Logo! everyone loves a logo

Here's a logo, I'm sure there will be plenty more (to blog about) where this came from.



and in inverted colors:

First Game

Thankfully, I got the game pieces today, so I have some insight into my game before I have to present it tomorrow.

It feels a bit incomplete, the pace is sluggish, and I got bored after a while. Here's a picture of the first outcome:

rule variations

One idea I'm toying with is the possibility of changing certain rules of the game, while the game is being played. The idea is that as soon as a player reaches a certain condition, he/she may change or add or subtract a rule (whatever condition they've met may determine what rule they can change). Rule changes, if good, may be added to a directory of possible rule changes. Good rule changes should significantly alter the course of the game (pattern). These rules may become the basis of a sort of grammar used for the symbolic language; they may switch the “topic” of a game, or somehow alter the meaning of the same topic.

starting the symbolic language

If the I Ching can be used as a model (see I Ching blog), the bead game may have a solid starting point. In this case, the shapes used in the bead game are analogous to the yarrow sticks used in the I Ching, except there are three basic shapes in the bead game instead of the two yarrow sticks. This will create a base set of 27 elements, to the 8 elements possible with the yarrow sticks (3 to the power of 3 versus 2 to the power of 3). In the case of the bead game, these elements may be used to set a topic, such as “language” or “mathematics” or “art” which will determine the meaning of other things being played in the game (The single shapes themselves may represent more basic ideas, and other types of combinations may spring into existence as well, but this should be discussed later.) For example: it’s a possibility to have the first set of 3 shapes (that make a symbol representing a topic) become the base, giving meaning to the shapes surrounding it somehow. The surrounding pieces themselves may not have any meaning until they have achieved a certain form that has meaning. This makes for a sort of tiered effect, the most basic meanings being on the lowest tier, and the more specific meanings emerging later on. This creates new possibilities with the game; for example: a new end-game condition might be to simply arrive at a specific concept, i.e. music. Following this train of thought, it is logical to extend the scope of this language and create more specific end-game conditions. Music might then extend to “Bach” or even “Fugue No. 21: B-Flat Major.” How exactly these concepts are determined is, then, the most critical question.

mail, please come soon

I still haven't receieved the game pieces I ordered a few weeks ago. I believe I ordered 3-day shipping, so something must be screwed up. I can only hope they come by Monday, by 9:30am.

I Ching

I've neglected to post about this, partly because I haven't much to say about it, and partly because I have not gotten very far in studying it, which may account for my having little to say about it; I'm studying the I Ching.

In Hesse's book, the main character is well versed in the I Ching ("book of changes"), which serves him as a guide within the story, and is described as a predecesor--one of many--to the Glass Bead Game in the introduction.

wiki entry for the I Ching
Basically, the I Ching is a doctrine that focuses on describing the dynamic between opposing concepts and giving order to the seemingly random events of the world. In this way it is very similar in philosophy to the Glass Bead Game, though the Bead Game takes the philosophy into more concrete realms.

The I Ching's use of symbols is also highly suggestive of a possible manifestation of a Bead Game. If you look at the sections "Trigrams" and "Hexagrams" in the wikipedia entry, you'll see what I'm talking about. Using this as a model, my version of the Glass Bead Game could begin forming its own symbolic language in the same way the I Ching has associated these symbols with concepts.

game variations: 2

This variation of the game incorporates the idea of a symbolic language, still abstractly, in the form of specific groupings of shapes made available for play, like a complex bead.

In the basic instructions of the game, there are three possible game pieces. In this variation there can be many game pieces, made from combinations of the basic game pieces.

This variation might work well with a computer implementation, where the creation of playable pieces literally expands the size and complexity of the game. These player-created pieces may also form the basis of a symbolic language, the symbols representing specific concepts, which may open up an alternative way of playing the game--purely conceptually.