This just in...
EDIBLE GAME DESIGN CONTEST ANNOUNCED
Paris, FRANCE - The International Culinary Entertainment Alliance has announced their first game design contest, which will explore virgin territory: games that can be eaten.
"It's a whole new frontier," said ICEA founder, lead designer, and head chef Gordon Gritmonger. "Never have these two genres, board gaming and high cuisine, been merged. At least, never in an interesting way. Or a tasty one."
The contest will be open to games comprised exclusively of edible components. Applicants will be judged on a variety of categories including game mechanics, freshness, strategy, flavor, and presentation. There will be three seperate categories:
- a card- or dice-based hors d'eourves for three to five diners, playable in twenty minutes and eaten in five
- a party buffet that can be enjoyed by at least four, with light tactics but a wide array of flavor
- a three-course entree that is strategic, fun, and melts on the tongue.
Celebrity judges Alan Moon and Wolfgang Puck will decide the winner. "I am looking for something that will activate both brain and belly," Puck said in a statement. "I feel that this combination has not yet been achieved."
When asked about his gaming experiences, Puck said, "A friend of mine introduced me to a game called the Settlers of Catan, but when we tried it, we were disappointed. The sheep resource cards tasted nothing like veal, the cardboard hexes failed to dissolve in soup stock, I rolled nothing but sevens for several consecutive turns, and Alan Alda choked on a Robber Baron figure at Spago Las Vegas, requiring a Heimlich procedure. Never again."
Moon said in a seperate statement, "I'm looking forward to this contest. I'm famished."
Prizes include an autographed copy of Elfenland, a dinner for two at Nobu in New York City, a copy of Fury of Dracula made entirely of chocolate, and a live sheep.
Several high-profile chefs and game designers are currently developing their entries. "I am planning to explore the intersection between frosted sugar and closed-fist bidding," chocolatier Jaques Torres said in a recent interview. "I am concerned about the playing pieces melting after the first few turns, but that is what playtesting is all about."
Meanwhile, master game designer Reiner Knizia is rumored to be holed up in a cottage retreat in Belguim, with only a stack of notebook paper, a pen, and a salt shaker.
Designer Wolfgang Kramer is concerned about his entry. "I thought I had a good auction mechanism in store," he said in an article due to come out in the Atlantic Monthly next week, "but when I pulled it out of the fridge, it was moldy and smelly. I don't know if I can come up with another in time."
The contest will open on April 1, 2004, and close on February 29, 2005.
