Comic about temperature.

Here's a comic I wrote about temperature. I wrote the first panel first, and everything else bloated outwards like a disgusting fungus.

Comic about acting.

So, this comic started with just the first three panels, but then I decided I had to take it to the limit.

Hack the Planet!

Man... it's been a long time since this website has been updated. Well, time to change all that.

I've just developed a new game which has been play-tested with varying numbers of players a couple of times with a surprising degree of success. It's called Hack the Planet, named from a catchphrase in a movie I enjoy to a ridiculous degree, Hackers.

In brief, the game is about breaking into various servers and stealing specific data, which requires you to crack passwords and set up a chain of hacked computers across the internet to safely get your data back in one piece. Conflict arises when other players hijack your routes for their own nefarious purposes.

The game is going well, but it needs a bit more player interaction, and maybe another way to score points. Hopefully I'll update in the future about the progress here.

Robot Factor "E"

Robot Factor "E" is a new game by me. It may be my best effort yet on the board game front... it is about little robots in a futuristic outer space warehouse exterminating space bugs (the "E" in the title is for "extermination"). Two players compete to zap the most space bugs and return to the loading recharge center before they run out of batteries.

The idea is that the numbered tiles represent amounts of space bugs. Each time you collect a tile (by moving onto it) you gain that number of points, and lose that amount of power (you start with 10 power). Batteries can be collected to recharge, and different colors of bugs give extra points.

Anyway, the game seems OK so far. I'm working on it. Here's a picture from a little play-test.

Babe Owl

I made this for Diana's roommate who's (none intended) into owls. There have been some new "Boyds" recently, but I ain't got a camera. Oh well.

Number Sandwich

OK, here's a little game I'm working on. It needs some tweaking, but it's sort of fun to play already. You can make it at home as long as you have paper, pencil, and three six-sided dice. It's called Number Sandwich.

Make two grids as shown in the picture at the bottom of this post. The goal is to fill up the grid first. Each turn, you have the opportunity to fill up one row of the grid. Here's how: first, you roll 2 dice. Then you decide where you want to put those two numbers; the first box of the row must be the lowest number of the three boxes. The last box of the row must be the highest number of the three boxes. The middle box of the row must contain a number between those two.

Then, you roll the third die, and if it fits the spot you left open, that row is filled. If not, the row is left empty and your opponent takes their turn.

FOR EXAMPLE: You roll a 1 and a 3 you would probably put the 1 in the first box and the 3 in the second box. Then you roll the third die and get a 6. Since it fits in the remaining spot, you have filled the row!

There are other little things, too. If your third die doesn't fit in the space and you fail to fill the row, your opponent may re-roll on of their dice on their next turn. However, if you decide to give up after rolling your first two dice (if you roll doubles for instance) you can forgo rolling your third die, leave the row blank, and your opponent doesn't get the usual re-roll.

I'm toying with some other rules, too. Anyway, try it out. It's not very strategically deep, but it is a bit entertaining. I want to give it some more angles, so we'll see where it goes.

Hunter and Hunted

So, here is a little game a thought up the other day. It's for two players, it's called Hunter and Hunted,and the theme is "Inuit vs. Polar Bear."

The catch is, the polar bear is invisible to the Inuit unless he is facing him directly. Otherwise, the Inuit player only can guess the polar bears location. The polar bear player moves his bear using the coordinates on the sides of the grid (they correspond to the red and black cards in a standard deck from A-6). He shows the Inuit one of the coordinates, but not the other. The inuit must use his eyesight and his dog's sense of smell to do the rest.

Anyway, we played it, and it wasn't very much fun... oh, well. I may try to fix it later.

Hat Poem

One of my roomates has taken up knitting. A few weeks ago, I found a tiny hat, just big enough for an orange beside the sink, and so:

A fitten mitten for a fist,
but little else is it.
It looks so warm and comfy though,
I wish at I could knit.

Demeter

Greetings again, Rhino watchers.

So, my previous post regarded a boardgame I invented called "Food of the Gods." Well, I play-tested the game last night, and as it turns out, it isn't fun. While not being fun is OK for upper level college courses and dental procedures, it is somewhat unforgivable in a boardgame. So, I'll probably have to go back to the drawing board and totally revamp the whole thing. C'est la vie.

However, I will show you another little something from the game. I was planning on giving it a Greek mythology theme, and the god in charge of the harvest therefore would be Demeter. So, I drew a picture of Demeter when I thought the game might be good, and I like the picture still.

New Board Game!

So, if you read this blog, you may remember a simple auction game I invented called "Meals for the Gods." Well, I have been marinating with that idea for a while, and I recently expanded the concept and a simple mechanic from that game into a full-on board game called "Food of the Gods."

The idea here is to grow crops and then sacrifice those crops to the gods to achieve certain advantages. The catch is that you will probably have to neglect other gods in order to do this, and since each god is responsible for certain elements of the game, you sometimes have to do without some favors in order to secure others.

The gods are: Time (responsible with actions per turn), Life (responsible for number of villagers), Harvest (responsible for crop yield) and finally a god of trade (responsible for price of temples/seeds/etc.)

Laura and I played through it once, and it was basically fun. Some changes were necessary, though, so I was glad I made the game on my handy dry-erase board! Here is a picture of the current, improved game board.

Giftmas Ornaments

Every year at the O'Keefe household we whip up our own homemade ornaments for Giftmas. Subjects vary, with this years crop including robots, pancakes, and of course the obligatory Christmas Narwhal.

Here are about half of this year's products, hanging to dry.

And here are three of my own recent creations. My main theme this year was "Flat."

Another Cardboard Rhino

I made this rhino a few years ago - around the time of the first cardboard rhino story. I like the exposed ridges above the legs and on the tail.