Thursday, January 13, 2000

by the Wunderland Toast Society

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New this week:

• Great new Icehouse game: Zagami!
• John has a new chess variant: Zeitgeist
• The IceTraders rules have been updated
• Ginohn also has a new tombstoner and (belatedly) a new hero of the month
• Leslie has joined the WTS
• Icehouse was reviewed in Pyramid Magazine

The Icehouse set got a great review this week in Pyramid, the online gaming magazine published by Steve Jackson Games. Unfortunately, they charge a subscription fee, so you can only read the first third or fourth of the article unless you pay. But fortunately, I'm a subscriber, and having read the whole thing, I can tell you that it's a great review, filled with lots of quotable quotes. For example, he says that "Icehouse and its games [are] an unrivaled experience". After the publicly accessible intro, reviewer Brad Weier provides capsule descriptions of the four games included in the set, as well as Icehouse itself, and basically glows about each one. He describes Martian Chess as an "ingenious spin" on the traditional game, and notes that "its logic reveals itself slowly and surprisingly." He calls Zarcana "a joy to play once the rules are mastered", and of IceTraders, he says "its complicated strategy and intriguing board movement make it one of the most rewarding of the Martian Chess Set games." He closes the article by saying that, while the price is "somewhat steep", "the wide variety and quality of the games make this set one of the best deals in abstract strategy games today." Wow! Thanks for the great review, Brad!

Speaking of Icehouse, we had another assembly party this weekend... a bunch of the usual suspects turned out to help us count pyramids and turn them into game sets (thanks everyone!), after which we went out for shiny foo (that's Chinese food in Ginohn-speak) and a movie (Galaxy Quest). It was a good day. Here we see Leslie as she put stickers on the tops and bottoms of the boxes...

Speaking of Leslie, she continues to be the big story this week. If you haven't read this page lately, she's a college student from Texas who's been spending her winter break with us, writing us a business plan. And rarely have I seen anyone exhibit such energy. Since arriving just before New Year's, she and Kristin have been grinding up numbers non-stop, and yesterday she finished up the third draft of the plan, which is now 46 pages long (including lots of charts and graphs) and chockfull of great stuff. There's still a little polishing to do, but it's basically done, so soon it'll be time to start showing it to bankers!

Leslie will be going home in a couple of days, but we will continue to feel her impact for quite awhile to come. A solid business plan is something we've been rather desperately needing for a really long time, and yet it's a very difficult thing for us to write, since none of us have the kind of business expertise that Leslie's been learning in school. So her help has been invaluable to us, and it came at the perfect time, too... right when we need to pursue growth funding, and when we ought to be taking a good hard look at our strategies, our methodologies, and our long-term aspirations. So it really is just what we've been needing. You have done us a tremendous service, Leslie... thanks bunches!