Recently in Games Category

I received my new (issue? episode? copy?) of Wholphin awhile ago, and I haven't watched most of it yet, if anyone wants to join me (Pete and Susan generously agreed to watch a couple movies with me, but there are still many left!).

One of my favorite clips from the last (issue? episode? copy?) was Ballistic Jaw Propulsion of Trap-Jaw Ants. Do I like experimental film? No! I just like ants.

Or so I thought, until I started clicking around Encyclopedia Pictura. I like a lot of their stuff.

One of the things I like is the sounds -- I guess it helps that they are doing a lot of music videos. I remember Jon Nichols telling me at some point that whenever I saw a really boring movie, a good trick is focus on the foley work to entertain yourself. And you know what? Sometimes it works. That and product placement -- that's kind of fun to watch for, too.

Anyway, here's my idea:

Kiddy Foley Kit

This wouldn't be some lame collection of sound effect CDs -- it would be a hands-on experience for children. There's a foley booth hands-on at the experience music project which was kind of entertaining, and this would be the home version. It would include:

• coconuts
• sandpaper
• squeaky hinges
• glass

P.S. Originally I was going to blog about the ferrofluid in this video but then I gave the material to Higgins.

Justin pointed me to Millions of Hundred Dollar Ideas the other day as my internet doppelganger. At first I felt threatened (they're on my turf, man! I OWN the "idea" word space!), then I was impressed (what an incredible representation of the idea process!), then I felt threatened again (MoHDI's Gizmodo finalist status makes me feel like my "American Inventor" appearance was a joke!), and now it turns out at least one of them really IS my doppelganger. He lives in Portland. He was born on 7/17/77 (I was born on 8/17/67 -- 28 more shopping days!!). My mind is reeling!! I must destroy these people!!! Or befriend them! Or both!

So, I was trying to think of the best way to "serve" (as the kids say) these newcomers to the idea game, and here's what I came up with:

I'm going to challenge them to a duel of wits in something I am calling "Great Hundred Dollar Idea Pictionary" for now. It needs some refinement, which maybe the MoHDI posse can provide, if they think they are so smart.

The concept is based on pictionary, only instead of drawing some word or something that you pull out of a hat or whatever, you draw some idea that you pull out of your ass. And people have to guess what the invention is just from your sketching it - you know, like pictionary.

The thing is, I don't know if maybe what you'd pull out of the hat might be a problem or something that the other team had identified? Or if you, as the player, have to come up with the problem and the solution all in one play? The thing is, the most important part of any idea is identifying (or inventing) the problem your idea solves, but that can be time consuming, chancy, or just plain hard. So, I'm slightly intimidated by my own terrifying challenge. But the Gods love hubris. So I'm going to go comment on their blog right now. Wish me luck!!!

Pete wrote in with this idea some time ago. I haven't been blogging much so I neglected to post it until now.

"Maybe this idea isn't that new, but it would be like name that tune but newer. so this show would be on MTV2 and what would happen is at the beginning they would kidnap the contestants, and take their iPods, then there would be a Name-that-tune-like game played using the contents of the iPods. Whoever could guess the most songs, on others iPods and stump their competitors with the cool contents of their iPods, would win prizes. It would have another aspect where contestants would be embarassed by the weird Menudo songs on their iPod.

anyway its a good idea for a game show."

That definitely is, Pete!

Has anyone else every played the music trivia game on their iPod where it makes you guess the names of the music on your own iPod? The thing is, for most people, it might be kind of boring because they loaded it, after all, but for me it's boring because I am so deeply (almost studeously) ignorant of what it is I'm listening to. People like Chris Higgins and Pete himself allow this by providing me with music so I don't have to think about it.

I enjoyed some of these pretentious video games at somethingawful, maybe most of all because I feel satisfaction when I do well at name drop.

We played this mini-quiz I developed at a party awhile ago and it was fairly interesting what people said -- at least, it kept people talking for awhile.

Rank in order of what you've had most:

• Sexual partners
  
• Homes or living quarters
  
• Jobs
  

That's it. Now go discuss amongst yourselves. Deciding what constitutes sex or whether temp work counts is part of the fun, so don't ask me. It's not intended to be competetive, so you don't need to count and then compare, although if you want to you can, I guess. But I don't recommend it.

And on a completely unrelated topic, I've been enjoying nosing around this guy's website. His speech bubble sticker project was linked on boing boing today.

