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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Online Tabletop Gaming: MacGyver-Style

Remember my Futurama-loving friends Luke and Lisa (the latter being the one who taught me how to crochet)? Well, I have a funny story I recently heard from them. They just had their first son (who we'll call "Leo" for consistency), and one of their couple friends wanted to come visit from out of town. Unfortunately, for health reasons, the wife was not allowed to travel, so the husband came alone. One of their favorite pastimes is playing tabletop games, so that Saturday afternoon they decided to pull out a cooperative board game called Castle Panic. But how to allow the missing wife to join in the fun? Check out this setup...

DIY Online Tabletop Gaming

As you can see, the cards are being held up by two wineglasses and a box of foil. Luke then jury rigged two separate web cams, one aimed at the board and one aimed at her cards. And it totally worked! I know there are board games you can play online, but I love this mix of "manual" gaming and video conferencing.

After the game was over, baby Leo was placed on the board so that the wife friend could see him better. He didn't seem to mind. :)

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