iCEtRAZE is a set of gaming pieces, designed to work with IceHouse games, although not necessarily limited to that use.

dESCRIPTION

iCEtRAZE is the term used to describe a set of tiles that can be readily be used to support the play of a number of existing IceHouse games, as well as open up opportunities for new types of games to be designed.

iCEtRAZE consist of 16 basic tiles that, on one side, represent different combinations of a 2x2 arrangement of coloured squares and, on the other, a 2x2 arrangement of chessboard (black and white) squares. By convention, a set of such tiles is called a "stack" (to correspond with the term used for IceHouse pieces, where a set of pyramids is called a "stash").

There are four colors in an iCEtRAZE stack; red, yellow, green and blue - corresponding to the four colors in a basic IceHouse game.

There are three types of iCEtRAZE: mONObLOCKS, dUObLOCKS and qUADRObLOCKS.

mONObLOCKS are tiles of one color. There are 4 of these.

dUObLOCKS are tiles of two colors (arranged such that the two squares of each color are orthogonally adjacent). There are 6 of these.

qQUADRObLOCKS are tiles of four colors. There are 6 of these.

It is suggested that the minimum size of each square in a tile be 1" (25mm) is size, in order to accommodate the base size of the largest IceHouse pyramid. For games that require the pyramids to be placed on their sides, then obviously you will need a larger size of square (at least 1½").

iCEtRAZE tiles can easily be made from any material; a simple stack can be readily constructed using from card and paint. If you want something more durable, its been suggested that you look in hardware supply stores, or educational stores, for tiles made from plastic, ceramic (e.g. bathroom tiles) or wood.

A really cool way to make an easily-portable stack would be to use perspex; transparent, colored squares mounted on an opaque white base (which could then be marked on the reverse side with permanent ink, or paint, to create the checkerboard pattern. [Side note: I will be trying this out as soon as I can find some manageable way to cut straight edges on perplex...].

Available here (courtesy of Christopher Clark and the Icehouse mailing list) are two sets of iCEtRAZE with 1" squares, one is in PDF format, the other in PS format. Available elsewhere (courtesy of Chris Goodwin) are 1½" squares, also in PDF and PS formats.

iCEtRAZE tiles are small and readily stackable - for example, if 1" squares were used, and the material used for the tiles resulted in 1/8" thickness tiles, then a 2" cube would result. iCEtRAZE can be easily transported in the same way as the normal IceHouse pyramids, and so can be used in a number of possible ways - some suggestions are listed below.

• One stack of iCEtRAZE can laid out, checkerboard side up, to form a chessboard, a piece of gaming 'equipment' that is used in numerous IceHouse games. They can also (obviously!) be used to create smaller boards that use the checkerboard pattern.
  
  
• Mono-colored iCEtRAZE can be used as 'stash pads' (the IceHouse term for an area in front of a player where his/her pieces are kept).
  
  
• A double stack of iCEtRAZE can be used to support a slight modified version of the game Alheimur.
  
  
• iCEtRAZE can laid out, colored side up, to form gaming boards for new types of IceHouse games.
  
  
• iCEtRAZE can be used, either side up!, as gaming pieces in their own right, for new or varied types of IceHouse games.
  
  
• Finally, just because they are square and flat, does mean they cannot also be used for 'free form', or boardless, IceHouse games. One can imagine iCEtRAZE laid out at random to form islands in an endless sea, or fortified emplacements in a terrible pyramidal war, or...
  
  
• Finally, iCEtRAZE can be used to create games and boards all on their own, or in conjunction with some other set of gaming equipment (decks of cards, dice, pawns etc.)

I currently have ideas 'bubbling under' for a number of games involving iCEtRAZE; for the record these are tentatively titled "SnowMen", "Igloos", "IceFloes", "Glaciers" and "IceWars".

fEEDbACK

If you come with cool new ideas, games or other ways of using iCEtRAZE, or even construct a stack, please let me know. I'll link to your site, or post info on the items here.

For a boardgame to be a boardgame, it must have a board, right? Well, maybe. And a game without a board is not a boardgame, right? Well, maybe not. Traditional boardgames are easily recognizable by their boards - chess, go, even snakes-and-ladders and ludo all have distinctive boards that have become almost synonymous with the games played on them.

In recent times, however, the notion of what constitutes a boardgame has become very blurred. IceHouse is a classic example of a game playable on any flat surface. I had been intrigued, even before coming across IceHouse, about the notion of modular playing pieces for games - piecepack (see: piecepack.org) for example, uses tiles to construct a variety of boards. I had also been thinking along the lines of the tile-based games, where the tiles can essentially be any form of 'placeholder' for the pieces. Gnostica for example, uses cards to form the board; playing cards (both traditional and Tarot) are, of course, great resources from which to construct a board.

However, I wanted to have the essence of a more traditional board, one that could be used to play many of the existing IceHouse games, but also open up new opportunities for other types of games. I also wanted the 'board' to follow the design principles laid down by Andrew Looney, who, writing on the wunderland website, says:

"For years, all I felt I needed was an Icehouse set. Designed from the outset as a go-anywhere game, a bag of Icehouse pyramids is now more than ever ample entertainment on its own. But now that we also have Fluxx, Aquarius, Chrononauts, Q-Turn, and so on, not to mention other stuff in the works, I needed a bigger game bag. This [purple] bag holds everything we've got so far, and leaves room for ... other compact games.. And now that I have this glorious bag, and have started really living out of it, I'm stronger than ever in my resolve to keep our packaging small. For me, this bag sets the standard: if I can't put a copy of the finished game product in this bag, it's too big."

From this thinking, the idea of regular tiles (easy enough to stack and take with you in a bag or box) sprang to mind, and the notion of 'coloring them in' seem to follow naturally - so iCEtRAZE was born. I am sure this won't be the last such concept for IceHouse and I hope it sparks off many more innovative ideas.

Derek Hohls, April 2003.