Remember my idea for a dogpark video game?

Chris sent me these links today to Nintendo dog game and a review.

Oh my god! So cute! So much easier to deal with than Pica!

What seems most interesting is that it will have an online multiplayer aspect. Woof!!

This is less a great idea than a business I'd like to patronize: a mini golf course where you could drink and eat hors douvres and ideally, dress up in fancy evening gowns and tuxedos. It would be an opportunity for structured socialization slightly more physical than Ticket to Ride or Scrabble, but not quite up there with badminton or, god forbid, softball (actually, I like softball ever since I was the mascot for the Seattle Rape Relief softball team). Partly it's inspired by a mini golf experience I had with Ian in Stuttgart ten or fifteen years ago. There was a really cute mini golf course on top of this tall hill/small mountain near our house. We celebrated Ian's birthday there with a party and it was really fun -- beer, wine, cake, etc. as I remember it.

Anyway, drinking on mini golf courses already exists (I may add "already exists" as a category). I'm not so sure I'd want to be on any of theirleagues, but it looks like they're having a good time, so maybe?

But I don't see elegent mini golf courses for people in evening wear, so there's an opening. If I did this myself, like on the top of the Laurelhurst Theater (my original idea -- but I offered it to Woody and he declined), there are people out there who would be happy to help me create my own mini golf course. They have some lovely courses, including this mini golf biodome. I'm tempted to send away for their video!. Mt. Tabor would actually be a nice place to have it.

Or I could just buy this mini golf course for only $589,000 (Canadian!!).

I could collaborate with Jim to use minigolf as a showcase for landscaping

I learned a little about the history of mini golf here -- wow, and it turned me to a nice article: SIMPLY PUTT: MINI-GOLF IS AN ART FORM. Way to go, Jonathan Haeber!

As well as this (warning: it talks).

As usual, Halfbakery has something to say.

OK -- enough about mini golf. Time to make the donuts.

At the dog park the other day I had the thought that Pica's movements are a lot like video game -- that is, she runs around frantically, tries to avoid obstacles, goes after squirrels (she actually caught one the other day, but it escaped), chases balls, fights battles with other dogs, gets chased, chases, etc. etc. I think it would make great fodder for a vide game. There is a board game based on dog activities, but that wouldn't take advantage of the high speed nature of the thing. It would also be a bit like a Sims game -- and you could develop your dog's characteristics and skills and they could get to be a really good frisbee dog, or a really good jumper, or something. And you'd have to pick up after them. A dog game would be really fun. Atari has failed to exploit this potential. And playing a dog at the park would be a lot more fun than pretenting to shoot a dog in the mouth (ugh!). It looks like I'll have to get a Playstation if I really want to play at being a dog.

I've just been interviewing replacements for myself on one of my 12 jobs, and the fact is, I actually kind of enjoy job interviews when I'm being interviewed. It always seems like kind of a game, and I've pretty much always gotten a job if I get to that point -- I guess I've never been truly absolutely desperate, and all that time temping in SF helped my skills in fielding inane questions like, "describe yourself in three words" (which we actually asked, thanks to our human resources expert). I wish I could remember some of the worst job interview questions I've been asked, but I forget now.

Anyway, it occurred to me that for people like me, you could make a good party game out of job search rituals. Here's what I came up with so far:

First, during your turn, you would be the applicant, and the other players would be the hiring committee.

You'd have three stacks of cards:

1) Job (the job you're applying for. It would vary from academia to farming to engineering, etc.)
2) Your experience and education (You'd draw three of these. They would likewise vary from jail to Ph.D. to the army, etc.)
3) Keywords (words you MUST use during the interview).
4) (OK -- 4 stacks) Interview questions. Each committee member would draw one and they would include all the goofy HR type questions.

Then each committee person would ask a question and you'd be rated on your response according to some rubric we'd develop to go with the game. You would have to mention the information on each of the cards, or lose substantial points during the "reference check" period (when you'd show all your cards). Each card would mention how many points you'd gain or lose by mentioning it. You'd have to strategize about whether you would make more points from the rubric or from playing the card.

The other possible component, for the non-verbal, could be writing the cover letter. You'd have a timer and would draw from the same first three piles. But that would be pretty boring for the other players to watch, so maybe you'd all do it at once when the game began and then proceed from there. Or at the end. No, it would make more sense at the beginning.

