Would you play a card game starring the heroes of classical
literature?
On the way home from a baseball game in Denver last
Saturday, I turned on NPR and one of my favorite shows happened to be on.
“Wait, wait, don’t tell me,” is a arts/life/comedy program hosted by Peter
Sagal that deals with current events, the arts, pop culture, etc. One of the games they play is called, “Bluff
the Listener.”
A category is given and then a listener is told three
bizarre stories, one of which is true. During this particular game, the first
story really caught my ear. Below is an abbreviated version of that section of
transcript (click HERE for the entire transcript and to read the other two
stories):
SAGAL: The wisdom of the ages are found in the
classic books of Western Civilization. The problem is, though, most of those
important books are super boring. This week, we heard about an exciting
adaptation of classic literature to a 21st Century form. Our panelists are
going to tell you three stories.
TOFEL: I'm ready.
SAGAL: First, let's hear from Charlie Pierce.
CHARLIE PIERCE: The people behind "Magic:
The Gathering" have spent a few years trying to find new frontiers of nerdery
to which they can bring the youth of America, and they've come up with an idea
for all dweebs, an adventure card game, starring the heroes of classic
literature.
Each character, in what is going to be called
The Dark Library, will be possessed of all the qualities developed for them by
their original creators, plus a character-specific superpower bestowed by the
makers of the game.
For example: Queequeg, Tashtego and Daggoo,
the three harpooners from "Moby Dick" will each get you 125
marksmanship points. While Montresor, the dark villain of Edgar Allen Poe's,
"The Cask of Amontillado," will carry with him 50 brooding points,
capable of being overcome only by a greater number of optimism prime points,
such as the combined one thousand OP points possessed by the Bennet sisters
from "Pride and Prejudice."
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
PIERCE:
There will also be a special gold edged
Mr. Darcy card, of which only five hundred will be made, that trumps every Jane
Austen character, except Emma Woodhouse, whose archery skills will lay him low.
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
PIERCE: "This is a field we've been itching to
get into," said Martha Willows Gausman, the company's director of
marketing. "The number of possibilities are absolutely limitless. And now
that zombies have made Jane Austen cool again, the youth market is wide
open."
Unfortunately, this story ended up being NOT TRUE. I was a
little bummed about that. If it was on the market, would you dig into your
pocketbook to have The Dark Library in your home?
I would~ can someone please start production on this??? I love the idea of being an explorer on the "new frontiers of nerdery."
Have a wonderful weekend!
