Concord Resident Hopes Silo Can Become Virtual Hit

Marc Girolimetti is going from gamer to gamer.

With his new gaming company, Red Raider Studios, the Concord resident is looking to take Silo from the homemade math-based dice game from his youth to a five-platform video game enjoyed by the masses. And you can help.

Yes, you.

Girolimetti has a background in more traditional startups, but with Silo he’s chosen to use Kickstarter.com, a website on which startups and individuals can raise money for projects. While supporters don’t get equity in the company by pledging to a project through Kickstarter, they do get some cool swag for various levels of support. In thise case, $2 gets you a free Facebook game.

Red Raider Studio’s Silo Kickstarter page -- and its very funny video -- went live last Monday, July 21, with the lofty goal of raising $25,000 in two weeks. Through the morning of Aug. 2, a total of 67 backers had pledged $3,410 toward the goal, with four more days to go.

“It is really awesome to how much people support you and want to see you succeed,” said Girolimetti. “It’s kind of neat how you’re affecting people and how it’s working through the grape vine.”

A Little About Silo

A game from his youth, Girolimetti said Silo is a math-based dice game that was one of the “homegames” his family made up and played through the years. It’s also probably the most marketable and easy-to-understand of the math-based board games Red Raider Studio has in the pipeline to bring into the virtual world.

“The motivation for me doing this was from me just riding the Red Line and looking over my shoulder and watching people play like Fruit Ninja or Angry Birds,” said Girolimetti. “Even though it’s a thinking person’s game, it has that mainstream feel.”

Think: Words with Friends for the mathletes among us.

According to the Kickstarter page, Silo is a strategy game in which players have to move five balls through two silos with six levels, each represented by a number. The players have the same numbers on their board as their opponent. It can be played one-on-one or player vs. computer.

Moving to a new level requires rolling five deice and executing a math equation using a combination of those dice that equals the number on that level. For instance, 3 + 1 = 4 x 5 = 20. An equation like that must be created within a time limit of 30 or 60 seconds.

Watch the video posted above for a YouTube tutorial.

“The more you play, the more dice you get,” said Girolimetti. “It gives you a huge combination on your board design to play with.”

Girolimetti said Red Raider has tested Silo in schools, particularly the original game board, and all of their feedback has been terrific. However, the real audience, they think, will be in the virtual world.

Plans are for the to be made into Facebook, iOS, Android, Windows 8 and Kindle versions. There will also be a children’s version called Silo Jr.