Taken from the IceList: Icehouse Games's Business Czar's reminiscences about the early sets.
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 16:40:02 -0400
To: icehouse@HUMANS-ONLY.andrew.cmu.edu
From: Kristin
Subject: Re: Feats of Clay
Cooperjon wrote:
JWC>I cut triangles out of brass sheeting, taped them together with heavy
JWC>clear packing tape, stuffed Fimo into the open pyramids...
JWC>
Ah, the memories. My first clay set was super sculpy. I remember that
night well... this guy Andy Looney, a co-worker of mine at NASA, had set up
this playtest with me and some of my friends. He and his friend John
Cooper had this game called Icehouse they had invented, and they had
finally gotten the rules written down, and they wanted a group of friends
who had never seen the game before to sit down and try to play from the
written rules while he stood around in the background in a lab coat taking
notes on a clipboard. It was an awesome game, and a very good time...
afterwards I got stoned and stayed up all night sculpting pyramids by hand
out of supper sculpy. This was the third set ever made. It was a two
person set, painted black and white, a few days later I added a third stash
in gray.
Since then, I have made Icehouse pieces out of just about everything. Andy
and I made several more out of fimo (which I hate by the way), doing the
metal-triangles-taped-into-molds thing that John talked about. Then #12
got involved, and we started making them out of poured resin. Lots and lots
of variations on the poured resin thing. Then we did paper, and wood, and
more resin again in there someplace. I even made a set out of candles...
although the wick made them not particularly suited for actual play. : )
Reigning Icehouse Champion Elliott C. Evans wrote:
ECE>I don't know a single way to make pieces that is not labor intensive.
ECE>
You noticed that too... : ) A couple of years ago, when we decided to
put an end to Icehouse Games, Inc., I decided I would never make another
Icehouse piece, until I could do it right. A run of perfect sets is most
certainly in our future... high impact injection molded translucent
plastic. Keep your toes crossed for us this Christmas on Fluxx and
Aquarius, and
who knows... maybe it will even happen next year. Until then... I'm afraid
the ever growing Icehouse communtiy has three choices: 1) a paper set
for next to no money and a little bit of work, 2) a hand made solid set for
a good bit of money for supplies and a huge amount of hand work, or 3) a
hand made solid set for lots of money so someone like Elliott will be
willing to do that same huge ammount of hand work for you.
ECE>Yes, yes, YES! The look and feel of resin pieces is pretty much ideal.
ECE>
when we find the money to do it right... they will be REALLY cool pieces.
ECE>I have found, in general, that if there's something you want,
ECE>Lee Moyer is the one who has it
ECE>
I had this happen to me too... and then they gave it to us for Christmas!
Really cool folks them Moyers.
Gotta go pack for Gen Con...
-K.
Last updated 1999/01/22
