Photo by Fritz Busch The Laitinens and Hartwigs of New Ulm enjoy a game of Synapse. From left, Lois and Ted Hartwig (partially hidden), Dan, Carol, Anna and Wayne Laitinen.

More than five years ago, Carol, Dan, Anna and Pastor Wayne Laitinen, her parents Lois and Ted Hartwig, and a friend, Anita Walker, all of New Ulm, met for supper and played a board game.

The group played Sequence, a board game with playing cards and chips.

In the game, players are dealt cards and take turns playing them, placing chips on corresponding card images on a board.

The object of the game is be the first to form a row of five chips (horizontally, vertically or diagonally).

Carol Laitinen, a piano teacher and Dr. Martin Luther College grad, said her sister knew the inventor of the Sequence game — Doug Reuter — who lived off the royalties from game sales.

The Laitinens played Sequence with church groups and at family gatherings for several years.

With encouragement from others, Carol created her own game she named “Chain Definitions.