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New this week:
Legacy
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'I believe that this is referring
to the "Secret Masters of Icehouse" which I just found
mentioned in last years Origins report under the IceHouse tournament
write up.' - Dan Isaac, via the Icehouse list server
gaum (gohm) n. smudge;
smear
- Meet The Parents :|
Without good actors
this would just be more slapstick.
It could really suck.
Sorry,
once again Daddy-O just hasn't had time to sit down and watch
a whole movie...
Jeff & Tracy's
Neighborhood
Lynda
Barry's One Hundred Demons
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- "I just wanted to thank all of the folks from Looney
Labs and those associated with Wunderland for a great time at
the Big Experiment. It's a great feeling to be greeted by so
many friendly faces for pick-up games as well as the tournaments." -- Brad Weier, on the Icehouse mailing list
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We Won Two Origins Awards!!! |
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We're
back from Origins, and I don't think I'm exaggerating when I
say it was one of the greatest weekends of my life. Not only
was our Big Experiment a big success, but two of our games received
major industry awards, in a big fancy ceremony (the kind people
rent tuxedos for - I just wore my purple blazer) and I had to
go up on stage and make acceptance speeches. Icehouse was named
the Best Abstract Board Game of 2000, and Chrononauts the Best
Traditional Card Game of 2000. Just look at the beautiful trophies
they gave us!
I had totally psyched myself up for being happy enough just
that we had 3 nominations. That's how it had been for Fluxx and
Aquarius, so I knew what this was going to feel like and I was
prepared for it. What I wasn't ready for was winning... I had
no idea what to say when I got to the podium! My head exploded
with happiness as John and I scurried up to the stage to receive
our Calliopes, and when I got there, I just yammered. I talked
about how far we'd come since our early days ten years ago, when
we were making icehouse pieces by hand, using smelly chemicals
in the kitchen of my apartment, and were asked to desist by my
landlord. Then I remembered to thank Kristin, since she's the
one who makes things happen, and John and I would never have
gotten anywhere without her. I gave her as much credit as possible
when Chrononauts won as well, and since I was a little more calm
the second time, I remembered not only to thank Alison for her
artwork but the whole WTS for all their help and support. But
I don't think I ever remembered to thank all the people who voted
for us, and all the Looney Labs fans who've helped get us where
we are today, so let me do that now: Thanks!
Anyway, I felt like I was rather incoherent with happiness,
but a lot of people said afterwards that they enjoyed my acceptance
speeches, so I guess I sounded OK.
There were so many other great things that happened at Origins
that I can't even begin to list them here. I'm still assimilating
my own memories, and between that, unpacking, Kristin's birthday,
and a looming patent application deadline, I haven't even had
a chance to sort through my photos, let alone turn them into
online scrapbook pages. Look for those next week. In the meantime,
check out Dave's
Lab Report, and don't miss John's
account of what it was like to win an Origins Award. And
thanks a zillion to everyone who worked so hard to make everything
that happened this weekend turn out so great! I'll save the naming
of names for my full report, but you guys rock!
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A year ago tomorrow is when I first published the details
of the timeline mechanism I invented for Chrononauts, which means
the deadline is upon me, under the one-year rule, to file a patent
application for it. Luckily, I got it finished up and sent in
yesterday (nothing motivates like a deadline) and now that it's
done, I can tell you a little about it.
Assuming it issues (we won't know for a year or more... I
still haven't heard anything about the one I filed last
summer for IceTowers) it will be called "Method of Simulating
Time Travel in a Card Game". In order to clearly explain
the game mechanic I'm attempting to patent, I needed an isolated
example that would depict the key elements of the invention using
as few cards as possible. So, our
intern Dave Chalker helped me work up a special five card
Timeline, for an imaginary game that might be called "Bob
Has A Bad Day":
This of course is just the initial setup... the application
goes on to explain the operation of the invention, stepping through
the phases of the Timeline as a player reshapes Bob's destiny
using time travel. Here's the final diagram, showing the fully
altered Timeline:
Sharp-eyed Chrononauts fans (and I assume no one else is bothering
to read this far) will notice that 3:33 PM is a Nexus and that
there should be 2 other patches for that paradox, and indeed
there are: 3:33-A reads "Bob Rebuked for Tardiness",
while 3:33-B is "Other Guy Promoted." Of course, I
explain all about how they are played and how the mechanism works,
along with the other 6 illustrations. It's actually a neat little
Timeline, isn't it?
Did you hear I won 2 Origins Awards? I'm so
happy!
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