IN THIS WORLD MICROSCOPE KINGDOM FOLLOW UNION Subscribe More Ars Ludi

Tag Results

The Colony: Strength vs Beauty, Truckers vs Slugs (Follow at Go Play NW, part 3)

My third game of Follow at Go Play NW. The very last slot of the con. The slot that has no lunch break before it. Traditionally that means people will be a little logy, a little tired, or maybe if you’re lucky, laid back and serene. That was our first real life “what makes your […]

Ben Robbins | August 28th, 2016 | , ,

The Dragon: the Sacred Flame (Follow at Go Play NW, part 2)

On Sunday a bunch of the Go Play NW staff retreated to an undisclosed location to end the con with some gaming glee. True fact: con organizers are often too exhausted making fun for others to enjoy themselves and play all the games. It’s a crime but there it is. So when Brandon suggested we […]

Ben Robbins | August 14th, 2016 | , ,

Follow at Go Play NW: Rebels and Dragons and Truckers, Oh My!

Go Play oh glorious Go Play! How we miss thee! Yeah, it’s only been a few weeks, but around the country hearts are breaking because we are separated from our dear comrades in creative-arms. We weep, we sleep, and we weep again. I got to play some lovely sessions of Follow. I scheduled one for […]

Ben Robbins | August 9th, 2016 | , ,

Go Play NW 2011: Full Circle

Go Play NW 2009 was the first big public unveiling of Microscope, so it was actually pretty nice to come full circle two years later and see Microscope running rampant at Go Play NW 2011. It was ninja-like. I’d be walking around, chatting with people, and then I’d look over my shoulder and -boom- table […]

Ben Robbins | August 24th, 2011 | ,

Actual Play Roundup: PvP (Plant-versus-Plant)

You probably thought I was kidding when I said there was a Microscope game with nothing but plant-on-plant action. I never bluff when it comes to Microscope. Or plants. Plants of Arbre — The long-awaited plant history (thanks, Dominic!). Yep, plants. Just plants. Star Wars Rebooted — Using Microscope to re-write canon the way it […]

Ben Robbins | August 8th, 2011 | , , ,

Lottery & The Pickup Donut (part 2)

We did the Pickup Donut for just about every slot of Go Play NW 2010. But for one slot, we tried something even more experimental… The Lottery Unlike the Pickup Donut, which had been part of our plan to handle the large volume of pickup games for months, the Lottery was a last minute idea. […]

Ben Robbins | May 12th, 2011 | , | 3 comments

Lottery & The Pickup Donut

One of the big challenges of running events like Go Play NW (or even small events like the weekly Story Games Seattle) is actually getting people sitting down and playing. It’s not that people don’t want to play. Quite the opposite. They’re there to play. But everybody is a little picky. They actually want to […]

Ben Robbins | May 11th, 2011 | , | 4 comments

Expect the Unexpected: Microscope at GPNW 2010

In the build up to Go Play NW, I braced myself to facilitate pickup games every waking moment. As organizers we embraced the idea that there were going to be a lot more pickup games than scheduled games, but that’s also risky: you never know until the slot begins just how many people will be […]

Ben Robbins | July 23rd, 2010 | , ,

Or maybe G is for Go Play

Ping and I will be trying out the latest and greatest version of Microscope at Go Play NW this weekend. If it continues to work as well as it has so far, I should be able to bundle up and send out the new playtest draft late next week, after the obligatory post-con collapse and […]

Ben Robbins | June 17th, 2010 | , | 2 comments

You Will Miss That Really Cool Game

Go Play NW is coming up. If you’re going, here’s a shocking statistic: you will miss 95% of the games. It’s basic math. A hundred people, with an average of five people per game (or less) means twenty games per slot, and because of those pesky laws of time and space, you’ll only be in […]

Ben Robbins | June 14th, 2010 | , , | 6 comments

Define Busy

“Fire up the Orbital Mind Control Lasers! Aim them at the Seattle area!” Bob thinks I’m being lazy and ignoring ars ludi, but it’s not true! I’m actually just really busy. On the volunteer front, I’m helping organize Go Play NW 2010, plus I’m organizing weekly meetups for Story Games Seattle. That’s right: slaving away […]

Ben Robbins | April 29th, 2010 | , , | 2 comments

Go Play NW MMX

We just launched the new Go Play NW web site, and it does look pretty nice if I do say so myself. Go Play NW is about as dense as fun gets. Last year I played Microscope with a ton of people (which was awesome) and got to try my first jeepform game. The only […]

Ben Robbins | February 11th, 2010 | ,

Microscope floods GPNW, citizens seek high ground

My original plan for GoPlayNW 2009 went something like this: “hmm, I guess I’ll schedule a session of Microscope for Friday night in case anyone wants to try it out. Once that’s out of the way I suppose for the rest of the con I’ll just roam around and try out some new games.”* Oh, […]

Ben Robbins | June 30th, 2009 | , | 3 comments

GoPlay NW 2009

We love GenCon. It’s hard to beat in terms of scope and spectacle. But in truth our hearts belong to Go Play NW, because that’s where we really get to play the awesome games and hang out with the amazing peeps of story game-hood. And it doesn’t hurt that it’s in our own backyard… Ping […]

Ben Robbins | June 6th, 2009 | , | 1 comment