Looney Labs Icehouse Mailing list Archive

RE: [Icehouse] playtest request from Kristin (fwd)

  • From"Matt Stephans" <matt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • DateFri, 20 Jan 2006 22:28:18 -0600
I understand the lack of space on the outside of the tube, but why not roll
up a sheet of paper *in* the tube? That should provide more than enough
space. 


--
"You can learn more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of
conversation."  --Plato 
Matt Stephans, Owner, Competition Unlimited
http://www.CompUnlimited.com

-----Original Message-----
From: icehouse-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:icehouse-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Peter Aronson
Sent: Friday, January 20, 2006 10:52 PM
To: Icehouse Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Icehouse] playtest request from Kristin (fwd)

I'll see if I can get one or more of the kids to try this game this weekend.
But even without trying it I can tell you -- these rules are no fun to read.
I felt like I was decoding them.  The game may be great, but rules these
terse do not, at least for me, make for a fun first play experience.  There
are a lot of things left out that experienced game players will just figure
out on their own, but that casual players might miss, such as: who goes
first and the order of play.   Diagrams would be nice, since I suspect it
would be easy to miss the fact this is essentially a linear game.

Better rules on the internet are no replacement, since many people will
resent being told to look them up, and it might not be convenient, anyway.
These outside of the tube rules would be a good reference for when you play,
but I just don't see them being sufficient for a casual gamer of the sort
that a lot of your sales seem to be to.

Also:

What happens if the house is modified so that multiple players suddenly have
the correct trios -- a tie?  The moving player wins?

The term "tree" is used to mean the player initial trio arrangement, and
then never used again -- thereafter all references are to the player's trio.
This is confusing if you don't regularly play icehouse games.

I find the use of "beyond" in the description of Dig kind of confusing -- 
beyond *what*?  I assume it means just beyond the piece pointed at, but
that's not entirely clear to me.

Peter

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