Pyramid Review
Treehouse Rainbow & Xeno
Published by Looney Labs
Designed by Andrew Looney
15 Plastic Pyramids in five colors & one Treehouse Die; $9
Icehouse, The Martian Chess Set, published by Looney Labs, has something of a problem. The problem is not in the play, as the various sets of colored and hollow plastic pyramids form the components to a variety of games, both big and small, much like an ordinary deck of cards can be used to play anything from Poker to Euchre. Rather, while many of the games are fun to play -- best typified by the booklet 12 Games for Icehouse Pieces -- it is actually quite difficult to obtain the various tubes of pyramids because games stores do not want to stock what they see as an awkward product to sell. This is not a problem for Looney Labs' other games, such as Fluxx and Are You A Werewolf?, but, then again, what can you do with a tube of 15 plastic pyramids in one color?
To address this challenge, Looney Labs is re-launching the Icehouse family with a new game called Treehouse, which is best described as an Icehouse starter set. Available in two different sets -- Xeno and Rainbow -- both consist of a tube containing 15 pyramids divided into five differently colored stacking sets and a Treehouse die marked TIP, SWAP, DIG, AIM, HOP, or WILD. The rules for the game itself are printed on the outside of the tube, which both indicates the simplicity of the game and the ease of reference for the rules. The only difference between the two sets is colors . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: June 30, 2006
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