A 15-year old made millions from a card game he invented at age 7. He just sold it to a major toy company
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Alex Butler's Taco vs Burrito just found a new home.
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business news
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August 6, 2025
03:46 PM
Fortune
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Success·board gamesA 15-year old made millions from a card game he invented at age 7
He just sold it to a major toy companyBy Chris MorrisBy Chris MorrisContributing WriterChris MorrisContributing WriterChris Morris is a contributing writer at Fortune, covering everything from general news to the game and theme park industries.SEE FULL BIO Alex Butler, creator of Taco vs
Burrito, with his parents Mark Butler and Leslie Pierson.PlayMonster games has bought Taco vs
Burrito for an undisclosed amount
The game was invented by a 7-year old, who, with his parents’ help, has steer it to over 1.5 million sold units
Creator Alex Butler says, despite its success, “It was never something that I’ve been attached to or anything.” Alex Butler was just seven years old when he made his first million dollars
A game he had invented, called Taco vs Burrito, had made it to Amazon—and by the end of 2018, it had rung up sales of $1.1 million
Now, after overseeing the game’s empire with his parents, Butler has sold the rights to the game to PlayMonster, whose other well-known ducts include Spirograph, Farkle, and Yeti in my Spaghetti
Terms of the deal were not announced, but Taco vs
Burrito (which retails for $20 on Amazon) has sold 1.5 million copies life to date
The game also has two expansion packs
PlayMonster says it will continue to expand the game and a version in a collector’s tin is coming later this year
Butler, who is now 15, says he’s not especially sad to see his creation move on
It was, he says, never really something he wanted to keep doing for the rest of his life. “It was never something that I’ve been attached to or anything,” he told The Seattle Times. “It’s not super important to me
I just kind of wanted to get the most money out of it.” Alex’s mother is an entrepreneur herself, so when her son came up with the idea after playing card games Exploding Kittens, she encouraged him
The family would walk to the neighborhood coffee shop/hangout to test the totype, which would lead to Alex coming up with a new take on the rules
To cover duction costs, he mother launched an online fundraiser, which brought in $25,000
Alex’s parents set up a holding company for the game (of which Alex was the majority owner), found a manufacturer, and put the game on Amazon
It quickly took off and never slowed down
While there have been buyout offers in the past, the family said they never felt right
When they began speaking with PlayMonster, things did
Don’t expect another game anytime soon from Alex, though
His interests have shifted to music duction, sports, and games, he says
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