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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BlackStarGames" data-source="post: 5635706" data-attributes="member: 6680176">Ah the joy of a Saturday morning: building a fort between four chairs with a dozen blankets and every available pillow in the house.  What could be a better childhood memory? Perhaps the stories told in the back seat during the road trip to a summer vacation spot?  To dream of distant lands and adventures as the roadside scenery sweeps by!  What could be better?  Maybe finding an old pair of magical socks that operate by slipping one on your hand, et voila! A theater with hilarious dialogue between you and your friends (or maybe just your left and right hands)!  Maybe you still play magic puppet theater, but now you have kids of your own.  How do you inspire their imaginations to dream, take flight, and learn that there are creative worlds of storytelling waiting to be explored?   “Argyle & Crew” is a new summer game, designed to get kids thinking creatively during their months off from school.  It’s a game that will remind you of the joys of childhood and will bring out the kid in anyone (an adult or any little one).  Written by veteran game designer, Ben Gerber, the game departs for vistas of imagination with the simple premise: a collaborative storytelling game using the time honored imaginative tool of sock puppets!  One of the greatest strengths of “Argyle & Crew” is that it is a game for anyone.  Written on the very first page is “For ages 4 – 104” and I imagine even the last number is open to interpretation.  “Argyle & Crew” takes the time honored tradition of sock puppetry further by developing it into a fully fledged role-playing game, offering a helpful tool “to inspire creativity in design, interaction with peers, coping with real life situations, and to help develop problem solving skills.”  The game offers very simple rules to immediately get started with younger children, with a chapter of helpful advice to adults on how to provide guided imagination adventures that are not only fun, but instructive.  For older kids (and adults too!) there are more advanced systems that help turn the age old sock puppet into an inspired personality with traits, characteristics (Facts), and flaws.  One of the best aspects of “Argyle & Crew” is the way it encourages players to use their imaginations, along with the world around them, to create and lead their sock puppets (called Soppets) on adventures.  Want your Soppet to be able to charm people?  Provide her with beautiful cascading hair made from colored string!  Want your Soppet to be sneaky?  Throw on a pair of everyday sunglasses . Now your Soppet is capable of blending, in disguise.  The game encourages kids to be fair with each other and collaborate , helping them deal with conflict in a productive way. This makes “Argyle & Crew” ideal for classroom use with young children and educators. The chapter on “You’re the Guide – this is your job” provides both thematic and tangible advice on how to lead a young group through an adventure.Finally, “Argyle & Crew” offers an array of example scenarios to run with groups: from a rollicking quest for the lost remote to how to peacefully taming “Rupert the bully”.   These scenarios offer a mixture of fun and Aesop Fablesque possibilities for resolving everyday challenges.  The book provides enough material to get started immediately (five complete scenarios) but also gives helpful hints and suggestions as to how to build your own dynamic and interesting stories.  These stories can be combined with more sophisticated rules (like using dice, spells and simulated combat) for older and more experienced players. One of my favorite things about “Argyle & Crew,” is that it comes from the heart.  Ben wrote the game from his experience as both a seasoned game designer and a father of two young girls who inspire his imagination.  Proceeds from “Argyle & Crew” go to benefit The Wayne Foundation, an organization aimed at ending child slavery and helping victims recover from the real life monsters that threatened to destroy their childhoods.  If you really want to get involved, back the “Argyle & Crew” Kickstarter - <a href="http://kck.st/rdVaUH" target="_blank">Argyle & Crew - Soppet Adventures! The sock puppet RPG by Ben Gerber — Kickstarter</a>  and become one of the sponsors.  It’s a great way to support a super game and support a noble cause.“Argyle & Crew” is a game that will not only capture your imagination, it will help you share and develop the fun and joy of interactive storytelling with future generations.  “Argyle & Crew” is a game that will help children develop the tools of a lifetime and keep them playing (hopefully) until they really are 104!  For more information be sure and check out <a href="http://trollitc.com/LoS" target="_blank">http://trollitc.com/LoS</a>.  You won’t be disappointed.</blockquote>

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