Author: petergelman

Writer. General info: amazon.com/author/petergelman My board game, RallyBird Baseball, is available here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0821RDHF6 My card game, ShipHead, is available here: https://www.amazon.com/Sir-Deer-Owls-SH01-ShipHead/dp/B0BXVP6C5Q

Baseball Season 2023

The RallyBird Baseball Board Game is coming back in April 2023 with new board art and more, but it’s the same game.

Baseball Season has returned! I’m ready for it to be GREAT.

If we’re talking about Major League Baseball, I am rooting for the new pitch (and batter) clock that keeps the game pace moving. Total game lengths seem to be returning to ~two hours after an epoch of some time bloat.

If we’re talking about the Rallybird Baseball Board Game by Sir Deer & Owls Company, I think the new edition, due out in late April 2023, will also be GREAT.

This edition is mostly the same, but here are the changes:

New Original Art for Board and Tiles

The new board with players in action replacing the Gloves
A couple glove tiles, front and back

Smaller Box–It’s a new, slim design of box that opens with a hinge. It has tabs that lock on the other side. Aside from the art, the components haven’t changed. The board and cards are the same size. The rules booklet are the same size. Still, the new box is slimmer and a little smaller in length and depth.

Other than some of the art, and the box, it’s the same game.

RallyBird Baseball has been out in the world since 2018 and has proven itself to accomplish what it aims to do–provide a ~1-hour playable baseball board game for two people, with easy rules, meaningful decisions, real baseball spirit, and appeal for fans, casual or serious.

–Peter Gelman RallyBirdBaseball (at) gmail (dot) com

New Edition of RallyBird Baseball Coming Fall 2022

Hello! The RallyBird Baseball board game sold out. (I recently sold the cache I reserved for conventions. As I write this, I think there is 1 copy left, lost in amazon’s warehouse, for sale when they locate it.)

I updated the graphics of the game’s board and Glove tiles and will soon be manufacturing this new edition. I’ll offer it for sale on amazon and on another site.

The new graphics show a silhouette of a fielder in action, where before there was a big glove.

In addition I updated the shape of the infield, to mimic the actual outward curve of the clay area, the arches around the bases.

I updated the rulebook to reflect the new artwork. There are no rules changes.

Pictures coming soon!

#RallyBird #Baseball #BoardGame Learning Exercise A & B

Here are two scenarios that aim to help new owners of the RallyByrd Baseball Board Game learn the game in a fun way.

Here are two scenarios that aim to help new owners of the RallyByrd Baseball Board Game learn the game in a fun way. They’re both solitaire predicaments, not full sessions. The game is easy, but people bring different levels of board game experience.

These scenarios both start with a runner on first base and one Out.

In the first scenario, the learner plays offense, in the other, defense. The details reduce some of the regular options to make it easier on rules learning. They also make the situation a little trickier.

You can download the PDF for free. I might create a couple more scenarios.

By the way, new editions spell RallyBird as RallyByrd. It’s the same game.

Here are some non-Amazon places you can purchase the RallyByrd Baseball Board Games game, signed and numbered, as supplies last: here and here.

Unofficial #Solitaire #Rules for the #RallyBird #BaseBall #BoardGame

Here’s a way to play RallyBird Baseball solitaire. It’s unofficial. The introduction explains why. Here’s a screenshot of it, below. Or you can download the PDF and read it there.

I designed the game with the social electricity and ferment of two live players in mind. Again and again, I made design choices intended to help two people want to take the game off the shelf and, without rules barriers, sit down and compete socially. The excitement, aggravation, worry, and second-guessing of each other I think is essential. Mind-saber clashes against mind-saber to make sparks. One face shows triumph, the other playful horror. That’s a memorable experience, and my idea of fun.

The panorama of baseball provides the ballad for the clash of wit and chance.

In RallyBird (aka RallyByrd), all choices have a chance of success or failure. It’s a matter of degree. When play testing years ago, I tried a random method of choosing offense or defense, and making decisions by deliberate choice for the other. I wanted to test the game’s ability to sustain conscious purpose. I proved to myself that conscious decisions, over time, won over random.

We all might want or need to play solitaire sometimes. I’m sympathetic. Do these unofficial charts work? I don’t know. They required a sizable random spirit to forestall predictability. It needs play testing proof in all respects. It might remain unofficial forever.

These charts do provide randomness. There’s a tension within them of purpose versus random. In addition, I don’t know if the mechanic of the charts works for enjoyment. What do you think? Again, the introduction provides my further thoughts on this.

By the way, here are some non-Amazon places you can purchase the game, signed and numbered, as supplies last: here and here.