Ken Newquist When the mainstream sees Grand Theft Auto, they see mindless violence, rampant mayhem, and destruction without purpose. When gamers look at it though, they see something different: freedom to explore. Unlike many other games (at least until the release of Grand Theft Auto 3), the mission agenda in the game is not hard coded. Players … Read more
There’s nothing quite like spending a Saturday playing nothing but board games. That’s what the guys in my gaming group did this weekend, starting around 10 a.m. on Saturday and playing through until nearly 2 a.m. Sunday. We called this home-grown festival of gaming “LanceCon”, in honor of our friend Lance, who starts to get … Read more
My quest to improve the Geek Tree this year continues. I have found what I think is the perfect size for the tree — 9 feet tall, and 40 inches in diameter. That makes for a narrow, slender tree that shouldn’t have huge footprint in the living room, but provides ample space for the various … Read more
Victor Koman’s Kings of the High Frontier shows us a world a few years in our future where a number of individuals, from billionaire Larry Poubelle to smuggler Marcus Grant, seek to shrug off the combined shackles of Earth’s gravity and Earth’s government to live among the stars. Caught between the astro-entrepreneurs and the sinister … Read more
Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers is a tile-based board game in which players assume the roles of hunters and gatherers attempting to glean resources from a prehistoric landscape. It’s a great game for geeks, but it’s even better for families. The game uses a mechanic similar to the original Carcassonne game. The game “board” consists of … Read more
Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub (Amazon): The sequel to the horror duo’s 198x The Talisman is a far darker, grimmer book than the original. In it, Jack Sawyer – the 12 year old who traveled cross country through two worlds looking for a magical talisman to heal his mother – is all … Read more
My audio-starved commuter brain has been greedily drinking down podcasts for a few days now, and I’ve found – and continue to find – the entire phenomenon to be invigorating. I’ve also found quite a few podcasts worth listening to. I am, of course, continuing my search for good content, and I’ll be posting them … Read more
Hallmark officially released its Christmas 2004 tree ornaments earlier this month, so naturally that brings to mind thoughts of what to do with this year’s edition of the Geek Tree. For those who don’t know, the “Geek Tree” is my annual celebration of speculative fiction … in the form of a Christmas tree. Originally, all … Read more
Easton’s historic state theatre is hosting a debate featuring four candidates — Republican, Democrat, Libertarian and Green — for the House of Representatives. The event will be held Thursday, Oct. 14 at the State Theatre on Northampton Street in Easton, Pa. It is sponsored by the Express-Times (Easton’s daily newspaper), moderated by State Theatre Executive … Read more