"Super Dreidel," the creation of Portlander Adam Zucker, adds more challenge and chance to the classic Chanukah children's pasttime. (Courtesy Adam Zucker)

By ABIGAIL MINCH 
For The Jewish Review
Portland local Adam Zucker, never thought that as a Water Resource Engineer, he would one day be manufacturing a game he created. 
Over a decade ago, Zucker’s goal was to give the Chanukah dreidel game a “reboot” and create a fun game to bring his family together for the holidays. After some brainstorming, he was able to create a more engaging game with higher stakes. 
During the game, the chosen banker will facilitate the eight rounds and track with the Menorah diagram. Players each choose their color and during the rounds place bets to predict the dreidel spin result to receive a payout. 
Instead of spinning one dreidel, Super Dreidel is a game with two dreidels spinning at the same time. While creating the rules for the game, Zucker realized that there were six permutations of spins and instantly made the connection to a six pointed Star of David — thus creating the game board design.
“I kind of got goosebumps,” Zucker said. “I felt like I was onto something… six points on the Star of David really felt like I was unlocking something there.”
After playing on a hand-drawn board the first year, Zucker printed a larger board the year after, and his family used it for 10 years. 
The motivation to finally manufacture the game was found last year at a fundraising event that Zucker and his family hosted using the Super Dreidel game. They introduced their friends and family to the game while creating a profit to give to local charities. 
“That was probably the turning point where I talked with my wife and we said let’s give this a try and figure out how we can just kind of revamp this and make it something that other folks and other families could enjoy,” Zucker said.
Today, Super Dreidel has its own website, superdreidel.com, where you can learn about the game and purchase it. Zucker hopes to ship as many as possible so families to have them in time for Chanukah.
“We feel pretty good about what we’ve produced and look forward to having other families and folks enjoy Super Dreidel,” Zucker said.
Abigail Minch graduated from The University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Judaic Studies. She is excited to combine these two loves into writing for The Jewish Review.