Cool post--random thoughts, as I come to them:
> From: Carl Worth <cworth@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Zero-pip Icehouse Pieces
> ------------------------
Have you seen the post where someone shows how to stack pyramids into a
tube and leave enough room for a second die (for Martian Coasters)? It
should work fine for storing ZPIPz in the same stash as their 1-3 point
brethren.
Basically, put them all into stacks, then put each stack in the tube
with alternating orientations, starting with base-down, then tip-down,
then base-down, etc. None of the stacks have to stack onto other stacks,
so the loss of "headroom" under the small (taken up by the ZPIP) is
irrelevant. And you'll have room for, say, two dice or another stack
(Martian Chess for two, in one tube) or maybe Good and Evil chips, if
small enough (like those little cheap poker tokens that come in "travel
sets" or "all-in-one" game sets).
> I'll still need to find the perfect case for holding my nice, new
> portable set. I believe Andy mentioned using a plastic case from a
> deck of playing cards. The one I have on hand here is definitely not
Go to a collectible card shop with your mini-set and start picking
through their card boxes. He's not using a standard playing deck box,
he's using a CCG (or sports cards) storage box which (it looks like) was
intended for deck of about 60 unsleeved cards.
> Drip
> ----
Drip does rock--I wish it had entered the IGDC. And as far as updating
the game with your variant, do what I did with Ikkozendo: come up with a
name that riffs off of "Drip" and make your own page for it. I doubt
he'd mind derivative work; just give credit where it's due (see
Ikkozendo's InfoBox for one way to do so).
> 1. Each player starts with 3 pyramids of each size, (playing with
> this rule pushes the game out of the single-stash category).
But only barely--color isn't really relevant, and so it's a
two-stash/-set game. Not a major deal, I should think: how many
single-set owners are reading the wiki? And how many of them are
planning to stick with one set forever (not many, I'll wager--the other
games compel collection of at least five mono stashes).
But maybe you could keep it single-set by somehow making the opaque
stack a "shared stack" that both players use...? Hmm.... Maybe topping
out with one of those pieces costs you two of your currently unused
ones... Nah.... But maybe if you use an opaque and subsequently top out,
you lose two of your pieces? It needs some risk/reward balance, to make
it a tough decision to reach for one of the shared pyramids....
> Zendo
> -----
> stumped by a simple rule that's difficult only because the master
> invents a property I don't even think to consider, ("vertically
> overlapping pieces", "M-shaped silhouette", etc.).
OK, Zendo Grand Masters, let's hear it. That first rule is wonky but
seemingly valid--I'm not sure what "vertically overlapping" means, but I
imagine it was apparent in the white koans once the rule was revealed.
But that second one... outside reference (Roman alphabet letter), maybe?
Too dependent upon a given viewer's current position around the playing
area (i.e. does it pass the "spin the table" confirmation of a koan's
isolation from anything outside itself)?
But, yeah, I hear you: Zendo was the game first demoed to me, by Kristin
at GenCon in, I guess, 2005 or 2006; and after that it was just a matter
of time until I began my collection. I can't, though, for the life of me
remember how I got my first stashes. Monochrome, even.
*...looks over order history at LL.com...*
So it seems I bought mono gray, purple, and cyan as soon as I got my
initial Rabbit Points, and in short order I also bought orange (which,
oddly, stacked shorter than a normal stash by about a half inch? They
got replaced, but that means I somehow found them at a store?!?).
So, somehow, I ended up buying mono stashes in store(s) around 2006. And
I found all but cyan, purple, and gray. Weird... my memory is not what
it used to be, but I should think I'd remember buying up 8 stashes when
(in theory) only Treehouse was in stores. Huh.
> Black ICE
> ---------
> Black ICE rocks. I don't really have much else to say about it. It's
I gotta get my 3HOUSE book....
> Now, I just need to find the perfect "black box" to carry around for
OK, here's where Andy's Mini Maglight box would help you--he fits four
stashes into it, it seems from the video. And, again, the CCG store
might have the perfect card box for you: check out the 100- to 200-card
boxes, which often are available in metal or plastic, transparent or
opaque, colors or plain or printed with a graphic. I mean, seriously...
take a look at this site:
http://www.trollandtoad.com/Supplies--%26--Dice/2280-483p1.html
I particularly like this one:
http://www.trollandtoad.com/images/products/pictures/155904.jpg
(I am not affiliated with T&T. Your FLGS will probably have many of
these products.)
> A new Icehouse dexterity mechanic?
> ----------------------------------
> Each person takes two large pyramids, and jams them onto thumb
> and forefinger of one hand. These form your (slippery) claw.
>
> Sprinkle the medium and small pyramids into a pile, and tip
> over all upright pyramids so that they are all resting flat.
OK, I'll give you first publication rights, but I was playing this
"diversion" over a year ago!
;)
It's pretty hard, if you make all the "target pieces" upright (and, yep,
trivial if they are flat, as in your rules above).
I also futzed around trying to pick up the Treehouse die, match boxes,
beverage napkins, straws (yeah, yeah, I was at the bar). I quickly
discovered that my fingernails aren't very inclined to be jammed into a
pyramid--they start to ache a bit, from being curled (they are generally
flatter than the average bear's).
Hey! How about "Lobster Drip"?!?
"You got Drip in my Ice Lobster!"
"You got Ice Lobster in my Drip!"
Mmmmmm.....
Might be too much dexterity and not enough control/strategy. But what
the heck... it's surely a far enough deviation to warrant a separate
game, rather than a variation section on the main game (Binary
Homeworlds v Homeworlds is, apparently, a good gauge of how different is
different enough to the Icehousegames.org pundits).
OK... this is definitely turning into a Friday Ramble kind of post. I'll
sign off now before I start talking about my "suction cup" game idea
involving a candle to generate hot air and sticking pyramids onto your
face (I had WAY too many pints, that night).
8^P
David
