Ask a historian when the Great Pyramids were created and they’ll probably produce an answer of around 2560BC. Posit that same question to the gaming community and you might receive a different date. To quash any confusion, we are referring to the pyramids of Looney Labs. Nestable, stackable, and in a trio of sizes and a multitude of colours – these unique components form the centre point of an ever adaptable gaming system. But how did they get here?
In 1991, readers of Andrew Looney’s novel The Empty City were introduced to Peter, Paul, Dave, and Umberto. With the air of a sci-fi tinged John Cassavetes film merging with the dry absurdism of Terry Gilliam, The Empty City follows this urban quartet – commonly known as The Four – on their meanderings around the city, regularly engaging in a peculiar game. This popular pastime was called Icehouse; a real-time game involving the strategic manoeuvring of pyramid shaped pieces. Readers’ curiosities were piqued. What was this ‘100,000 year old game from Mars’ and how could they play it? Thus, from these mysterious fictional beginnings, a groundbreaking gaming system and devoted community was born.