Thursday 26 March 2009

You Must Think First Before You Move

For IT

July 12. Yesterday, after playing chess, Brecht said: 'You know, when Korsch comes, we really ought to work out a new game with him. A game in which the moves do not always stay the same; where the function of a piece changes after it has stood on the same square for a while: it should either become stronger or weaker. As it is the game doesn't develop, it stays the same for too long.'
Benjamin, Conversations with Brecht

4 comments:

johneffay said...

Sounds like Dungeons & Dragons...

Benjamin said...

I now have the image of D&D being played by Brecht, Benjamin, Korsch, Lukacs, and Adorno, although I have not yet reached the point of deciding which characters they would be or what orientation (Lawful Good, Neutral Good, etc.). As you can tell I used to play D&D and if not proud of it, certainly enjoyed it.

Dominic said...

In the meantime, Lego is looking to a completely new venture. A British designer, Cephas Howard (who previously worked at the Guardian) has overseen the development of a series of 10 games, made mostly of existing Lego bricks and other components. First, you have to build them. Then, once you've played them, you can tinker with the board (by rebuilding it differently) or the dice, and see how the game changes. They won't be out until August, and much surrounding them is still secret. But the one I played with Howard in an office in Billund was an absolute cracker, based on the Ludo "get to the middle" principle, but with some very neat additions.

"When I was a kid," Howard says, "I had two passions: Lego and boardgames. Lego was great for imagination and creativity, but it was a solitary occupation. Boardgames were great for socialising, but they're not very creative. It seemed to me that if you combine the two, you might be on to something."


From this Grauniad article.

Dominic said...

Also, I'm definitely Lawful Evil...