Showing posts with label Game. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Game. Show all posts

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Blarfier Than Awesome


Ok, this one has me stumped. Has ANYONE ever heard of a game called "Blarf?" I know, it sounds like the greatest game ever (even though it sounds like the result of a college frat party). To be honest, before my girlfriend purchased this, I had no idea this thing existed! According to the box, "Blarf" included the "challenge of Chess" with the "simplicity of checkers" and a "super dash of Fun!!" (Not just a regular dash, mind you. That's for wimpier games. "Blarf" demands no less than a "Super" dash.)

Now you're reading a blog of someone who watches old toy commercials for fun. I can sing the "Trouble" jingle backwards and forwards ("wait, don't run!")I still play Monopoly with old original wooden hotels, houses and tokens (anyone remember the egg cup? the milk bottle?) But I have NEVER seen or heard of "Blarf" before this weekend. The troublesome thing is, The name is so darn catchy, I find I am seeing and hearing "Blarf" everywhere. Smokey Robinson singing "Blarf Machine". Reading Stephen King's "Needful Blarfs". Watching "Blarf Trek" on TV. And I thought the Smurfs were bad

Better Than Awesome: co-op story writing

Want a great way to fill part of an evening in a creative, and potentially twisted way? Write a co-op story with one or more people. This isn't a really new idea, but it's a heck of a lot of fun. Each person writes a paragraph of a story, the next person only sees the final sentence and writes another paragraph, and so on. You can end it whenever you want and two or more can play. Here's a bit of weirdness my girlfriend and I created this weekend. When an author alternated, the text goes bold (I started the story, so you can see my girlfriend has all the writing talent). Each paragraph ends with the single sentence the other author saw. Hope you enjoy it!

Strongathan the strong man sat pensively. He read the pamphlet again, for the fourth or fifth time, but the words never changed. The Strawberry Girl was returning. A small salty tear traced it's way down his mighty cheek. The last time he had seen Strawberry girl was when she was stepping aboard the train with the Blue Man. Strongathan recalled the ache in his heart in watching her board the traing.

And he remembered the faint surge of hope as his eyes met Strawberry Girls one last time.

But, that time was meant to run out eventually, and it did. Time does, you know. But his skin was tingling, and he knew it was time to move on. He was a mover...and a shaker...and a rattler... a rattlesnake. A real snake in the grass, all right. But yet, his love for Strawberry was genuine enough. Her sparkling eyes set his heart aflame....but he was afraid of fire...

...yes, afraid...


And yet, he knew his wits and nudity saved him in the past. He would need to rely on them again. Picking up a branch of a tree that had been struck off by a recent lightening storm, he crept through the undergrowth that surrounded the theatre. Using his psychic powers, he willed the lock on the stage door to open, and with a creak of rusty hinges, the door opened.

Clutching the wet branch, he stepped into the darkness.

His apprehension only served to heighten his desire...for her. The darkness wrapped around him like a cloak. He made his way further and further into the darkness, and memory. Memories of happy Strawberry times, times of lightness and delight. But now, however, he had to stand in the dark and immerse himself in the darkness of his very soul. He slapped himself in the face a few times with the wet branch, in order to keep his concentration sharp.

For he had a promise to fulfill...

Packing his suitcase, he boarded the next Transatlantic flight to England. he cleared customs with little difficulty, but at some point, he misplaced his duty-free bottle of gin. Inquiries at the information desk yielded blank stares and shaking heads, which infuriated him more. "Bloody English", he thought. Still, he couldn't wait for his first breakfast of fried bread and baked beans. Calling for a cab, he sat silently as he was whisked towards London. The cabby was mercifully silent, and the ride uneventful.

Until he smelled smoke filling the back of the car.

With David Bowie warbling on the radio, he began to roll down the window, but his strength was ebbing. "Fame..." David uttered, but our hero was on the verge of unconciousness. A sweet blackness like dark chocolate, like Iman....he was beginning to hallucinate. If only he could get the window to open. Perhaps he could chew it open? Or use his unusual powers.

His powerful mind powers....

Inexplicabley failed! The women were all still wearing their clothes. Without missing a beat, he stripped off his shirts and yelled "Drop 'em ladies, your love sheik has parked his camel!" Amid the flurry of flying clothing and the shrieks of delight, an unwelcome shape rose up behind him. It was Strongathan! Looking for vengance! "Now I have you", the cross-dressing beast shouted, "and I'll show you what happens when you try to mess with a union member!" Reaching out one massive hand, he extinguised the light.

I the darkness, he waited for the end to come.

A single drop kept dripping, over and over in the corner. He attempted to align his heartbeat with the rhythm of the drip...when suddenly, david Bowie burst onto the scene, having buzzed a hole in the wall with a chainsaw. "Surprise!" he cried.

The scene evaporated in a rainbow of smootches.


As you can see, it's usually pretty silly but great fun-try it out!!

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Better Than Awesome-Game from the Past!


Did you ever have a favorite toy or game as a child that you wished you could have again? That happened to me this year-I was strolling through an antique market (yeah I know, nothing more macho than "antiquing") and I saw an edition of a game I had and loved as a kid-it was called "Green Ghost"- a glow in the dark game that was so cool I practically wet myself each time I played it (or was that the bladder problem???). The game was played by up to four players on a raised, glow-in-the-dark board. Players could be either a black cat, a rat, a vulture or a bat. The goal of the game was to move around the board and pick up keys to "crypts" that contained little ghosts (now you understand why the board was raised!!). Players moved by spinning this uber-cool Green Ghost spinner, that made a really annoying "clatter" sound (this is pictured, with box and a feline interloper into the photo!!) There were twelve little ghosts to collect-once they are all collected, they are placed at the base of the annoy-o-matic Ghost spinner which is spun to select a ghost. If it's your ghost, you win! (in the instructions, "Green Ghost" is looking for his son, "Kelly"-all the little ghosts have names associated with the colour green).

Now I know what you're thinking, other than " a grown man likes "antiquing"? Isn't that what Principal Skinner does?" You're thinking This is so cool, but is it really "better than awesome?". Well, when you play the game, it's played in the dark, so all you can see is the glow-in-the-dark playing surface and the Green Ghost spinner. BUT....when you reach into each crypt to "blindly" grab a ghost, you also have to deal with the weird unseen goob you've just stuck your hand into! Priceless!!

In the original game, they supplied "creepy" things like "snakes" (little strips of rubber) "bones" (little bits of plastic) and "feathers" (feathers). I admit, when you're a kid the feathers were kind of creepy, but you really had to push it to be frightened by the broken elastic bands or bits of plastic. NOWADAYS, however, technology and the modern kitchen promises to make "Green Ghost" the uber-sensational game it always promised to be! Imagine switching the contents of the crypts throughout the game?? Toy stores sell some magnificent green ooze; cold spagetti in oil would make FANTASTIC snakes-the potential for Green Ghost to make a comeback is almost unparalleled!

The original game was made by a company called "Transogram", which I imagine doesn't exist any more. Is the copyright available out there somewhere?? Could this be the resurgance of Green Ghost?? If anyone has a little time and initiative, it could be the gooby little gold mine you've always wanted-Green Ghost- a game that is truly-"Better Than Awesome"