Real Life
Ben showed up with a box of magic and a handful of links, and we spiraled from there.
We started off with Piecepack, the infinitely expandable system of tile-based board games. If you haven’t seen it, The Infinite Board Game is a great intro — it comes with a full Piecepack set and over 50 games:
👉 The Infinite Board Game
Two standouts we tried:
- Whirlpool Pond (Tube Wars) — hilariously chaotic and surprisingly strategic. Steven said it reminded him of playing little games at a picnic table on camping trips.
🎯 Whirlpool Pond - Moto-X — a racing game with dexterity and movement rules that feel like they’re half-imagined and half-remembered, which is kind of perfect.
🏍️ Moto-X
Also, apparently 9-ball billiards now counts as a dexterity game when you’re a parent trying to entertain your kid for 20 minutes.
Then we switched gears into silly, cooperative (ish), multiplayer chaos on PC:
- Boomerang Fu – you’re food. You throw boomerangs. You die. You laugh.
boomerangfu.com - Regular Human Basketball – pure absurdity, controlling giant robots one switch at a time.
Regular Human Basketball - Heave Ho – teamwork, trust, betrayal, and flailing limbs.
heavehogame.com
We also checked out the very weird, very poetic, and very compelling little book Adieu Plane Snake:
✈️ Adieu Plane Snake on Amazon
Then it was time for ruffled shirts and tankards: The Central Coast Renaissance Faire is back!
ccrenfaire.com
We are under strict orders not to talk about Greg, which means we definitely spent time discussing:
- Greg’s guild: The Free Men of the Brass Ring
- The benefits of being in a guild (tents, snacks, shade, and — let’s be honest — drinks)
- Greg’s infamous “gutpuncher” tale, which should be written down for legal reasons
- How to put together your own costume (hint: check this guide)
Steven’s costume is about 80% “rogue” and 20% “man lost in an upholstery store.” It works.
And finally, we played two rounds of Arcs — a stunning galactic strategy game from Leder Games:
🌌 Arcs
- Ben crushed the first game with pure focused ambition
- Devon quietly outmaneuvered us in the second game
- Steven tried a blitzkrieg strategy and was immediately and thoroughly punished
Future or Now
Quiet week on the horizon-gazing front. No robot uprisings or biotech breakthroughs… yet.
Book Club
This Week:
There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury
The house that keeps going after the people are gone. One of Bradbury’s best — eerie, poetic, and haunting.
Next Week:
The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury
Another quiet apocalypse — a world where going for a walk makes you suspicious.
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