Icehouse pieces

Icehouse pieces are pyramid-shaped gaming pieces invented by Andrew Looney and John Cooper in 1987, originally for use in the game of Icehouse.

Description

Each "stash" or set of Icehouse pieces consists of fifteen pyramids (variously called "pieces", "pyramids", or "minions") of the same color in three different point (or "pip") values: five large 3-point pyramids (called "queens" in some games), five medium 2-point pyramids (sometimes called "drones"), and five small 1-point pyramids (or "pawns"). The commercially produced plastic sets are hollow and can be stacked and nested; this feature isn't used in the original Icehouse game, but is taken advantage of in some of the other Icehouse-based games listed below.

Icehouse pieces were, for many years, sold as tubes containing one stash of durable crystal-look plastic pieces in one of ten available colors (though cyan was only available through their promotional program or as part of the Ice Towers set). In 2006, Looney Labs began selling Icehouse pieces as "Treehouse sets", which are multicolored sets of 15 pyramids: five colors, each color having one each of the three sizes. There is also a less expensive starter set called Paper Icehouse (actually cardstock), in four colors, which one punches out and folds into the pyramid shapes. Looney Labs has also sold boxed sets for Zendo and IceTowers, the latter of which contained cyan pieces. The Icehouse website also has instructions for making your own pieces. Looney Labs has licenced Crystal Caste LLC to make regulation-sized Icehouse pieces out of semiprecious stone [http://www.crystalcaste.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=CC&Category_Code=PY] .

In 2001, Icehouse: The Martian Chess Set won the Origins Award for "Best Abstract Board Game of 2000". In 2004, the Zendo boxed set won "Best Abstract Board Game of 2003".

Games

Icehouse pieces can be used to play many different abstract strategy games. Most games need at least two colors, and some require other readily-available equipment such as glass stones or a checkerboard. Rules for these games can be found on the Icehouse website. Some are also available in "Playing with Pyramids", published by Looney Labs.

include:
* Armada
* Branches & Twigs & Thorns(a Go inspired game)
* CrackeD Ice
* DNA
* Focus
* Gnostica
* Gridlock
* Hailstorm
* Hextrix
* Homeworlds
* Icehouse
* IceSickle
* IceTowers
* IceTraders
* Igloo
* Martian Backgammon
* Martian Chess
* Martian Coasters
* Martian Mud Wrestling
* Pantopia
* Pikemen
* RAMbots
* Rotationary
* Sprawl
* Thin Ice
* Torpedo
* Tic Tac Doh!
* Treehouse
* Trice
* Undercut
* Volcano
* Zagami (game)
* Zarcana
* Zark City
* Zendo

Score-keeping

Icehouse pieces can also be used as a score-keeping device or counter for non-icehouse games. For example, when scoring a Cosmic Wimpout game, a small pyramid would be worth five points, a medium pyramid worth twenty-five points, and a large pyramid one-hundred; the goal being to collect five of the large pieces (for the 500 point standard game). They could be use instead of poker chips, the denominations would be determined by size rather than color (smalls are worth one, mediums worth five, and larges valued at twenty-five, for example).

See also

* Piecepack

External links

* [http://www.icehousegames.com Icehouse official website]
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