I’m a huge fan of Moleskine’s slim, soft-cover, week-per-page, yearly planners. This year, I thought to order one too late and missed out, so Sharon converted a slim unlined Moleskine to a 4-month planner for me. I like it well enough. In fact, I think I like it more than the other format.
Now I’ve stumbled across Pocket Mod. It seems pretty neato, and it’s free. I may start using this when my 4-month planner runs out. If you’re a fan of paper-based pocket organizers, check out their nifty flash-based organizer layout interface. I suspect you’ll be amused.
Courtesy of Bluesea at the Board Game Designers’ Forum.
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: novelties
The 100th Invisible City Game of the Month for April 2008 is Fantasy RPG Checkers.
Fantasy RPG Checkers is the third in a series of compatible checkers variants where you adopt the role of a character. In Fantasy RPG Checkers, you can pick from 6 different characters, like smart fighter or arcane mage. Your character gives you special powers that allow you to bend or break the normal rules of checkers.
Like normal checkers, your goal is to capture all of your opponent’s pieces. Since this is Fantasy RPG Checkers, you gain class levels as you play, your checkers have hit points, and you may have to make saving throws. Don’t worry about it getting too complex, though. The rules keep it all rather simple.
Fantasy RPG Checkers is a game for two players. Fantasy RPG Checkers uses a standard checkers set, a six-sded die, and some pennies (or other small tokens). You can read the rules at http://www.invisible-city.com/play/476/. A two-player game takes about 25 minutes to play. Fantasy RPG Checkers is appropriate for ages 11 and up.
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: gaming
I was a big Doctor Who fan back in the 80’s, but lost interest after high school. Sharon & I recently started watching the new series and we’re really enjoying it. In an amusing piece of serendipity, I just stumbled across a link to an unauthorized Doctor Who CCG that is available for free download from its creator, Michel M. Albert. I’m mentioning it not only because it’s a free print-and-play game, but because Michel has consistently supported the game since June ’05 and has expansions planned ‘till November ’08. So far, there’s a core set plus 16 expansions.
Enjoy!
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: gaming
[3]
The 99th Invisible City Game of the Month for March 2008 is Steamwork Arena.
Steamwork Arena is a quick playing, diceless, customizable, miniature-based fighting game. You’re the pilot of a steamwork mecha in an arena battle with one or more other mecha. During play, you move your mecha’s miniature around an un-gridded playing area, attacking and being attacked by your opponent(s).
Here’s the big gimmick: You have a special card for your mecha. This card is called a template. Your template keeps track of your health. It also keeps track of which one of 5 modes you’re in. Your mode dictates your attack, defense, energy, movement, and the range of your ranged attacks. During play, you’ll shift from mode to mode as your needs change. As you take damage, modes will “shut down” and become unavailable to you. You win the game by dealing enough damage to your opponent(s) to shut down all of their modes.
Here’s the small gimmick: There are no dice. During play, you’ll spend energy to attack and defend. To do this, you hide energy tokens in your hands and your opponent gets to pick a hand. The number of tokens in the selected hand determines how strong your attack or defense is. All tokens in both hands get spent. This “pick-a-hand” mechanic encourages bluffing and strategic play that’s atypical for miniature games like this.
Steamwork Arena is a game for two to four players, although you could probably play it with more. Steamwork Arena uses miniatures, a large flat surface, small tokens, custom templates, and paper clips. You can download the custom templates and read the rules at http://www.invisible-city.com/play/474. A two-player game takes about 20 minutes to play. Steamwork Arena is appropriate for ages 12 and up.
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: gaming
[3]
I’ve done the best searching I know how to do, and now I’m turning to you for help.
Many moons ago, I owned a game store. We carried the Over The Edge RPG in the store. Over The Edge is a game of conspiracies within conspiracies, all struggling for supremacy on a little island. It’s surreal and has a wicked sense of humor. We also carried its companion CCG, On The Edge. On The Edge was very true to the game and pretty fun to play. One of the coolest things about it were certain rare cards called Secrets. Aside from having cool in-game abilities, they also had great flavor text. The flavor text for the secrets revealed really nifty stuff about the true nature of that faction’s presence on the island.
Here’s where you come in. If you know the text for one or more On The Edge secrets, please leave a comment with the name of the secret and its flavor text. Thank you!
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: gaming : novelties
[4]
The 98th Invisible City Game of the Month for January 2008 is 16 Memories.
16 Memories is (unsurprisingly) a memory game with 3 different ways to play and 7 different tile sets to play with. Although the three game variants are different, they all give you 1 minute to memorize what’s printed on 16 different tiles, then test your ability to remember what’s on each tile after they’ve been flipped face down.
Ironically, 16 Memories almost wasn’t released because I finished it, then forgot that I hadn’t released it yet. I remembered finishing everything for it, so I assumed that I’d published it to the web.
16 Memories is a game for two to four players, although you could probably play it with five. 16 Memories uses a pawn, a die, a one minute timer, a custom board, and a custom set of tiles. You can download the custom pieces and read the rules at http://www.invisible-city.com/play/479. A four-player game takes about 5 minutes to play. 16 Memories is appropriate for ages 7 and up, but all the players should be age-peers (I suspect that a parent against several children would have an unfair advantage. A parent against a team of children? That could be interesting.).
