OUR STORY

The Upside Down Games story is one based in yoga destiny. It all began when two Argentinians – a yoga-loving lawyer specializing in non-profit work and a yoga instructor – met in a yoga class. They shared not only their passion for yoga, but also their desire to spread the joys of yoga to children, creating a new generation of ‘yogis.’ Matt, the lawyer, and Juan, the yogi, brainstormed ways to make the kids’ yoga classes at their studio more engaging, more age appropriate, and more fun. Barbara, a friend and experienced yoga instructor, joined the twosome next, providing invaluable business input and guidance. Truly a family and friends affair, the final member of the group is Marta, Matt’s mother, who happens to be one of the worlds’ leading endocrinologists, offering her advice and consult on children’s health and safety.

The result was “The Magic Path of Yoga”, released in Argentina in 2009. The game met with such success in their native land that the team decided to take it to the larger U.S. market and opened up shop in Southern California in 2012. The line has since grown to include a spinner game, card game, memory game, and “find it” game – all with a unique healthy twist. To this day, the line remains the only physical active game brand in the United States.

OUR MISSION

Our Mission is to get kids, teens and adults up and moving through gameplay. We develop board games designed to help people establish life-long healthy habits based on physical exercise and social commitment.

OUR TEAM

Matías Gutiérrez Moyano

Co-Founder

Matías (Matt) Gutiérrez Moyano, chief executive officer of Upside Down Games, founded the company with Juan Descalzo in 2008. Matt studied law at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, graduating in 1988, and received a master’s degree in Management of Non-Profit Organizations from the University of San Andrés, Argentina in 2004.

He put his education to good use, heading the Emergency Department at Caritas Argentina where he coordinated the emergency response to the floods that occurred in Argentina in 1998. For the next decade, Matt coordinated the Canada Fund for local initiatives, a program supporting the economic and social development of the most vulnerable people in Argentina through programs focusing on child education, training, healthcare, and poverty reduction. Matt travels frequently to India, to learn as much as possible from this ancient culture and to help bring eastern philosophy to the west. Matt began practicing yoga 10 years ago and continues to be a devoted student.

Juan Descalzo

Co-Founder

A native Argentinian, Juan began practicing yoga in 1996 after his first trip to India. After taking his first class he knew that yoga would be part of his life forever, and he was right. In 2001 he started teaching this unique discipline. In 2004 Juan received his Yoga Teacher certificate from the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune (India), where he has been to study several times. As a compliment to his yoga training, Juan has been practicing meditation since 1998.

In 2008 Juan, together with Matías Gutiérrez Moyano, founded Upside Down Games. Even though he works as the CFO of the company he continues with his daily practice, meditating at sunrise and practicing yoga at sunset.

Amy Opheim

Marketing Consultant

Amy brings over 15 years of strategic marketing experience to Upside Down Games. Her career has focused exclusively on the toy and game industries, working in-house for companies like Neurosmith, Knowledge Adventure, and Educational Insights and consulting with numerous manufacturers including Razor, Jakks Pacific, Ravensburger, and many more. Amy specializes in the creation of meaningful and competitive branding and marketing campaigns that move product. Areas of expertise include packaging, catalogs, websites, social marketing, print ads, commercial videos, and more. She is a yoga novice and parent to a beautiful daughter who loves testing the latest from Upside Down Games!

Marta Barontini

Consultant

One of the world’s leading consultants in children’s endocrinology, Marta consults with Upside Down Games on the medical and therapeutic aspects of our products. Marta received her degree in medicine with honors from the University of Buenos Aires in 1962. She served as a doctor in the Endocrinology Department of the Ricardo Gutiérrez Children’s Hospital, Buenos Aires, from 1990 to 2010 and as Senior Researcher and Director of the center for Research in Endocrinology at CONICET (Argentine National Research Council) from 1997 to 2010. She was honored as Doctor of the Year of Argentina in 2008.

OUR RESPONSIBLE MATERIALS

We are conscious of the world’s limited natural resources and are deeply committed to shrinking our carbon footprint. Upside Down Games is constantly evaluating packaging options and energy consumption to minimize our environmental impact. For example, our products are printed with water-based inks. All paper and cardboard come from managed forests and are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Plastic parts are considered only when ensured durable enough to last for generations, encouraging toys to be reused rather than thrown away.