The talking game everyone is talking about.

TAOC isn't a conversation stopper. In fact, the card game is designed to do exactly the opposite — it aims to stimulate conversation, hence TAOC (The Art Of Conversation).

"The idea is in principle very simple — it's a game about talking," says Louise Howland, who invented the game with long-time friend and business partner Keith Lamb.

Mr Lamb was lead singer with Australian rock band Hush in the 1970s and performed in the first Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

The idea first took hold of them almost 20 years ago; Hush had just broken up, and Mr Lamb, who had spent years giving interviews, felt strange not to be in talking mode.

Ms Howland, a former psychiatric nurse, put a philosophical twist to her motivation. "People have stopped communicating with all their senses. We have email, SMS text messaging — it's so quick and impressive — but it's so impersonal," she says.

"We decided to make up a complicated game to get people talking again."

Their first attempts at the concept were during the era of Trivial Pursuit, but despite a near contract with HarperCollins, they could not get the idea off the ground.

It lay on the backburner while Ms Howland and Mr Lamb got on with earning a living. They developed the embroidery business Rajmahal, which now has 500 outlets in Australia and many others in North America, Europe, New Zealand and Africa.

But the itch would not go away to develop TAOC.

Last year, with the success of Rajmahal as a foundation, the two developed the game. "We worked hard and did it all ourselves to get it to the point of a marketable product," Ms Howland says.

"We then called in the experts to do the artwork and produce it."

They worked with an educator on the questions, and focus groups proved the games' worth. "The questions are general — not particularly Australian, English or American," Ms Howland says.

"They are not threatening or controversial, but are a gentle way to discover more about people you know and something about those you don't know."

Typical questions are: "Who taught you to drive, and were you happy with the approach?"; "Can you remember the first song you learnt?"; and "What would you do if you were sure to get away with it?"

One particular question, "Who is your worst imaginable marriage partner?" got some interesting results. "Nearly all said 'Tom Cruise'. One bloke said, 'My wife'. She was there, and fortunately she laughed," Ms Howland says.

The game was launched last November, and has been distributed through games stores, bookshops including Readings, New Age gift stores and through the therapy industry — marriage guidance counselling, drugs and alcohol rehabilitation, occupational therapists and psychiatrists.

One Sydney rugby team is even using TAOC to get to know each other better on a blokes' night out. "It's even good for dysfunctional families," Ms Howland says.

Like Rajmahal, TAOC is also taking on the world. Ms Howland has just returned from a sales trip to the US, Britain and South Africa.

The company has organised a warehouse distribution centre in Houston, and has 5000 game sets on order. The game won the "Best new sidelines showcase" at the Washington DC book fair, which was a thrill.
In Australia, the first 10,000 have almost sold out, and another 10,000 are to be printed. A new edition is planned and a children's version is half finished.

"It's a family game, but we wanted one specifically for kids," Ms Howland says.