Brian Edwards invented Monster Dice, which will be shown on ABC's The Toy Box on Sunday at 7 p.m.

Monster Dice began almost four years ago when Brian Edwards' son asked him to create a werewolf.

On Sunday, the Harborcreek Township man will demonstrate his dice game, based on famous monsters, on ABC-TV's competition show "The Toy Box."

"I just wanted to create a game I could play with my family," said Edwards, 34. "To be able to show it on national television is incredible."

Edwards has been working on Monster Dice between 8 and 20 hours a week since the day Jace Edwards, now 10, asked for the werewolf. Since Edwards uses a computer program to sculpt toy figures for McFarlane Toys, he knew how to design what his son wanted.

He had a few 3-D monster heads printed, and realized the nearly square figures felt more like game pieces than toys. That's when Edwards came up with Monster Dice.

"The initial game was kind of complicated with a lot of rules," Edwards said. "As I played it with my son and his friends, it didn't have the energetic feeling I wanted. So I re-created the game."

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

Monster Dice is actually seven games in one, most of which use eight cartoonlike monster heads as dice and a deck of cards with pictures of candy on them. The monsters portray the children of famous monsters: Frankenstein, a vampire, a ghost, a mummy, a boogeyman, a yeti, an alien and, of course, a werewolf.

The most basic Monster Dice game is called "Sugar Rush." Players repeatedly roll their four dice as quickly as possible, picking out the ones that are face up and placing them on a candy card until there are no dice left to roll.

The winner of each round gets the candy card, and the player with the most candy cards at the end is the winner.

"There's no board. You can put the game in your pocket and play it almost anywhere," Edwards said. "My son even designed one of the games, 'Swipe Out,' where you stack the dice with cards between them and try to knock out the cards."

Edwards credited two Erie universities with helping him market the game. He participated in Gannon University's Small Business Development Center's competition based on the TV show "Shark Tank."

"I didn't win but they showed me how to pitch my game," Edwards said. "I was focused on the customer and they taught me that investors want to see a business plan and how I was going to make the game profitable."

The investor then met with Mercyhurst University professor Kristan Wheaton, who has helped local entrepreneurs raise money through crowdfunding. Wheaton arranged for Mercyhurst students to create a promotional video of the game and get the project ready for a Kickstarter fundraising campaign that started Monday.

"Brian's game has a clever, clear set of rules, a clear demographic he focused on, and the game is more active than the original version," Wheaton said. "It's simple and it works."

The Kickstarter campaign, which is available through www.toymonsterdice.com, has raised more than $3,500 of its $12,200 goal. Those who pledge $24 receive a copy of the game when it is mass produced, and those who pledge $48 receive both a standard and glow-in-the-dark version.

"We have a deal in place with a manufacturer, we just need the $12,200 to pay for the first run," Edwards said.

Besides inventing Monster Dice and managing Lakeview on the Lake resort, Edwards also coaches parkour, which involves running through an urban environment and jumping or climbing over obstacles.

Edwards had applied to be a contestant on the ABC-TV show "Wipeout," but instead received an email asking him to apply to be a contestant on "The Toy Box."

"They must have sent it to everyone who applied for their shows, because I didn't tell them about the game," Edwards said. "I applied, of course, and did a phone interview, a Skype interview and went up the chain."

He was selected as a contestant and flew to Los Angeles in May to tape the show.

Each episode showcases new toys and games with a panel of child judges determining the finalist, who receives $10,000 and competes for the season's top prize: to have their toy or game produced and distributed by Mattel and sold at Toys 'R Us stores.

"We were there for two days of taping and stayed in the bungalows originally used by 'The Golden Girls,'" Edwards said. "The only time I met the judges or the host was when I walked down the hallway of famous toys and pitched my game."

Edwards isn't allowed to say if he was named the episode's finalist. He plans to watch the show Sunday evening with family and friends at Lakeview on the Lake.

"I've spent almost all of my free time developing and showing this game," Edwards said. "I'm excited to get it out there and show people."

David Bruce can be reached at 870-1736 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNbruce.