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No. 78: Putting the fun back into caltrops, and the caltrops back into fun!

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Putting the fun back into caltrops, and the caltrops back into fun!

First | Previous | 2016-07-20 | Next | Latest

Permanent URL: https://mezzacotta.net/pomh/?comic=78

Strip by: Ian Boreham

title: Expansion sets for traditional games

{A game box labelled "Hopscotch and Soda", annotated with "...use with original Hopscotch". Below the title there is a picture of some cards showing fancy new hopscotch courts: a complicated version of a conventional court, one with direction arrows marked on it, and one like a Snakes and Ladders board. Below that is a picture of three sticks of chalk, captioned "Bonus chalk colours!".}

{A blister pack titled "Extreme Skipping", containing a power cord connected to some alligator clips, labelled "Volts that Jolts", a collection of caltrops, and a can of pepper spray. The package bears a slogan "Bring your old skipping rope to life!".}

{A stack of three boxes. The first bears the title "Hide and Sequence: New counting sequences for added surprise! Introducing reverse primes, Collatz hailstone numbers and more!" On the top of the box is a speech bubble containing "5, 16, 8, ..." The second has "Hide and seek: String Theory. All new dimensions to hide in!" The third has "Hide and Seek: Non-Euclidean".}

{A box bearing the title "Blind Man’s Buff: Sensation". The description reads "Don't rely on just hearing and touch." An illustration shows a person with a blindfold and ear protectors sniffing a sandalled foot. Beneath that it reads "All new variants use smell, taste, temperature, proprioception, polarisation, ...", followed by a disclaimer: "Anaesthetic and surgical equipment not included."}

{An ad for "I Can't Spy!", subtitled "Guess things you can't even see, beginning with all sorts of things!" The various expansion set boxes include History (something beginning with: The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand), Mathematics (something beginning with: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, ...), Medicine (something beginning with: fever, and a rash on the hands feet and face), as well as Music and Conspiracies.}

{A plastic case with a lid and carry handle. The case is translucent, and appears full of water. The lid has the title "Marco Polo Toto Loco" and the notice "Handle with care. Anti-venom not included". The base of the box has the description "Box jellyfish above and stonefish below! It's completely crazy!". It also has sticker label showing a child in a pool with jellyfish. He has his eyes closed, he is stepping on a stonefish, and he is calling out "Maaarrggghco!".}

The author writes:

I don't think I've ever typed anything so dense with exclamation marks before.

I guess "I Can't Spy: Literature" probably won't include "84 Charing Cross Road", since that began with a letter. The really advanced expansion set for I Spy involves not giving clues at all. It's called "I Psi".

There was also an unpopular but politically correct version of Marco Polo, in which nobody was "it". Initially the chosen person was randomly assigned "he" or "she". "She" would call out "Marcia" and the reply was "Pola". Later the searcher was renamed "they" and then "xe". Eventually, nobody understood how to play the game any more.

Drawn in Krita and Inkscape. I used lots of Blambot fonts in this one Blambot is great. Go to blambot.com now and download fonts.