Comments on: UmlÃ¤ut: The Game of Metal

By: John P.

John P. — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 15:09:25 +0000

Thanks Peter.
Or fit a power drill to the end and you get a rotary cheese cutter, Gromit!

By: Peter Crowther

Peter Crowther — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 18:38:31 +0000

John – I believe the correct playing style for such an instrument is intermittent use of wire cutters. But like a double-necked guitar really.

By: John P.

John P. — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 08:14:15 +0000

That Chapman Stick reminds me of an instrument my parents brought back from Zambia when they worked out there in the 60s. It is a length of bamboo, about 1 metre long and 8cm diameter, with wires strung along its length around the outside, about 15-20 of them IIRC. Small wooden chunks under the wires at each end raise them clear of the bamboo and are used for tuning. No idea what the correct playing style is for it though.

By: Peter Crowther

Peter Crowther — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 05:12:55 +0000

Fascinating things – one of our guitarists used to bring one along to gigs and would occasionally play it. He eventually concluded that he couldn’t play both Stick and guitar, as one required short fingernails and the other long fingernails.

By: John P.

John P. — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 20:50:35 +0000

I can’t even manage the five buttons on Guitar Hero ….

By: Tim Hall

Tim Hall — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 19:09:59 +0000

What about a Chapman Stick, which has ten strings? Even six-string bass players are scared of them.

By: Peter Crowther

Peter Crowther — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 19:07:13 +0000

I know they don’t – my fingers do, however .

By: Tim Hall

Tim Hall — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 08:43:27 +0000

You think basses stop at five?

By: Peter Crowther

Peter Crowther — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 04:53:52 +0000

P.S. What’s wrong with having 5 strings on a bass?

By: Peter Crowther

Peter Crowther — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 04:52:40 +0000

I was rather surprised at how well TÃ¶xin did, given I’d never played before. The obvious strategy of maximising total cards drawn (=playing “Balanced” all the time) seems pretty effective. There are some good checks and balances built into the game that should stop anyone getting too far behind; notably that support-act gigs are by far the most effective use of a turn, so if a band gets behind they’ll be targeted as the support act and build back up relatively fast.

And the moral of the entire story is to never, *ever* piss off a developer .