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: gaming : thought
[2]
I was searching on Google when I stumbled across manualism. It’s not naughty. It’s the playing of music via compressed air from just your hands.
This discovery led me to The Four Squeezins, a modern manualist performing duo, and a video on the history of manualism.
It brought a smile to my face, so I felt like sharing it.
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: humor
The 97th Invisible City Game of the Month for January 2008 is Payout!.
Payout! is a chance-heavy board game I made up back in August of 2003 as an alternate use for the 1,000 Blank White Questions game board. Payout! is a “race to the end” board game. You start the game with 20 cents. There are 6 different types of spaces on the board. Each type corresponds to a vault. If you land on a vault with coins in it, you get the coins that are in the vault. If you land on a space without coins in it, you have to put coins in the vault. When you get to the end of the board, you get to sit in a vault and take all of the coins that go in it. If you have the most money at the end of the game, you win.
Payout is a game for three to six players, although you can play it with two if you really want to. Payout uses two dice, loose change, pawns, and a custom board. You can download the custom board and read the rules at http://www.invisible-city.com/play/477. A four-player game takes about 30 minutes to play. Payout! is appropriate for ages 7 and up, and is a great way to reinforce basic counting and money skills with younger children.
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: gaming
The 96th Invisible City Game of the Month for December 2007 is Druid’s Duel.
Druid’s Duel is a quick card game I made up for the Board Game Designer’s Forum’s Game Design Challenge for November
’07 . In Druid’s Duel, you’re a druid competing with other druids in a shape changing contest to display your wits and prowess. The druid who best adapts to the tactics of his or her opponents becomes the new head of the Circle. Everyone starts the game with a full had of strategy cards. Each round you secretly pick a shape (lion, peacock, or jackrabbit) and a strategy card to play. When shapes are revealed, you may or may not get to discard your strategy card, depending on the shapes and strategies of your opponents. If you’re the first one to discard all of your strategy cards, you win.
Druid’s Duel is a game for two to four players. Druid’s Duel uses a standard Poker deck. You can read the rules at http://www.invisible-city.com/play/470. A four-player game takes about 30 minutes to play. I estimate that Druid’s Duel is appropriate for ages 13 and up.
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: gaming
[4]
Older |
recent posts |
recent comments |
April Game of the Month:
I’m a huge fan of Moleskine’s slim, soft-cover, week-per-page, yearly planners. This year, I thought to order one too late and missed out, so Sharon converted a slim unlined Moleskine to a 4-month planner for me. I like it well enough. In fact, I think I like it more than the other format.
Now I’ve stumbled across Pocket Mod. It seems pretty neato, and it’s free. I may start using this when my 4-month planner runs out. If you’re a fan of paper-based pocket organizers, check out their nifty flash-based organizer layout interface. I suspect you’ll be amused.
Courtesy of Bluesea at the Board Game Designers’ Forum.
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: novelties
The 100th Invisible City Game of the Month for April 2008 is Fantasy RPG Checkers.
Fantasy RPG Checkers is the third in a series of compatible checkers variants where you adopt the role of a character. In Fantasy RPG Checkers, you can pick from 6 different characters, like smart fighter or arcane mage. Your character gives you special powers that allow you to bend or break the normal rules of checkers.
Like normal checkers, your goal is to capture all of your opponent’s pieces. Since this is Fantasy RPG Checkers, you gain class levels as you play, your checkers have hit points, and you may have to make saving throws. Don’t worry about it getting too complex, though. The rules keep it all rather simple.
Fantasy RPG Checkers is a game for two players. Fantasy RPG Checkers uses a standard checkers set, a six-sded die, and some pennies (or other small tokens). You can read the rules at http://www.invisible-city.com/play/476/. A two-player game takes about 25 minutes to play. Fantasy RPG Checkers is appropriate for ages 11 and up.
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: gaming
I was a big Doctor Who fan back in the 80’s, but lost interest after high school. Sharon & I recently started watching the new series and we’re really enjoying it. In an amusing piece of serendipity, I just stumbled across a link to an unauthorized Doctor Who CCG that is available for free download from its creator, Michel M. Albert. I’m mentioning it not only because it’s a free print-and-play game, but because Michel has consistently supported the game since June ’05 and has expansions planned ‘till November ’08. So far, there’s a core set plus 16 expansions.
Enjoy!
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: gaming
[3]
The 99th Invisible City Game of the Month for March 2008 is Steamwork Arena.
Steamwork Arena is a quick playing, diceless, customizable, miniature-based fighting game. You’re the pilot of a steamwork mecha in an arena battle with one or more other mecha. During play, you move your mecha’s miniature around an un-gridded playing area, attacking and being attacked by your opponent(s).
