In Tiny Islands, by David King, you're dealt cards that let you "draw" particular landscape features on a grid, with occasional breaks to draw coastlines around the forests, mountains, villages and churches you place. Once you've gotten through the deck, your archipelago is scored based according to rules of proximity and placement. It's simple, frustrating and very addictive, with games over in a few minutes and a better high-score always at hand. I've managed to get in the 60s (check out the hashtag for more)—what about you?
Tiny Islands, an addictive card-based island-drawing game
People are treating this 3D home tour like a videogame
The house for sale at 8800 Blue Lick Rd in Louisville, Kentucky has become something of a video game. Exploring the 3D tour of the home, packed to the brim with stuff, is a wonderful adventure. Over at Waxy, Andy Baio interviewed the owner: Some called it the best game of 2020, praising its environmental storytelling. Some… READ THE REST
Just how large is the PlayStation 5?
Sony's new game console, the PlayStation 5 [Amazon], is probably the largest game console of all time. Reviewers are noting that it barely fits in their entertainment centers, and that its ostentatious design only makes it less fitting alongside the small, plain gadgetry of the living room. On Twitter, Arkunir finally answered the question: just… READ THE REST
Radio reading of my short story, Nomen Ludi
My 2009 short story Nomen Ludi was about an obsessive search for a half-remembered computer game, toxic nostalgia, and what is owed us by authors. Luke Hunter James-Erickson did a wonderful reading of it on his college radio show, accompanied by a KLF remix. Listen in at archive.org. (It begins about 3m 50s into the… READ THE REST
This gorgeous stainless steel brewer knocks out stellar stovetop espresso in minutes
Making a stellar cup of espresso at home doesn't require an expensive machine or hours of your time and effort. It really only requires equipment up to the challenge and a stovetop. Rather than dropping $3 per cup at Starbucks, you can set up a Starbucks-worthy operation right in your own kitchen with the help… READ THE REST
Fully customizable meditation app
Stress is par for the course these days. If you've found meditation helps to quiet those interior voices of doubt, fear and confusion, then you have every reason to continue that practice. But as soothing as meditation can be, it can also serve another purpose: to focus your attention, sharpen your performance and forge you… READ THE REST
Save over 25% on these 100% organic and biodegradable hair ties
When the history of Earth is ultimately told by aliens or time travelers or whoever stumbles across what's left of our planet a millennia from now, these beings will need to understand what a hair tie is and why it was created…because it's guaranteed they find them everywhere during their study. Today, hair ties are… READ THE REST
