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
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 PondMoto-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-XAlso, 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.comRegular Human Basketball – pure absurdity, controlling giant robots one switch at a time.
Regular Human BasketballHeave Ho – teamwork, trust, betrayal, and flailing limbs.
heavehogame.comWe 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 RingThe 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 reasonsHow 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 ambitionDevon quietly outmaneuvered us in the second gameSteven tried a blitzkrieg strategy and was immediately and thoroughly punishedFuture 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 readingNext 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