In a world increasingly dominated by screens, solitary entertainment, and digital distractions, the UK-based company Around The Box has emerged with a profound yet simple goal: to reignite genuine, shared human connection through play. Co-founded by a husband-and-wife team, Alice and David Deanie, and inspired by their four children, the company has crafted a physical product that is far more than just a collection of games—it is a purposeful social instrument.
The flagship product, succinctly titled The Box, is a unique modern compendium of original games and puzzles. It is designed to be highly portable, quick to learn, and enjoyable across a vast age range, from children of six years old up to centenarians. Its design philosophy directly addresses the modern challenge of disconnection, turning train journeys, family dinners, or even difficult times in a hospital waiting room into opportunities for shared laughter and memory-making.
Yet, the true core of Around The Box lies not just in the craftsmanship of its product, but in its powerful, purpose-driven mission: Box For A Box (B-FAB). This initiative ensures that the company’s product is utilized as a tool for comfort and therapy in the most challenging of settings, forging a powerful link between entrepreneurship and genuine social conscience. To understand the company, one must first understand the deeply personal background of its founders.
The origin story of Around The Box is inextricably linked to the professional life of co-founder David Deanie. David is not only a seasoned magician who specializes in creating emotional and memorable experiences for his audiences, but also a dedicated hospital performer, often known as a "Giggle Doctor."
As a specialist in this unique and vital role, David spent years visiting children and young adults in hospitals across England, including wards dedicated to oncology. His work took him into the heart of often stressful and emotionally fraught environments, where families spent long hours waiting, undergoing treatment, or simply attempting to pass the time together. He observed firsthand the quiet exhaustion, the strain on family dynamics, and the immense difficulty of finding moments of levity and normal shared experience when facing serious illness.
This experience gave David a critical insight: the spaces designed for waiting—waiting rooms, beside a chemotherapy chair, or in a recovery lounge—were precisely the places where families needed connection the most, but where suitable tools were hardest to find. Traditional games were often too complex, too large, or too slow. Digital devices offered a distraction but often encouraged isolation, with each family member retreating into their own screen.
Recognizing this gap, David and his wife, Alice, alongside the input and energy of their four children, set out to create the solution themselves. They wanted something that was:
This shared family effort and the genuine compassion born from David’s work ultimately led to the creation of The Box, the modern compendium designed to help families
"remember how to laugh and have fun together."
"The Box" represents a re-imagining of the classic games compendium. Unlike traditional versions that often compile public domain games like chess, checkers, or backgammon, The Box contains a totally original collection of challenges, puzzles, and dexterity games. The central ethos is summarized in the company’s mission statement:
“Laugh together more, play together more, be together more.”
The product is deliberately designed to foster four key types of engagement:
The wide age range of 6–106 is a testament to the versatility of the contents. The games are easy enough for a child to grasp the rules quickly, yet engaging and challenging enough—sometimes "frustratingly challenging," as the company notes—to captivate adults.
The core offering, The Box, is a curated collection of multiple distinct games and puzzles housed within the single package, creating a unique, grab-and-go entertainment solution. Specific games confirmed to be included in the original edition of The Box are:
The diversity of these components ensures that a family can move quickly from one type of game to another, keeping the energy fresh and ensuring that everyone, regardless of their preferred game style, finds a challenge they enjoy.
The philanthropic initiative, Box For A Box (B-FAB), is arguably the defining characteristic of Around The Box and the clearest expression of David Deanie’s professional background. This mission allows the company to fulfill its original purpose: bringing therapeutic play to those who need it most.
B-FAB operates as a donation program where customers can choose to purchase a box specifically to be donated to a hospital. For a relatively small upgrade or standalone donation, Around The Box facilitates the donation of a complete game compendium to families spending time in healthcare facilities. This is a critical service, providing much-needed psychological and emotional support.
The company understands that the act of playing a game together—even a simple, quick one—is a powerful counter-narrative to the anxiety and tedium of a hospital stay. It allows a parent and child, or siblings, to step out of the roles of patient and carer for a few minutes and simply be players.
The B-FAB mission targets a wide array of UK children’s and specialized hospitals, including:
The direct feedback from these environments highlights the profound impact of the donation. Testimonials from both staff and patients illustrate the therapeutic value:
By offering a physical, non-electronic activity, The Box becomes a practical, on-the-spot resource for Child Life and hospital activity staff, helping to normalize the environment and promote family bonding when it is most strained. The B-FAB program allows donors to select a specific hospital or choose the "wherever the need is greatest" option, creating a tangible sense of community contribution.
Around The Box, through its core product and its Box For A Box mission, stands as an exemplar of value-driven business. It is a family-led endeavor that took the unique experiences of its founder—a magician dedicated to joy and a hospital performer committed to comfort—and translated that into a physical product with a social mission.
The company successfully identifies and fills a significant void in the modern leisure market: the need for genuinely connective, multi-generational, and screen-free entertainment. Its success is not merely measured in units sold, but in the moments of shared laughter it has generated—on family holidays, on difficult train journeys, and, most importantly, in the quiet, challenging settings of hospital waiting rooms.
In essence, Around The Box isn't just selling games; it's selling the ability to reconnect, reminding users that when
"The Box opens up, people do too,"
opening up to each other, to laughter, and to shared humanity. This blend of original design, family input, and compassionate social enterprise makes Around The Box a remarkable and important player in the world of modern gaming.
