Egyptian Solitaire and other pyramid thoughts

 The first activity I used the Pyramid Arcade for was playing Egyptian Solitaire. Honestly, I thought it would be Treehouse since I have a long, happy history with that game but there you have it.

Egyptian Solitaire is a Looney Pyramids variant of the classic peg solitaire. The twists are that the pyramid doing the jumping can land on another pyramid the same size or an empty space and the fact that each space has three pyramids to clear.

By the way, I am profoundly terrible at it. I do enjoy it and I can’t help but hope someday that something will click in my head and I will solve it. And it’s a perfect information puzzle so it is solvable.

The base version is a three by four grid but you can expand it it make it more difficult/interesting.

So, you use some stackable pyramids to recreate a puzzle that goes back to the 1600s, if Wikipedia is to be believed. (Since anyone can edit it, you should always have approach Wikipedia with a grain of salt) So the question is: does it do something unique that you’d need the pyramids for and is it any fun?

And I think the answer to that is yup.

Now, I wouldn’t buy a pyramid set just to play Egyptian Solitaire (I did buy both colors of Treehouse when they came out, just to make a comparison) It is a nice little something to do with pyramids you bought for other games though. (I will say that Food Chain Island is a vastly superior reinvention of the peg solitaire puzzle)

Egyptian Solitaire does highlight two elements of the Loony Pyramids and gaming systems in general. Does it let you play a game and do you need the game system to play it?

On one extreme, Ricochet Pyramids lets me play a game almost exactly like Ricochet Robots without the trouble of having that oversized box in my closet. However, I could use that rule set to play Ricochet Pyramids with some other bits. (I don’t but I could) On the other hand, I think it would be really hard to cobble together a Volcano set without anything other than the pyramids and I think that’s an absolute banger of a game.  

Egyptian Solitaire in no way reinvents any wheels but I do like an excuse to play with little plastic pyramids.

Looney Labs included the kitchen sink in Pyramid Arcade

 I recently made what I feel is one of my most indulgent game purchases in years, Looney Labs Pyramid Arcade. I had been interested in it ever since I saw the Kickstarter back in 2016.

After a regular deck of cards, the Looney Pyramids are my favorite game system. (Dominoes and the Decktet are pretty awesome too) I started playing with pyramids back when they were still called Icehouse (Get off my yard, you young whipper snappers! The gaming table’s in the house! Catan’s waiting for you)

And the reason why I didn’t get Pyramid Arcade right off the bat was, well, I basically owned almost everything that was in and could cobble together the rest. I had already bought at least one cache of every color that Looney Labs had made and I did back the Kickstarter at a level to get the new one.

However, if there is one flaw in the system (and this is a very subjective flaw), it is that the pyramids don’t really stand alone. Almost every game requires some additional components. A board, some cards of some , dice, etc. I don’t consider this to be a legitimate failing. Yes, you can play hundreds of games with just a deck of cards but purity of gam system definition doesn’t actually affect function.

Even more than I had originally believed, Pyramid Arcade collects everything and the kitchen sink in one box. It includes ten different boards (I’m counting double sided boards as two boards), nine dice, two decks of cards, a drawstring bag and a chunky player token.

And yeah, years before the Pyramid Arcade came out, I put together in my own pyramid kit. But Looney Lab made a better one. 

So, while it’s easy to argue that I didn’t need to buy Pyramid Arcade (and even easier to argue you don’t need to buy any games lol), it’s going to be fun to have it around

Pyramid Arcade funded with flying colors

It isn't a surprise that the Arcade Pyramid got funded, seeing as how it matched its funding goal on day one. Additional stretch goals, like reprinting the Looney Labs chess board bandana and thirty extra pyramids (so you can play games like Zendo or Pikeman) were reached. So, it was a smashing success and Looney Labs has a good history as a company so I'm confident in the project getting fulfilled.

