Frequently Asked Questions
The next Frequently Asked Questions are answered by Daisy Luiten the developer of All the Stars Above.

1. Can All the Stars Above also be used for adults?
2. Can this game also be used for mentally challenged people?
3. Why is the price of All the Stars Above this high?
4. I am asked to help in a school situation where a classmate died. Can I use All the Stars Above with a larger group?

1. “Can All the Stars Above also be used for adults?”
Yes, absolutely! All the Stars Above is suitable for age 6-100. The cards are printed on both sides, one side is for age group 6-12 years old and the other side is for 12 years and older. The questions do have the same tendency, but are asked in a different manner. This way children know what the meaning of the question is and teenagers and adults don’t find the question childish.

All the Stars Above is also a great tool for elderly people. I’ve seen changes in people’s lives after the death of a spouse after being married for 30, 40 or even 50 years. Those people didn’t know how to go on living after being together for such a long time, and by sharing their stories while playing the game, they were able to grieve and to find a new way of living. They went out again, found new hobbies and met new friends!

2. “Can this game also be used for mentally challenged people?”
Yes, you can use All the Stars Above for this group of people as well. But they do need to have the level of understanding compared to children from age 6 or older.

3. “Why is the price of All the Stars Above this high?”
It is only a point of perception that makes the price ‘high’, as I think it is not.

First of all, All the Stars Above is equipment for therapists. It can't be compared to a general board game, as it is a high quality therapeutic tool! It should be compared to therapeutic research material, or professional computer programs and courses which take a lot of time for development.

Second, when a game such as Trivial Pursuit is printed, they print millions of games at one time. We only printed 2000 games, which makes a lot of difference. Printing a game costs a lot of money, and also takes a lot of time, especially to start up the process.

Once the press is printing there is not much work to be done and therefore it doesn’t cost much more to make a million games. Divide the total price by the number of games and there you go. It is not finished after the game is printed, think of the next step, cutting the cards, putting 700 cards out of 1,400,000 cards in the right position in the card tray. And now I am only talking of 1 item. I had to correct a document and I was offered to do it in the printers office. I saw people working for hours on the game, doing things of which I didn’t even know needed to be done.

More than 200 people have been helping to create the game, most of them being volunteers. I have been involved in the whole process and even I have only seen a portion of the work that has been done. I realize that all of these people deserve to be paid. In addition the game is very exclusive, there are lots of extra’s within the game and the Indian Talking Stick and wooden sun are even handmade.

This luxurious version makes it special for next of kin to play the game. Some people might say I could have chosen another way of printing; the wooden sun could just have been printed as a sun in the middle of the game board. The game could have been shaped as a square, I could have put the cards loose in the box instead of in the card tray, and the talking stick could have been printed on cardboard or not be included at all. Doing all of that would not have made a big difference in the price.

All the Stars Above is exactly as I wanted it to be, so that we as therapists can offer something very special and unique to our clients. A tool that is made with all care and devotion. I want our clients to feel that they are special and that they deserve it.

4. “I am asked to help in a school situation where a classmate died. Can I use All the Stars Above with a larger group?”
Yes you can. Within All the Stars Above you will find a special die which you can use for larger groups. Sitting in a circle, the children take turns to roll the die, receive the corresponding question card and answer their question. This way you can use the therapeutic tool in a simplified manner, as there is no need to use the entire board game, but there is enough room for them to share their thoughts and feelings.