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In this episode, I talk about iOS versions of tabletop games, why I love them, and what might be learned from this love.
Music breaks are royalty-free pieces by Kevin Macleod @ Incompetech.com. These selections are from the “Danse Macabre” selections.
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In this episode, I talk about John Harper’s awesome Lady Blackbird RPG and the larger issue of using gaming character sheets as worksheets.
I love the possibilities inherent in this pitch about Looney Pyramids from the Looney Labs website:
To me, this is an invitation to create, design, imagine, and play. I wish I would have thought of using these Looney Pyramids the other day at a Scout meeting I was leading. The boys had to present a game to their fellow scouts that the other scouts had never played. This was a great opportunity to turn the scouts into little game designers. I figured that if they created a game together they would all be presenting a game to each other that was previously unknown ALL AT ONE TIME. I used some plastic geometric shapes that I had lying around, but next time I will be reaching for the Looney Pyramids.
THE PYRAMIDS ARE A GAME SYSTEM
Click to Go to the Looney Intro Site
According to the Looney Labs’ pyramid games rules webpage, Andrew Looney has been noodling with the pyramid game system for over 20 years. The sheer amount of games using these colorful components bears out the truth of this statement. I own IceDice and have had fun with it on the road, in my home, and at the school gaming club. It presents itself in an attractive, blue pyramid-shaped pouch filled with rules, dice, and two Rainbow Stashes. Yep, Rainbow Stashes.
IceDice Contents
I like looking at it. Simple, elegant, pretty. Sometimes less is, indeed, more.
BUT…BUT…BUT
But what I really like is the little Pocket Guide included in the pouch. It is a glossy, little gem that informs of the rules and pyramid requirements for no less than THIRTEEN pyramid games.
PLEASE IMAGINE ME SAYING THIS BOLDLY IN MY INFOMERCIAL VOICE
BUT THAT’S NOT ALL, FOLKS. IF YOU GO TO THE LOONEY LABS SITE NOW, YOU CAN FIND RULES FOR SIX MORE OFFICIAL LOONEY PYRAMID GAMES.
AND STILL THAT’S NOT ALL. ON THAT SAME PAGE YOU WILL FIND A LINK TO OVER 300 FAN DESIGNED GAMES.
If that doesn’t show the pyramid-abilities of these components, I don’t know what else could. Over 300 games!
HERE IS WHAT I IMAGINE WHEN I THINK ABOUT LOONEY PYRAMIDS
I hope that somewhere in the world the follow scenario is going on. There is a room full of Looney Pyramids surrounded by bright, young students. Right now, I am imagining a gifted and talented classroom, but it doesn’t have to be happening there. The teacher has provided the kids with access to all of the official and fan produced pyramid games rules.
The mission: To create a completely original pyramid game. These kids are engaged, thinking deeply. This is higher-order thinking that is hands-on. Hands and minds join to form a perfect pyramid the students are proud to have created.
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In this episode, I talk about Slamwich and Food Fight, two simple card games with which you might just stuff a stocking or two.
Click ‘em like you mean it:
Slamwich by Gamewright
Food Fight by TOG Entertainment
The Canon Puncture Show
Music breaks are royalty-free pieces by Kevin Macleod @ Incompetech.com. These selections are from the “Danse Macabre” selections.
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In this episode, I talk about using Looney Labs’s Are You a Werewolf? in rhetoric class.
I am thankful for receiving Sanne Harder’s blessing to embed this video. She was also kind enough to provide a little preface for us. Thank you, Sanne. Please watch and comment about the implications or ideas that come to mind as you absorb her ideas.
FROM SANNE:
We are living in a time when knowledge keeps changing, and nothing is set in stone. This poses a huge challenge for teachers: What shall we teach? The answer is: We have to give the pupils the right skills and competencies, so that they can discern and sort through information. However, this requires new methods for teaching. You cannot teach pupils to be selective the same way you can teach them to read. You also cannot teach them how to be social, or how to take action.
Role-playing offers a different way of organising teaching, where the individual pupil steps into focus. Also, most pupils find it more engaging (and fun!) than most traditional teaching methods.
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In this episode, my cold affected voice and demeanor push through a little talk about my use of a five-minute larp called TRICK OR TREAT in rhetoric class.
Click Them Like You Mean It:
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In this episode, I talk about the Funny Bones craze at school.
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In this episode, I talk about using Rory’s Story Cubes and Daniel Solis’s Writer’s Dice in and out of the classroom.
Click ‘em:
