Hipsters: The Card Game

I wanted to take some time today to talk about a project I've been working on for the past few months with my good friend and colleague Matthew Gravelyn. It's not a piece of fiction or an essay or a script - it's a game; Hipsters: The Card Game, to be specific. 

What is Hipsters? It's a 2-4 player game in which players race to build a hipster character for cred (points). You can win by making a raw vegan academic hipster who carries old chicken drumsticks and a cheap six-pack of Schitz beer in canvas bags. Or you can win with an cappuccino-sipping grungeling who's finishing up his master's thesis in between bouts of panhandling for drug money or gnawing on candy necklaces. Or maybe your particular style is looking down your nose at mainstream lackeys with unsophisticated music preferences and pouring buckets fake blood on fur-wearers while secretly hiding the smooth jazz collection stored beneath the driver's seat of your minivan.

You get the idea.

At its heart I think Hipsters is actually playing with some big questions. There's a kind of uncanny intangibility  as to what a hipster really is, and this game takes that somewhat uncomfortable conversation and runs with it at full speed. In a way, it's a game about defining that which has no real definition. It's a game about forming an incongruous identity and rejoicing in the resulting ironies.

It's also supposed to be fun, quick, and humorous, if you're not into the whole identity crisis convo. 

Mr. Gravelyn and myself are all but done finalizing the 59 cards that will constitute the Hipsters deck - we've just got to settle on some final items for our four hipster archetypes (Academic, Activist, Elitist, and Grungeling). The rules are all but completed too, though we plan on cementing those at our upcoming play test event at The Raygun Lounge (courtesy of Gamma Ray Games) in Seattle on October 7th. If you live in Seattle, we'd love to see you there.

For more info on development (and eventually availability) for Hipsters: The Card Game, please check out our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Oh, and if this made you chuckle, grimace, or otherwise change your facial expression, please do us a favor and share this page with a friend (I would insert a smiley here, but I'm far too hip to do so). 

Malapropist Tribune: 9/9/2012 (Zone One Edition, Part 1/2)

It's been a full month since the last edition of the Malapropist Tribune, so I thought I'd shake things up and feature words from a single novel - in this case, Colson Whitehead's fantastic Zone One. If lumbering zombies and sprightly prose are your thing, be sure to snag a copy.

aspersion (n) - A damaging or derogatory remark or criticism, slandering. "I'm not the best at meeting new people. I sweat profusely and start blurting aspersions with little to no idea of what I'm saying."

wending (v) - To pursue or direct (one's way); to proceed or go. "I'm so incompetent when it comes to mall shopping that I end up following in my girlfriend's wending wake from store to store." 

moribund (adj) - In a dying state, near death, or on the verge of expiration; not proceeding or advancing. "My apartment isn't the most pleasant place, what with my surplus of moribund houseplants."

subcutaneous (adj) - Located or placed just below the skin. "Don't mind Lisa - she's got a knack for crafting insults with subcutaneous tendencies."

harrow (v) - To inflict great torment or distress. "Nothing's quite as harrowing as long, early AM drive sans coffee."

disabuse (v) - To free from a misconception or falsehood. "I've been disabused in recent years of my belief that all Thai food is tasty."

comportment (n) - A manner of behaving. "I'm of a slightly less pleasant comportment since getting sober."

pratfall (n) - A fall on the buttocks; a humiliating error, failure, or defeat. "If nothing else, Youtube has proven pratfalls to be universal."

hector (v) - To intimidate or dominate in a blustering way. "I'm writing a relationship book on how to hector your loved one."

louche (adj) - Of questionable morality or repute. "My handful of corporate escapades so far have earned me a rather louche reputation."

desultory (adj) - Lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order; disconnected; fitful. "The wedding ended in awkward, desultory applause."

interregnum (n) - Any period during which a state has no ruler or only a temporary executive. "I miss those days of elementary school interregnums, where the students would band together to terrorize whatever poor sub walked through the classroom door." 

depilatory (n) - Capable of removing hair. "My last relationship ended when I accidentally swapped my girlfriend's specialized shampoo with her depilatory."

passel (n) - A group or lot of indeterminate number. "Nothing like a passel of peonies to liven a living room."

mien (n) - Air, bearing, demeanor. "My dad's of a mean mien when he's drunk."

erstwhile (adj) -  Former, of times past. "Excuse me my crankiness - result of an erstwhile nap."

abrade (v) - To wear off or down by scraping or rubbing. "I've abraded one shin clean of hair from crossing over the other leg."

multifarious (adj) - Having great variety; diverse. "My schemes are insidious and multifarious."

enervate (v) - To weaken or destroy the strength or vitality of. "The foundation of the house has been enervated by termites for the better part of a decade now."

defenestration (n) - The act of throwing someone or something out of a window. "My first goldfish met it's demise via defenestration. Have I mentioned my father is an alcoholic?" 

ichor (n) - A watery, acrid discharge from a wound or ulcer. "I keep having nightmares of hospital hallways slick with ichor."

maunder (v) - To talk incoherently or aimlessly; to move or act vaguely or aimlessly. "Bill's got the sort of maundering speech that induces sudden narcolepsy." 

depredation (n) - A predatory attack; a raid. "The supply lines have been subject to harrowing depredations for the past few weeks." 

sundry (adj) - Various, miscellaneous. "This summer's travel destinations includes sundry sunny climes."

venal (adj) - Open to bribery; mercenary. "I can't help but suspect any given congressman or senator is as venal as the next, regardless of party lines."

insalubrious (adj) - Not promoting health; unwholesome. "I have a bad habit in imbibing insalubrious libations."