I do have to admit that I backed it at a lower level, in part to get the special green pyramids and in part to simply show my support and be a part of the project. I already have well over two hundred pyramids and pretty much every additional accessory for them that had been already produced, including the bandana. :D

In fact, I bought the boxed sets of Ice Towers and Zendo back when they were being produced. Zendo, in particular, has served as a great tool box for the pyramids. (The color contrast in that color set is better for my color-blindness) The Pyramid Arcade is the super-sized version of that.

Honestly, while I have always been a big fan of the pyramid system, the Pyramid Arcade project has reminded me just how much you can do with it. The part of me that loves researching print and play projects loves the system because it lets me explore new games all the time. And I am sure the Pyramid Arcade only encourage more development.

It has even made me end my hiatus on Superduper Games, since there are pyramid games on that site. (I have no issues with the site. I think it's amazing place to play some very unusual abstracts. I just periodically take breaks from it.)

I have had many years of good play from the pyramid system. I think that the Pyramid Arcade is only going to spark more interest in the system and encourage more games to be developed.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/187988/pyramid-arcade

http://icehousegames.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

Zendo is the best pyramid game

I have played a lot of games over the years with the Looney Pyramids. Hands down, the best game I have played has been Zendo. As far as I am concerned, it is the crowning jewel of the system. I have played it in many different settings with many different groups and it has never failed to be a hit.

I was once teaching it at a meetup group and an observer said 'So it's like Mastermind with Tetris pieces?' and I turned to her and said 'it is EXACTLY like that' 

Zendo belongs to the school of deduction games where one person comes up with a code or rule and everyone else has to figure it out. Mastermind is the defining game of the genre but Zendo blows every other game of its type out of the water.

One player will take the role of code maker or master. Everyone else will be their students or code breakers. The master will come up with a rule about the Buddha and then build two dioramas called koans out of the pyramids , one that demonstrates the rule and one that does not.

The rule really can be virtually anything. It can relate to the colors of pyramids, the number of pyramids, the orientation of pyramids, the size of the pyramids or any combinations of them. For instance, a rule could be that a koan has the Buddha nature if it has a large blue pyramid pointing up.

Students take turns building koans of their own and then asking the master either master or mondo. If they ask master, the master simply marks if the koan follows  the rule or not. Mondo has all the students guess what the master's answer will be before the master marks the koan. Everyone who guesses right gets a guessing stone.

At the end of a student's turn, they can turn in a guessing stone to guess  the Buddha's nature. If they get the rule right, they win. Otherwise, the master will build another koan that demonstrates the student's rule but still does not have the Buddha's nature.

Zendo is an amazing gaming experience, unlike anything else I've played and I've played a lot. While there is a 'winning' condition and it can be seen as competitive, I've always found it turns into a cooperative experience. And unlike cooperative games like Pandemic, it isn't about tension but exploration and discussion.

The master's goal isn't to stump the students. Trust me, that wouldn't be a challenge. The master's goal is to challenge and engage the students. The students are going to inevitably work together, whether they intend to or not since every turn gives new information. In almost every game I've played in, it has become intentional.

Zendo is really about communication. A game of Zendo is a conversation between the master and the students, as well as the students with each other. That gives the entire game a vibe that is unique.

You can play Zendo with just about everything. I've read about people using pocket change to play it or words or even emoticons. However, the pyramids are a very good way to play Zendo. They create a striking visual look. More importantly, they create a distinct language to have the conversation with.

Zendo is an impressive game. Each piece of the game is designed to help people not just explore reasoning but communication. Other deduction games, like Clue or Sleuth, are about find answers. Zendo is about talking to each other.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/6830/zendo

http://www.looneylabs.com/rules/zendo

Volcano, one of the classics of Looney Pyramids

If there is a game that truly embraces the unique nature of the Looney Pyramids, it is Volcano.

There are a lot of abstract strategy games in the Looney Pyramid catalog. A good chunk of the early games, for instance most of the games in Playing with Pyramids, are pure abstract strategy games without any random elements.

