Thursday, January 30, 2003

by the Writer's Guild of Wunderland

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• New Cube Art: Green Apple
• The Ember Update: Yosemite
• GinohnNews: Filming Over
• Bonus HMR: Catch Me if You Can

We've been playing a lot of Cosmic Wimpout this week. Our recent pilgrimage to the Cosmic Clubhouse automatically put us in the mood for Wimping Out again... but the game became even more fun for us when we've discovered how well suited it is for Scoring with Pyramids.

Here's how it works: Small pyramids are worth 5 points, mediums are 25, and larges are 100. When you score, you are awarded the appropriate number of pyramids (in your color) from the bank. The standard endpoint for a game of Cosmic Wimpout is 500, so the goal is to get 5 larges (which leaves a nice comfortable margin for higher scores (during Last Licks) in the supply of mediums and smalls). It works out really nicely, and using crystalline pyramids with the mystical cubes is just way cooler than using paper and pencil to keep score. Of course, the classic felt scoring mat is still a nice way to go, and I'll treasure my memories of playing the game that way, but I'll be wimping out with pyramids from now on!

Anyway, go dig out your dice and give it a try! (And if you don't have a set of Cosmic Wimpout dice, get some! It's a classic!)

I first got into Cosmic Wimpout over 20 years ago, in my Hawaiian-shirt & chain-mail days (i.e. high school) and I remember finding it so addictive that it got me into trouble. Our senior class play was "South Pacific" and I was playing Luther Billis (a fairly important character). After finishing one scene, I was so eager to get backstage to reclaim my spot in a permanent-floating Cosmic Wimpout game we had going, that I completely forgot I was supposed to go right back out on stage for the very next scene. There I was, rolling the dice, when I hear "Andy, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be onstage!" Because of Cosmic Wimpout, the show was failing to go on!

Despite this humiliating gaff, I've been a loyal fan ever since. Although we never really knew who they were, the friendly folks at Cosmic Wimpout have always stood out (in my mind, anyway) as a shining example of non-conformists doing really cool stuff (making games!) and being successful, while doing it on their terms. We had many inspirations during our own formative years as a small game company, but one of the biggest was provided by Cosmic Wimpout. This is why it was such a thrill for us to finally meet them, and to gush at them about their game in the way others now gush at us about ours.

Anyway, in between rounds of Cosmic Wimpout, we've mainly just been working hard as usual all week. With Toy Fair now looming, we've been working around the clock on a beautiful new version of our catalog, which will be a full-color, 12-page booklet! Meanwhile, Kristin has been getting the books caught up from last year, and she was very happy indeed to finally get everything turned over to Mayo, our accountant (who comes very highly recommended, by the way, if you happen to be looking for a CPA). Along the way, Alison has been taking turns helping us both out as needed,

Unfortunately, the house is a mess! I have to go tidy up now...

Have a great week!