Real Life

Ben showed up with a box of magic and a handful of links, and we spiraled from there.

We started off with Piecepack, the infinitely expandable system of tile-based board games. If you haven't seen it, The Infinite Board Game is a great intro — it comes with a full Piecepack set and over 50 games: 👉 The Infinite Board Game

Two standouts we tried:

• Whirlpool Pond (Tube Wars) — hilariously chaotic and surprisingly strategic. Steven said it reminded him of playing little games at a picnic table on camping trips. 🎯 Whirlpool Pond

• Moto-X — a racing game with dexterity and movement rules that feel like they're half-imagined and half-remembered, which is kind of perfect. 🏍️ Moto-X

Also, apparently 9-ball billiards now counts as a dexterity game when you're a parent trying to entertain your kid for 20 minutes.

Then we switched gears into silly, cooperative (ish), multiplayer chaos on PC:

• Boomerang Fu – you're food. You throw boomerangs. You die. You laugh. boomerangfu.com

• Regular Human Basketball – pure absurdity, controlling giant robots one switch at a time. Regular Human Basketball

• Heave Ho – teamwork, trust, betrayal, and flailing limbs. heavehogame.com

We also checked out the very weird, very poetic, and very compelling little book Adieu Plane Snake: ✈️ Adieu Plane Snake on Amazon

Then it was time for ruffled shirts and tankards: The Central Coast Renaissance Faire is back! ccrenfaire.com

We are under strict orders not to talk about Greg, which means we definitely spent time discussing:

• Greg's guild: The Free Men of the Brass Ring

• The benefits of being in a guild (tents, snacks, shade, and — let's be honest — drinks)

• Greg's infamous "gutpuncher" tale, which should be written down for legal reasons

• How to put together your own costume (hint: check this guide)

Steven's costume is about 80% "rogue" and 20% "man lost in an upholstery store." It works.

And finally, we played two rounds of Arcs — a stunning galactic strategy game from Leder Games: 🌌 Arcs

• Ben crushed the first game with pure focused ambition

• Devon quietly outmaneuvered us in the second game

• Steven tried a blitzkrieg strategy and was immediately and thoroughly punished

Future or Now

Quiet week on the horizon-gazing front. No robot uprisings or biotech breakthroughs... yet.

Book Club This Week:

There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury The house that keeps going after the people are gone. One of Bradbury's best — eerie, poetic, and haunting.

• Read it here (PDF)

• Or here (text)

• Watch this reading

Next Week:

The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury Another quiet apocalypse — a world where going for a walk makes you suspicious.

• Read it (PDF)

• Listen to a narrated version