PASCACK VALLEY—Jake Comito, who graduated Pascack Valley High School in 2013, has parlayed his love of statistics, whimsy, and time with family and friends into a new company, Games Over Coffee.Jake Comito grew up in Hillsdale, graduated from Pascack Valley High School in 2013, and graduated from Rutgers Business School in 2017.
He’s also seriously into a good time.
Comito recently created a board and card game company, Games Over Coffee, and launched his first card game, “What’s in the Bank?” He says “What’s in the Bank?” (with its kicker, “Bank Fast, Think Faster!”) is a strategic and easy-to-learn card game for 2–6 players that’s perfect for family gatherings, game nights, and trips.
He describes it as “a race-to-the-finish game with a twist: the first player to finish and end the game is not necessarily the winner.”
The rules are condensed into a 30-second instructional video, and the game’s Amazon page promises rhyme fun: “Every card in ‘What’s in the Bank?’ rhymes: there are Francs, Super Francs, Yanks, Sanks, and Thanks! Try to say that five times fast.”
Comito told Pascack Press on Nov. 30, “I grew up playing games with my family, especially around the holiday season. We loved playing games for fun but also to compete with each other.”
As Covid kept the family home, he said, “We found ourselves playing the same games over and over again. Bored, I decided to create and share a new game with my family and friends in my Covid bubble. Everyone loved the game — so much so that I would get phone calls from people who heard about the game asking me what the rules were.”
And after a while, he said, “I realized I had a hit game on my hands, and I decided to pitch the game to an award-winning toy development agency, which I later partnered with to create and manufacture the final product.”
Comito plans to make more games — and is drawing on local inspiration, including classwork from Pascack Valley.
“I actually first fell in love with creating games in an AP statistics high school class taught by Tim Wieland, who is now the principal of Pascack Hills. He had us create a game, determine the probability of winning that game, and share the game with the class,” Comito said.
He added, “My game won whatever contest he was hosting at the time, and I went on to play it with many friends in college.”
According to Comito, “Games are great in connecting people, which is the vision of my company. It’s my dream to own a building one day. In this building, there will be a coffee shop on the bottom, and a game lounge — with all my games! — on the top. Hence the company’s name, Games Over Coffee.”
And, he says, “Just like games, I think coffee is incredible in facilitating connections.”
In addition to founding Games Over Coffee, Comito is product manager at a company specializing in collaboration software for teams in startup to enterprise, and he worked as product manager for Nielsen.
He volunteers at All Hands and Hearts Smart Response (disaster and humanitarian relief), No More (as ambassador on a campus safety initiative he established), and Special Olympics New Jersey.
“At Nielsen, I initiated and lead a volunteer program partnering with a nonprofit specializing in on-the-ground natural disaster response. On campus, I started the nation’s largest student-created and -led sexual violence advocacy group that remains on-campus to this day fighting stigmas and engaging in difficult but necessary dialogue on sexual violence,” Comito says.
At Rutgers, he was identified by the chancellor as one of 10 of the campus’s transformational leaders in 2016.
Comito took to his blog at Thanksgiving to urge a lighter approach when possible.
“Obviously games can be fun. But more importantly, games naturally take the focus away from the individual, and instead refocuses on the relationships and dynamics of the group. It’s during games when the funny guy gets to be funny, and the competitive lady gets to pummel others, which leads to laughs and new memories,” he said.
He added, “The best Thanksgivings balance reflective conversations with in-the-moment experiences. And what’s a better in-the-moment experience when you’re at-home with loved ones than a game?”
He said, “I love facilitating experiences like this, and I love watching group dynamics unfold in new and funny ways. That’s why I created the card game that I did. ‘What’s in the Bank?’ thrives in the post ‘life updates’ time on Thanksgiving, where people get to be themselves, tease others, and just have fun.”
He said, “It’s a game that refocuses the group on the group rather than each individual, and it’s a game that requires a relatively low amount of mental energy, since most of us will be drowsy from the turkey and mashed potatoes.”
He wrote, “As a new business owner, I am learning what I’m good at and what I’m not. Making beautiful videos is not in my repertoire, but connecting people is.”
That’s why, he said, “To grow my business, I knew I wanted to showcase the beauty of a game night with friends, and to explain the rules of my game. But I didn’t know how to bring that vision to life, nor did I have the equipment needed to make quality content. I decided to bring together talented people who are experienced in making videos, open to new challenges, and collaborative. The results are stunning. We created an incredible video that captures the essence of my game.”
Comito said, “I am learning that being a good business owner is not about being good at everything, but connecting with people who are, and getting them excited about your vision.”
For more information, visit letsplaygamesovercoffee.com.