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Let me start with a strong statement:
The Icehouse pyramids may be the best game bits ever.
You don't have to argue, it's just my opinion. But I'm not the only one that thinks so. And if you really doubt the power of these pyramids, buy a tube, take them out of the tube, set them on your desk, and await the questions and comments.
Okay, so maybe I should back up and tell you what I'm talking about, if you aren't already aware of these cool multi-colored pointy things.
In short, there is a guy named Andrew Looney. He wrote a story about a boardless game played with little colored pyramids. He and a friend created a real game for the pyramids. He started a small company to hand-make pyramids, and created a buzz about these pyramids. He drew a community of like-minded people to him, and he and many others created a lot of games for these pyramids. There was more buzz available than actual pyramids.
Skip forward a bit. Andrew Looney's current company, Looney Labs (yes, one of the best game-company names ever...there goes another strong statement I will also stand by) has pyramids manufactured for all the people who want them. At this time, not counting all the various handmade and custom jobs, there are eleven colors of pyramids. Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, white, black, gray and clear. There are also paper pyramids you punch out and fold up, available in red, yellow, green, blue, black, and white (so you can design and/or color your own). Giant cardboard pyramids have been made as well, first for conventions, then as custom product. There are several designs for origami pyramids out there you can make at almost no cost. It's turned into kind of a cottage fan industry.
The point is, the pyramids are out there. All they need is a game. In the original version of the manufactured pyramids (which had four "stashes" of pyramids in four colors), there were several pamphlets with rules to several games. The pyramids are no longer sold the same way these days. They are now sold in one-color tubes.
Okay, this is where I need to stop and tell you a bit more, like what this mysterious "stash" is. First, the four-sided pyramids come in three sizes: large, medium, and small. The bottom of the pyramids are open, so that smaller pyramids may nest underneath larger pyramids and be completely covered, or rest on top of larger pyramids and make a Christmas-tree shape. The large pyramids have three "pips" (small oval indentations) at the base, the medium have two pips, and the small have one pip. A "stash" is a set of five large, five medium, and five small pyramids, all of the same color. Initially, you had to have at least two stashes to play games. That's changing. More later about that.
So there Andrew is, selling pyramids for a game with dozens and dozens of games created for it out there on the internet. He seems to dig the community (Looney Labs is, after all, The Hippy Game Company), but there's no product for him to sell aside from the pyramids themselves. (Yes, I know he's got a bunch of other cool games he and his company have created and sells, but I mean no other major Icehouse product.)
So he and his friends collect the twelve games they think are the best, or favorites, and write and publish a book of rules.
Playing with Pyramids: 12 Games for Icehouse Pieces
128 pages of pure gaming goodness. First, you have the cover, a weirdly attractive painting of people wandering around a (Martian?) landscape which features giant Icehouse pyramids sprouting all over the place, and a couple sitting, playing Icehouse at a table in the foreground. It could be that the couple in the painting is supposed to be Mr. and Mrs. Looney. Anyway, cool painting. Then when you open it up, you get a history of the pyramids, and of the game system (a much better one than this homely overview). Very interesting reading, and it gives a lot of insight into the people responsible.
Then you get the real meat. Rules for twelve games. Half you can play with paper or solid pyramids, half you need stackable manufactured pyramids to play. And what an odd variety of games!
IceTowers A basic real-time stacking game. Frantic and fun.
Thin Ice An even more basic stacking game. Kind of a pyramid version of Blockhead. Great for kids.
Zendo Perhaps the most popular pyramid game at the time this book was written. A game of induction inspired by the card game Eleusis. Very Zen, hence the name.
Martian Backgammon A result of a popular Icehouse sport: porting existing games to the pyramid system. Pretty much an odd pyramid version of...of course...Backgammon.
Volcano A very creative game involving a lot of Icehouse pyramids and some sort of 5 X 5 grid (even if it's just implied by the pieces). Another rabidly-enjoyed game by the Icehouse fans.
Martian Chess An odd game where you play a Chess-like game, but the color of the pieces don't matter, because where the pieces are determines whether they are yours or not. Sort of another port from another Andrew Looney game where you play a Chess-like game on a chessboard with two sets of white chessmen.
RAMBots An unusual brain-burner type of game, where you program your pieces to do certain things on a chessboards in order to complete a particular "program." Can you guess that Andrew and many of his friends are programmers in "real" life?
Pikemen A very good Chess variant making very good use of the fact that Icehouse pyramids can tip over and come in three sizes. Can play four players in a most satisfying manner. Possibly the most easily-understood game for non-gamers (not counting Thin Ice).
Zagami An extremely weirdly-themed chessboard game of microbes eating microbes. Satisfying for both programmers and biologists.
