Musing about Zendo and spare change

 Many years ago, when I first discovered Zendo, I remember reading that someone writing that you don't need fancy pyramids or stones to play, that you could play with whatever you had in your pockets. Pocket change was specifically mentioned. And that got me thinking.

Couple of provisions, first. No one I know, including myself, carries nearly enough change around with them to actually play a good game of Zendo. You're going to have to shake coins out of the piggy bank specifically to put together a Zendo kit. Second, you don't have to have white and black stones, you can designate which Koens have the Buddhist nature by having a space on the playing surface for each type. A Koen that has the Buddhist nature goes on the east side of the table, those that don't go on the west side. That sort of thing. And unused coins could work as guessing stones if you don't want to keep track in your head.

What I felt was the biggest question was what is the actual configuration of your coin Zendo kit? Your mileage may vary but I felt that, at least as a general guideline, just sticking to pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. Half dollars and dollar coins can definitely add some more variables but not everyone has them lying around. Then there's the question of just how many you need to have of each coin. I can see, for an emergency, very limited game, making due with five of each. (And I want to live in a world where an emergency Zendo game is something that could actually happen) However, I think fifteen of each type of coin (just like there were fifteen pyramids in the old school staches) is actually ideal. Enough to make a wide variety of Koens while still being manageable. So, $6.90 in change.

And I think coins would make a versatile tool for making Koens. They have distinct types (quarters, dimes, nickels, pennies) They have distinct values (25, 10, 5,1) They have facing (heads, tails) Most importantly, all of that is common knowledge. And, while I'm talking about US currency, I'm sure the basic principles can be applied to almost any other coinage. (The Rai stones of the Yap islands are an obvious exception)

All of that said, this is all an intellectual exercise for me. If I was going to play Zendo (which I do enjoy doing), I'd get out my first edition copy. People respond well to the pyramids. And I wouldn't mind getting a copy of the second edition either. While I think it's neat that you could play a completely home brew, no frills Zendo, I don't know when I would do it.

I do like the thought of putting the idea out into the world.

Gaming with scrap paper

Recently, when I didn’t have access to my phone but was bored, I sketched out a five by five grid on the scrap paper and used my watch’s die roller to play Knizia’s Criss Cross using numbers as the six symbols. Board games are the best fidget toys.

But it made me think about what kind of games you could improvise like that.

Specifically solitaire games. Two player pencil-and-paper games are a time honored genre. Tic Tac Toe, Dots and Squares and whole books of them.

First of all, any game you can scribble down from memory has to be fairly simple. Maybe you can draw the tables from 30Rails from memory but I can’t. Second of all, while I think it’s kind of necessary to use dice, it becomes awkward to use too many.

Actually, more than Criss Cross, Wurfel Bingo and its sequel Knaster are really obvious choices.  They also only require a 5 x 5 grid and a couple of dice. And have rules you can easily carry around in your head. Criss Cross just happens to my go to in general for a super quick roll and write.

If you had more dice, you can go with something like Can’t Stop Express. Back in the olden days, scrap paper was pretty much how I normally played it. There’s also Yahtzee but I’d rather play Can’t Stop Express. Mind you, if we’re to the point where we’re talking about five or more dice, are we still in the world of scrap paper, pick up improv gaming?

While it can’t be played solitaire, I think the ultimate pick up with random stuff game is Zendo. Yes, it’s traditional to play it with plastic pyramids and other shapes, you can make koens with anything at hand.

At the end of the day, this isn’t something I’m going to get into the habit of. And I’ll probably just fall back in Criss Cross. But I still think it’s interesting to think about.

Zendo with magnetic tiles?

While watching our son play with Picasso Tiles (which are colorful, plastic magnetic tiles), I keep thinking how perfect they would be to play Zendo with.

Now, I am well aware that you can play Zendo with anything. There are tales from the olden days of people playing Zendo with pocket change. I could take all the different bottles of cleaner from under the kitchen sink and use them to play Zendo. The question isn’t what is possible but what is reasonable.

Even someone as DIY as me is not going to be thrilled with the idea of dumping out a waste paper basket to play a deduction game. Just because you _can_ do something doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. You have to sell the idea of playing a game to an audience of potential players. Nifty retro plastic pieces, they can sell the idea of playing Zendo. Crumpled paper, used up pens and empty chip bags, they don’t.

I like to think of myself as a purist who could play a game with rubbish but I’d be lying about if I said I want to. There is no escaping presentation.

At the same time, I’m not saying you have to only play Zendo or similar games with the official components. With a set of tools with a good aesthetic, the game can be engaging. And with tools like Picasso Tiles, you have something functional and aesthetically pleasing to make Zendo koans with. 

It might be a while before I can ‘borrow’ his Picasso Tiles for Zendo though.

Chain of thought with Mastermind

Our latest game to introduce our toddler to was Mastermind for Kids. It's a simplified version of Mastermind with only three holes for the code and jungle animals for the tokens.

Okay, he just wanted to play with the animals and play with how he could put them on the board. Still, he's played matching games so some of the mechanics of Mastermind are already percolating in his brain.

But it got me thinking about Mastermind and similar games. 

While I did play it when I was very young (and that cover is a classic), I'm not super found of Mastermind. I think it's because of the roles of code maker and code breaker just seemed...  restricted and uninteresting to me.

What's funny is that there are games that clearly used Mastermind as a starting point or an inspiration that I really like.

Zendo is easily the biggest example, as well as my favorite Looney Lab game. Perhaps because it's a game for a group, not a two-player activity. It also has as wide as the sky options for rules, as opposed to just a series of colors. And the role of the Master isn't that of an opponent but that of a teacher. It's a deductive game with a code maker but the whole philosophy of the game is the opposite end of the spectrum from Mastermind.

Coda, a very simple deduction game using numbers, is one where both players effectively play the role of code breaker and code maker, is another one I like. It's a good, relaxing little game and I think a key element to that is both players getting to play both sides.

Honorary mentions for me have to go to Jotto, which combines words with Mastermind, and Black Box, which is meaningfully themed around shooting rays at atoms. Seriously, what a theme!

Although, now that I'm thinking about it, doesn't the whole deduction game with someone hiding the information date back to at least Battleships in the 1930s? Probably a whole lot older than that. While I haven't played Mysterium or Codenames, don't they operate on the same principle?

So Mastermind didn't start the fire and isn't the the defining deduction game. It is probably as stripped down as you can get. So, even though I'm not a fan, maybe it is a good introduction for young minds. Maybe.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/13164/mastermind-kids

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

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/8946/coda

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastermind_(board_game)

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