Played out on a five by five grid, Volcano is a game about collecting sets of pyramids by strategically causing volcano eruptions. Some years ago, I wrote a fairly detailed review and rules summary : https://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/202091/very-unconventional-abstract Looking back at it, I have to say that Volcano is much easier to demonstrate than to explain.

The thumbnail sketch of Volcano is that you move the volcano caps around to cause eruptions, which are basically the pyramids playing hopscotch. When a pyramid lands on another pyramid the same size, you get to keep that pyramid for scoring. You get extra points collecting  a trio of the same color and when someone gets a pyramid in every color, the game ends.

There is definitely a learning curve to Volcano. As I said, actually understanding how the game works mechanically doesn't seem to click until you see the game in action. The next part of the learning curve is figuring out how to set up good moves :D

Volcano is a game that really requires the stacking nature of the pyramids, as well as three different sizes. It clearly was developed out of the very nature of the pyramids. Plus, there's no denying that, as abstract as it is, the pyramids help it live up to the Volcano name.

Plus, Volcano is a very solid game. Definitely forces you to think in different ways so it is intellectually challenging. At the same time, causing eruptions and collecting colorful pyramids is an off a lot of fun. For such a different game, it's an easy one to get people interested.

I've been playing Volcano for years. Sadly, not regularly enough to get really good at it but I keep coming back to it. I consider it one of the games that really elevated the Looney Pyramid system, a game I'd buy and keep playing even if it was the only game in the system.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13084/volcano

http://icehousegames.org/wiki/index.php?title=Volcano

Pyramid Arcade is on Kickstarter

Looney Labs has just started a Kickstarter project called Pyramid Arcade, which is the largest tool kit they've offered for their Looney Pyramids.

I've been playing with their pyramids for so long that Looney Pyramids is the third name that they've had for the system. I first started playing with them back when they were called Icehouse Pyramids. Then, they were Treehouse Pyramids. I have a feeling Looney Pyramids will stick since they finally named them after the company.

Looney Pyramids aren't a game. Instead, they're a game system. Think of them as a tool box, a collection of pieces you can use in different ways to play a wide variety of different games. Just like a deck of cards, only more pointy.

I am a big fan of game systems. Not just because they are a lot of game packed into a small space but because they really let you look at the nuts and bolts of mechanics. When you take away the chrome, you get to see all the moving parts.

Although, having just said that, the colorful stacking pyramids are awfully pretty chrome.

There's a lot of different games you can play with the pyramids, ranging from abstracts to dexterity to deduction to area control to resource management to war games. Okay, light war games. I'm pretty sure that Homeworlds qualifies as a 4X game.

There are a number of reasons I think that the pyramids have become a really good game system.

First of all, the actual pyramids themselves are very versatile. Pyramids that are stackable, come in three sizes and come in a wide variety of colors can be used in a variety of ways. And they make nice eye candy.

Second, the pyramids are really just the jumping off point. A lot of these games use boards, dice, cards or tokens. Alien City uses a whole other game system, the Piece Pack. That does kind of spoil the whole game system standing in its own (Hey, take this handful of pyramids. It's all you'll ever need) but the end result is a lot of fun, different games.

Finally, the pyramids have been supported and nurtured by both a game company and design community. One way or another, it has been supported since 1989. The pyramids are a living system that is constantly being developed by professionals and not-quite-as-professionals. 

I've played about half of the twenty-two of the games that will come in the Pyramid Arcade and eight of them I'm pretty sure are original to this set. Just from what I've played alone, I know it's a good collection.

The one glaring omission to the set is Zendo, which is my favorite pyramid game. Unfortunately, Zendo would require a different distribution of colors. On the other hand, you can still use the set to play Zendo, just not using colors. Really, you can use a handful coins to play Zendo if you felt like it.

And one of the stretch goals is to work on a sequel project that would allow people to play Zendo and other older games that used the older color distribution. 

Looney Labs has already reached their funding goal. I think they might've done it on the first day. The pyramids have been around for decades and they have really proven themselves as a gaming system. 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/looneylabs/pyramid-arcade

http://www.icehousegames.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page