This could be tailored to specific markets. It might actually *help* some people.

OK -- I know people will say this is a lot like "Careers" or even "Life" -- but it's not, really. I did find reference to a board game called interview challenge. But that doesn't seem to exist anywhere else on the internet, which is as good as not existing at all.

I'm sure I'm not the first to note that you can play Jenga without buying any game pieces. I guess that kind of defeats the whole idea, though -- you know, to make money from a good idea. You could also play coffee table pick up sticks.

Many many thanks to Bridget and Carrie who presented us with the amazing fondue pot which inspired this game. I hope they come visit us soon and play Fondutionary with us. This is based on my friends' version of the game Dictionary: TV Guidetionary (and if we're lucky maybe they'll tell us more about that). Both Fondutionary and TV Guidetionary are versions of the game Dictionary, which many seem to consider safe family fun or, worse, educational . Some of us like to theorize our games and then use a dictionary to talk about them. Actually -- I just found that site by accident, but enjoyed playing the prisoner's dillemna online, although I was soundly trounced. Anyway, the thing that makes you an effective player of any of these games is how well you can mimic the format of the original source.

The way you play Fondutionary is: first you start by reading a fondue recipe aloud so everyone gets the formula. We just played using titles and ingredients (not directions) so, using "The Gold Medal Fondue Cookbook" by Marie Roberson Hamm (Greenwich, Conn.: Fauwcett Publications, Inc., 1970) we all heard about:

Clam Dip Fondue

2 loaves French bread
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 (7-ounce) cans minced clams, undrained
8 slices bacon, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup tomato puree
1/2 teaspoon basil, crushed
dash salt and pepper

Then, one person (Katy, in this round) picked another real fondue recipe from the book and the rest of us made up our own recipes -- all of us writing them down on similar-looking paper. Then the same person who picked the real recipe read all the recipes to us and we voted for which one we thought was real.

Here are the recipes to chose from (answers below):

A) Yam Yam Fondue
3 large baked yams, diced
1/2 cup cream cheese
2 tbl cornstarch
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup sweet vermouth
3 strips diced bacon
salt and pepper to taste

B) Rise and Shine Fondue
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tbs. bran flakes
1/2 cup montery jack cheese
2 cups piping hot coffee
1 tbs. cornstarch
dash of salt
2 shots burbon

C) Breakfast Party Fondue
1 egg, beaten
1 cup light cream or milk
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaxpoon salt
4 slices sandwich bread
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 (8-ounce) package precooked pork sausage
1 (13 1/4 ounce) can pineapple chunks
Teriyaki Sauce
Chutney Sauce
2 cups salad oil

D) Lard 'n Eggs
1 loaf bread
4 ounces Montery chedder cheese
2 ounces butter
3 ounces lard
5 raw eggs
salt and pepper
hot sauce to taste

E) Gouda Sunrise
6 oz. Gouda cheese
1 T. flour
1/3 c red wine
1 clove minced garlic
1 t basil
1/4 c minced sundried tomatoes
2/3 c water

F) Cheese 'n Chunks Fondue
2 16 oz. bags large elbow macaroni
2 cups soft cheese
1/2 cup Spam, cubed
1/2 cub Swiss cheese
1/4 cup milk

Answers below!!

Next on the list: cold war recipes-tionary, Appetizer-tionary, Dissertation-Abstract-Tionary (!!), Chilton's Guide-tionary, jellotionary.

Alternate title: "Beers and Bathrooms."

Chris and I came up with this idea the other day over breakfast after I had attended an Octoberfest thing with music (the same place where I saw them selling the kilts). There was a lot of beer, but not many bathrooms. Basically, it would be a board game in which the point of it was to go around a board (that's not the innovative part). Most of the squares would be bars. At the corners, you would have "paydays" and "bathrooms." Your goal would be to have as many beers as possible while maintaining a urinary equilibrium.

We developed a lot of details and twists, but I'll have to add them later as updates or comments.

Just a calendar with photos of old board game boards on them. The days of the week or holidays could have little photos of the play pieces, or maybe the rules or something. I think this would sell (niche market), but I’ll bet that, like my “Aprons, Aprons, Aprons” book idea, it’s been done already.

Actually, I didn't find it on google or Amazon, but there is such a calendar glut in this world it's a wonder anything gets published.