Just in time for Christmas (in case you missed the news) here’s just the thing to pummel those tryptophan-addled braincells into submission – Hasbro’s long-haul version of the perennial boardgame – the number of properties is up to 66, the number of dice is down to one.
Chess sets designed by architects Chris Prosser and Ian Flood.
Careful now, you’ll have someone’s Dubai out with that last one.
Animated by Remus & Kiki and narrated by Adrian Dannatt, Alex Gendler’s Ted-Ed lesson explores the origins of a game dating back to 7th century India.
Maybe ever earlier. I’d have to check, mate.
Central Perk LEGO too mainstream for you?
How about a Jean-Michel Basquiat themed UNO set? A collectible 112-card collaboration between Mattel and global artists’ agency Artestar available online from Macy’s (but only shipping to addresses in the US).
Destined for the resale market at multiples of the RRP.
A Rubik’s Cube solving robot built by MIT mechanical engineering student Ben Katz and electrical engineering student Jared Di Carlo of MIT.
Don’t blink as the machine solves the puzzle in a world record beating 0.38 seconds: first in real time, then at 0.25x speed, in case you missed it, then 0.003x speed, in case you missed that.
A pixel art short by animator Lumpy Touch that reimagines Jim Davis’ lasagne-fixated feline as 32-bit nightmare fuel in some survival horror game on the Game Boy Advance.
A promo for Unreal Engine 4 – a suite of graphics tools for designers and developers of games, simulations, and visualisations. As one commenter (presumably from a southern US state) observes:
Y’all are gonna be able to cook Thanksgiving Dinner with your graphics card.
Moving pieces in a race toward a goal along a path overlaid with your choice of social, moral and nationalistic ideals – the classic boardgame format – going strong since the 18th century.
Above (from top): Round the World With Nellie Bly (New York, 1890); Jeu de la Révolution Française (Paris, c.1792); El juego de la Oca (Barcelona, 19th century); Neueste Nordpol-Expedition (Vienna, c.1875); Stoombots Spel (Rotterdam, early19th century) and The Pyramid of History (London, c.1860).
MORE: Progress in Play: Board Games and the Meaning of History (the Public Domain Review)
Robotics.ovh by Gerard Ferrandez.
Take control of a roomful of adjustably jointed dancing robots, you say?
If you’re feeling especially frisky, you can even muck about with the underlying code here.
