#821: My Two-Year Secret Project, COYOTE — The Strategies and Tactics for Building a Bestseller from Nothing with Elan Lee of Exploding Kittens

The Tim Ferriss Show

Tim Ferriss: Bestselling Author, Human Guinea Pig

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4.6 • 17.4K Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2025

⏱️ 180 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This is a very special episode for me. My brand-new card game, COYOTE, created in collaboration with Elan Lee and Exploding Kittens, is here. It is available in ~8,000 locations worldwide, including Walmart, Target, Amazon, and many others. Learn more: https://coyotegame.com.

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Timestamps (will be updated):

00:00 Intro

05:21 The Journey to Creating a Game

05:51 The Creative Process Behind Coyote

17:16 The Importance of Constraints in Creativity

35:04 The Toronto Sprint

41:02 The Evolution of Coyote: From Concept to Prototype

47:36 Game Design Principles and Recommendations

51:53 Introduction to 'Don't Shoot the Dog'

53:25 Simplifying Game Design

58:55 Playtesting and Iteration

01:08:10 Finding the Sweet Spot in Game Difficulty

01:14:35 The Success of 'Hurry Up Chicken Butt'

01:22:26 Testing and Feedback Process

01:34:49 Pitching to Big Retailers

01:36:19 Designing the Perfect Game Box

01:36:31 Testing and Validating Game Designs

01:41:23 The Road to Retail Success

01:43:51 Keys to a Successful Line Review

01:44:29 The Role of Agents and Publishers

02:07:56 Crowdfunding and Self-Publishing

02:19:56 Understanding Game Publishing Deals

02:27:40 Common Pitfalls in Game Packaging and Marketing

02:38:39 Navigating Retail and Distribution Challenges

02:47:25 Final Thoughts and a Tantalizing Offer

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, boys and girls, ladies and germs. Welcome to another episode of the Tim Ferriss Show.
0:04.7	Boy, this is a special one. I'll keep my intro brief as my conversation with Alon Lee, which you're about to hear, covers the whole backstory.
0:12.7	This is a very, very, very fun episode for me. One, I've been looking forward to publishing for months and actually about two years because my
0:21.0	brand new card game, Coyote, created in collaboration with Alon and Explodinkins, which started
0:25.9	with this podcast, is now a national bestseller. It's everywhere. Just launched 8,000 locations worldwide,
0:32.8	including Walmart, Target, Amazon, and a gajillion others. It's a very fast-paced car game, takes minutes to learn,
0:40.6	hard to master, hat tip, Nolan, Bushnell, and 300 million plus social views of gameplay now online.
0:48.4	Everything's gone bananas. And please check it out. Please, please check it out. If I've done
0:53.1	anything that you've benefited from,
0:54.8	coyote game.com. And there's a lot under the hood that I think you might find of interest, even if you're not a gamer, you don't think about yourself as playing games. Coyotegame.com. Super, super satisfying the entire team at Exploiting Kittens as incredible. They're rock stars. a pleasure to work with. So enjoy my conversation with Alon Lee. We talk about the art of the pitch.
0:54.9	We talk about... as incredible. They're rock stars. A pleasure to work with. So enjoy my conversation with
1:12.2	Alon Lee. We talk about the art of the pitch. We talk about figuring out mass retail. We talk
1:16.4	about prototyping. We talk about game development. We talk about the nuts and bolts behind the
1:21.1	scenes backstory of creating something like this from nothing. One last thing. Stick around to the
1:26.6	end for a very fun surprise that
1:28.3	involves a mystery Hollywood party that you might be able to join. Would love you to join. So,
1:33.7	stick around. Please enjoy right after just a few words from the partners who make this podcast
1:37.8	possible. If I were to update the four-hour work week, which I get asked to do a lot,
1:43.4	I would really only add one thing,
1:45.9	and that is a section on AI tools, because for everything I described with virtual assistance,
1:52.0	and with so much more, you can do with technology immediately. And that can be automated,
1:57.9	delegated. There's so much that you can do. And this is also why I recommend
	...

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