Here’s the big gimmick: You have a special card for your mecha. This card is called a template. Your template keeps track of your health. It also keeps track of which one of 5 modes you’re in. Your mode dictates your attack, defense, energy, movement, and the range of your ranged attacks. During play, you’ll shift from mode to mode as your needs change. As you take damage, modes will “shut down” and become unavailable to you. You win the game by dealing enough damage to your opponent(s) to shut down all of their modes.
Here’s the small gimmick: There are no dice. During play, you’ll spend energy to attack and defend. To do this, you hide energy tokens in your hands and your opponent gets to pick a hand. The number of tokens in the selected hand determines how strong your attack or defense is. All tokens in both hands get spent. This “pick-a-hand” mechanic encourages bluffing and strategic play that’s atypical for miniature games like this.
Steamwork Arena is a game for two to four players, although you could probably play it with more. Steamwork Arena uses miniatures, a large flat surface, small tokens, custom templates, and paper clips. You can download the custom templates and read the rules at http://www.invisible-city.com/play/474. A two-player game takes about 20 minutes to play. Steamwork Arena is appropriate for ages 12 and up.
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: gaming
[3]
I’ve done the best searching I know how to do, and now I’m turning to you for help.
Many moons ago, I owned a game store. We carried the Over The Edge RPG in the store. Over The Edge is a game of conspiracies within conspiracies, all struggling for supremacy on a little island. It’s surreal and has a wicked sense of humor. We also carried its companion CCG, On The Edge. On The Edge was very true to the game and pretty fun to play. One of the coolest things about it were certain rare cards called Secrets. Aside from having cool in-game abilities, they also had great flavor text. The flavor text for the secrets revealed really nifty stuff about the true nature of that faction’s presence on the island.
Here’s where you come in. If you know the text for one or more On The Edge secrets, please leave a comment with the name of the secret and its flavor text. Thank you!
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: gaming : novelties
[4]
The 98th Invisible City Game of the Month for January 2008 is 16 Memories.
16 Memories is (unsurprisingly) a memory game with 3 different ways to play and 7 different tile sets to play with. Although the three game variants are different, they all give you 1 minute to memorize what’s printed on 16 different tiles, then test your ability to remember what’s on each tile after they’ve been flipped face down.
Ironically, 16 Memories almost wasn’t released because I finished it, then forgot that I hadn’t released it yet. I remembered finishing everything for it, so I assumed that I’d published it to the web.
16 Memories is a game for two to four players, although you could probably play it with five. 16 Memories uses a pawn, a die, a one minute timer, a custom board, and a custom set of tiles. You can download the custom pieces and read the rules at http://www.invisible-city.com/play/479. A four-player game takes about 5 minutes to play. 16 Memories is appropriate for ages 7 and up, but all the players should be age-peers (I suspect that a parent against several children would have an unfair advantage. A parent against a team of children? That could be interesting.).
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: gaming : thought
[2]
I was searching on Google when I stumbled across manualism. It’s not naughty. It’s the playing of music via compressed air from just your hands.
This discovery led me to The Four Squeezins, a modern manualist performing duo, and a video on the history of manualism.
It brought a smile to my face, so I felt like sharing it.
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: humor
The 97th Invisible City Game of the Month for January 2008 is Payout!.
Payout! is a chance-heavy board game I made up back in August of 2003 as an alternate use for the 1,000 Blank White Questions game board. Payout! is a “race to the end” board game. You start the game with 20 cents. There are 6 different types of spaces on the board. Each type corresponds to a vault. If you land on a vault with coins in it, you get the coins that are in the vault. If you land on a space without coins in it, you have to put coins in the vault. When you get to the end of the board, you get to sit in a vault and take all of the coins that go in it. If you have the most money at the end of the game, you win.
Payout is a game for three to six players, although you can play it with two if you really want to. Payout uses two dice, loose change, pawns, and a custom board. You can download the custom board and read the rules at http://www.invisible-city.com/play/477. A four-player game takes about 30 minutes to play. Payout! is appropriate for ages 7 and up, and is a great way to reinforce basic counting and money skills with younger children.
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: gaming
The 96th Invisible City Game of the Month for December 2007 is Druid’s Duel.
Druid’s Duel is a quick card game I made up for the Board Game Designer’s Forum’s Game Design Challenge for November
’07 . In Druid’s Duel, you’re a druid competing with other druids in a shape changing contest to display your wits and prowess. The druid who best adapts to the tactics of his or her opponents becomes the new head of the Circle. Everyone starts the game with a full had of strategy cards. Each round you secretly pick a shape (lion, peacock, or jackrabbit) and a strategy card to play. When shapes are revealed, you may or may not get to discard your strategy card, depending on the shapes and strategies of your opponents. If you’re the first one to discard all of your strategy cards, you win.
Druid’s Duel is a game for two to four players. Druid’s Duel uses a standard Poker deck. You can read the rules at http://www.invisible-city.com/play/470. A four-player game takes about 30 minutes to play. I estimate that Druid’s Duel is appropriate for ages 13 and up.
— Jonathan A Leistiko :: gaming
[4]
Invisible City Productions is a collective of game designers, writers, and artists who provide this as a space for the creators of secret media to come together and touch antennae.