Andi and Rebecca Wright with their board game Cirondo GAZETTE & HERALD: HUSBAND and wife team Andi and Rebecca Wright are onto a winning streak with a board game.

The game, Cirondo, which has been on sale across the country since September, is designed to entertain anyone aged eight and above.

"We want it to be the next chess," said Mrs Wright, 30, who set up the company with her husband.

She said that Cirondo is as easy as draughts to understand, but more strategic, like chess.

The aim of the game is to conquer the galaxy by eliminating your opponent from the board, using three types of playing pieces - moons, planets and solar systems.

The couple, of Rowe Mead, Pewsham, look set to hit the jackpot as the popularity of Cirondo grows.

Sheldon School in Chippenham already has a Cirondo club and internationally the game has been a big hit, with huge sales in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.

The game is set to take the US market by storm when it becomes available in June.

It has even been entered into the German Game of the Year competition, following the enormous interest it attracted at the Nuremberg Trade Fair last September.

"Just for Cirondo to be nominated for this award is really important for us," said Mrs Wright, who now works full time marketing Cirondo.

"It's a great relief to see the success of our game," she said. "It has taken a long time to get there."

The Wrights had to set up a company, CGCL, and take trademark regulations and safety standards into consideration before launching Cirondo.

"We were starting from scratch. We had to learn everything," said Mrs Wright.

The game was invented in 1989 by Mr Wright's brother Angus, 42. But the idea was kept under wraps for years until it was marketable.

Angus Wright has worked on other projects while the couple have driven Cirondo forward.

"We had full time jobs and could only work on it in the evenings," Mrs Wright said.

It wasn't until 2000 when Mr Wright, 44, had developed the four-player game, and launched an online version, that things got moving.

The couple sought advice from big games companies on how to get Cirondo onto the shop shelves.

Mr Wright said: "We changed the size of our box, updated the artwork and the graphics, added a coloured game board and strong, metallic pieces and found a manufacturer."

The first complete set of the game was made in September last year, and Cirondo has now been exhibited at trade fairs throughout Europe and the USA.

Mrs Wright said: "It's great to see the reactions first hand. Kids drag their parents over to our stall to buy the game."

Despite not understanding the rules, the couple's four-year-old son Addison loves to play what he calls "Daddy's board game".

A new two-player junior version of the game to be produced in January, will suit youngsters with shorter concentration spans.

Cirondo is for sale in Hollyhocks, New Road, Chippenham and can be played online at www.cirondo.com. It retails at £29.95.