• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, August 29, 2018

If you’ve been an ad creative for any length of time and have experienced the highs and lows that come with the territory, you’ll definitely want to check out this new board game called AdQuest. It's from creative veterans Michael Camarra and Adam Samara.

The duo have teamed at both Havas Worldwide and mcgarrybowen and have been freelancing since the beginning of the year. And apparently working hard creating this game, for which they’re launching a Kickstarter campaign next week.

The pair bring a sense of humor to the endeavor, as well as the work they’ve done. At the game's website, they describe themselves like this: “We’re a creative team with a combined 20 years in advertising, working on everything from big brand campaigns to the scraps that even an intern wouldn’t touch.”

I’m not sure about the scraps, but at Havas they worked together (Samara as copywriter, Camarra as art director) on big accounts like Reese’s and other Hershey’s products. They’ve also worked (together or separately) on brands such as Reebok, Marriott, United Airlines, Verizon and Chase.

AdQuest is a bit a like The Game of Life for Adland creative types and the daily struggles they go through to get work done — from the initial brief through post-production.

Here’s how they describe it on their website:

“This isn’t about slogans or jingles. This is about the gauntlet creatives face in getting an ad from the idea stages to the finished product. It’s navigating account teams, clients, creative directors and focus groups. It’s strategic blackmail, backstabbing and collusion. It’s working 70 hour weeks only to get rebriefed and start from the beginning.”

And they add, it’s about the journey, often frustrating but occasionally rewarding.

For more on their game and the business, check out a recent interview they did here.