Icehouse The original pyramid game, from which they derive their name. A totally original real-time boardless game of position, defense, and force. Possibly the hardest game in the book to get your mind around, but it is oddly addictive.
Homeworlds Another unique game of space empire-building and spaceship combat between good and evil. A good strategic two-to-six-player game.
Gnostica An extremely odd territorial wargame played on a changing board made of (modified) tarot cards. Derived from an earlier Icehouse game (Zarcana) which many old-school Icehouse players prefer. This section is very detailed.
Each section has rules, game history, and tips on strategy. The ample illustrations and diagrams are cartoony and well-done. It's fun to look at as well as read. This book is an awesome work of game history and rules. Absolutely fascinating if you're a game geek. Here's a third strong statement: this is a book for those who are already hooked on Icehouse.
The unfortunate thing is, those who don't know what Icehouse is are not likely to pick it up on a whim. I'm sure there are a lot of non-players who have picked it up, flipped through it, scratched their heads, and put it back down, unsure of what they had in their hands, and that's a shame. I think if this were sold in game stores as part of a bundle or boxed set, including pyramids, it would be more compelling and accessible to new players. However, the cost of a set of stashes and the book is not low enough for most first-exposure players to easily take the plunge.
This truth was not lost on Looney Labs. Since this book was published, LL has come out with a small game that uses single trios of one large, one medium, and one small pyramid. The game is called Treehouse, and the sales unit is the familiar tube, filled with five "trees" (the group of three pyramids) in five different colors, and a die with six instructions. This is the new marketing paradigm for Looney Labs, and it seems that they will be creeping up toward full-stash games via multiple purchases of multiple Treehouse sets. The even have a book forthcoming which has games requiring three Treehouse sets (which is essentially sixty percent of five stashes).
That's okay. As long as they keep the pyramids available. And this book in publication.
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Nice review. When I recently finally decided to get the pyramids, I got the book too and it's a very entertaining read, even if you've never played any of the games. By the way, when I ordered from LL, there was (and I think still is) a discount for the book if you bought 5 treehouse sets, so it's kind of a bundle in a way.
-Jorge
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Wow! Very cool avatar, Jorge!
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Marshall Miller
United States
Medford
Massachusetts
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I can't back up your statements enough. I was very lucky this year to get a full volcano set and a copy of playing with pyramids (from the Looneys no less) for x-mas. I had been wanting a set for a long time and through the grapevine they found out my secret x-mas wish. To make a long story short, I've read the whole book now, but I still keep it in the restroom so I can re-read it at my leasure. I've played a dozen or so games of both treehouse and volcano since then and I'm loving both games. I think the wonderful thing about Icehouse is that there are sooooo many games you can play with them. The investment is sort of like buying a really nice deck of cards. The possibilities are endless. In some ways they are sort of the yin to cheapass games' yang. Where as Cheapass makes cheap games where you supply the pieces, Looney labs makes cool cheap pieces and everyone else supplies the games. My next games purchase will definately include another 5 treehouse sets so that I can play even more games (and I want some purple pyramids!).
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Mease19 wrote: ( (and I want some purple pyramids!).
Yeah, the purple pyramids are cool. With a purchase of the gray pyramids last week, I now have all the colors of plastic stacking pyramids from LL. Even when I'm not playing them, they are great to look at. I especially like to set up Extinction (my favorite Icehouse game on a chessboard) or Pikemen and leave it lying around.
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swandive78 wrote: Wow! Very cool avatar, Jorge!
Thanks 
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Steve Willson
United States
Silver Spring
Maryland
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swandive78 wrote: there are eleven colors of pyramids. Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, white, black, gray and clear
How/where did you get gray? Aside from the Volcano caps five piece set, I don't see gray offered on the LL site.
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Ryhesling wrote: swandive78 wrote: there are eleven colors of pyramids. Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, white, black, gray and clear How/where did you get gray? Aside from the Volcano caps five piece set, I don't see gray offered on the LL site.
It's offered as a Mad Lab Rabbit promo. Check out the Mad Lab Rabbit program on the Looney Labs website (Rabbits are the unpaid advertisers of Looney Labs; there are benefits, like being able to buy gray pyramids).
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Mark Brown
United States
North Liberty
Iowa
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Just a note that pyramids are no longer sold as single-color stashes. They're now bundled as five-color Treehouse sets in two different color combinations (Rainbow and Xeno), for a total of ten different colors. You can play the Treehouse game with one set, or the 3House games with three sets. You'll need up to five Treehouse sets to play some of the more advanced Icehouse games in the Playing With Pyramids book.
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Posted Wed Jan 10, 2007 2:39 am
