night a buddy plucked it up for no good reason he can recall and chucked it at Savanna’s dad. Those drop stitches grabbed the air as it zipped to the dropped jaw amazement of the beer chuggin’ buddies; “DUDE! It just hit your beer and didn’t spill it! What kinda frisbee is this thing?”
From there, Savanna’s doily was patented and quickly evolved into a crocheted cotton disc called the Pocket Disc which eventually became known around the globe as the MayaFlya.
Buena Onda Games went on to sell a few million MayaFlyas, Bocces, Hacky Sacks and other games and toys to the backpacking, camping and festival world across 4 continents. Along the way we partnered with over 700 Mayan artisans in our fair trade venture, drank a few beers, smoked a little, pondered a bit, and came up with 2 life-changing conclusions.
First, we noticed the world had become too complicated and the magic in our games was that they suspend responsibility. When you play, you forget about the stresses and strains of life. The games bring people together and we needed to share that with everyone.
Second, when Sierra Nevada picked us in 2018 for their swag sales and invited us to their beer camps, it became as clear as a crisp pilsner that our games and beer go together like hops and barley. So we set about adapting our games for the taprooms, man-caves and she-sheds, and to be played with beer in hand. Buena Onda will keep up the good work for the family fun, but the Lion had some naughtier ideas in mind.
This is where Taproom Toys comes from. We’re here to bring people together, to rally against the oppressive onset of adult responsibility and to change the world.
Seriously. *We’ll change your world*. If only for a few hours.
*Taproom Toys takes no responsibility for the state of ‘your world’ the morning after.
The Flyin’ Lion