Icehouse piece: Difference between revisions

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Latest revision as of 11:13, 30 April 2024

Icehouse pieces is the original name for Looney Pyramids, since they were first invented for the game Icehouse. Each piece is a pyramid of one of three sizes: large piece (Queen), medium piece (Drone), and small piece (Pawn). They can be made from a variety of materials, and may be home made or purchased commercially. Commercially produced Icehouse pyramids are made from wood, plastic, paper, or stone, while homemade ones can be made from a wide variety of materials, including wood, metal, plastic, polymer clay, plaster, paper, and more. The plastic pyramids are stackable, as are some of the stone ones, and some homemade pyramids. Many games use multiple colors of pyramids.

This Wunderland Weekly News article explains why Icehouse pyramids are hollow.

Standards[edit | edit source]

Looney Labs has published official standards for the sizes of Icehouse pyramids [1], allowing anyone to make compatible pieces in their own designs from a variety of materials. Pieces come in 3 standard sizes: small, medium, and large. Giant pieces are, by convention, 8 times larger than the equivalent standard size pieces. Based on the pattern observed in these three sizes, a pair of simple linear equations can be devised for the base and height of a pyramid based in its pip count, allowing the sizes to be extrapolated into 0-pip, 4-pip, 5-pip, 8-pip, and larger pieces.

Small piece: 9/16" base, 1" high
Medium piece: 25/32" base, 1 3/8" high
Large piece: 1" base, 1 3/4" high

The angle at the apex of a large pyramid is approximately 31.9 degrees.

Here is Kit Cooper's old letter from 1990, describing the mathematic standards of the original pieces: [2]

Unofficial sizes in cm[edit | edit source]

For those of you either from Europe, or from anywhere else where you use the metric system, here are the dimensions of the standard Looney Labs Plastic Treehouse/Icehouse pyramids:

Small piece: 1.43cm base, 2.54cm high
Medium piece: 1.98cm base, 3.49cm high
Large piece: 2.54cm base, 4.45cm high

Currently commercially available pieces[edit | edit source]

Where can I get some pyramids?

DIY[edit | edit source]

Making pieces

Formerly commercially available pieces[edit | edit source]

Solid plastic pyramids from Icehouse Games Inc.
Wooden pyramids from Icehouse Games Inc.
Giant cardboard pyramids from Looney Labs
Paper pyramids from Looney Labs, in standard size [3].
Retired colors
Stone pyramids from Crystal Caste.
Czech pyramids

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 == Currently commercially available pieces ==
+[[Where can I get some pyramids]]?
+== DIY ==
-* [[Stackable|Stackable plastic pyramids]] from [[Looney Labs]] are currently available in the form of [[Pyramid Arcade]], a set of 90 pyramids in 10 colors first produced in 2016. [[Pyramid Arcade]] sets are currently being sold in [https://www.looneylabs.com/store-locator| brick and mortar stores] and [http://store.looneylabs.com/Pyramid-Arcade| direct from Looney Labs].
+[[Making pieces]]
-* [[Looney Labs]] has released a number of other sets of [[Stackable|Stackable plastic pyramids]], including [[Martian Chess]], [[Homeworlds]], [[Ice Duo]], [[Nomids]] and [[Jinxx]]. These work as stand-alone games or as expansions to [[Pyramid Arcade]]
-* [[Stone pyramids]] from [http://crystalcaste.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=CC&Category_Code=PY Crystal Caste].
-* [[Czech pyramids]]
 == Formerly commercially available pieces ==
@@ Line 36: / Line 35: @@
 * [[Paper Icehouse|Paper pyramids]] from Looney Labs, in standard size [http://www.looneylabs.com/OurStores/product.html?ProductID=33&List=Short+Run+Depot].
 * [[Color#Retired_Colors|Retired colors]]
+* [[Stone pyramids]] from [http://crystalcaste.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=CC&Category_Code=PY Crystal Caste].
+* [[Czech pyramids]]