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The Geekiest Game Ever Made?

Posted by Unknown on from the settlers-of-frustrated-interactions dept.

KentuckyFC writes "Spin glasses may be esoteric but they are also one of the more fascinating phenomena in physics. They are disordered magnets in which the atoms interact with each other to create conflicting configurations that compete for stability. That makes spin glasses metastable. They can seem firm and constant but a small change to the configuration in one part of the lattice can ripple through the magnet like wildfire. Now a German physicist has created 'Spin Glasses: The Game,' a two person board game that reproduces all the complexity and excitement of...err... spin glasses. The players compete to configure their atoms in a way that dominates the lattice when the game ends. The board game is available in German or as a free downloadable cut out version in English. Is this the geekiest game ever made?"

9 of 87 comments (clear)

  1. Nethack? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    No mention of Nethack. I am disappoint.

  2. This by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 2

    High geekyness http://glassplategame.com/

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  3. Nethack by Sorcererbob · · Score: 4, Insightful

    For physics geeks, perhaps this new fangled glass spinning game is the new black, but for us fantasy nerds, Nethack still reigns supreme. Tiled, turn based, and riddled with more Tolkien references than The Hobbit movies, I don't think it can be beaten for ultimate nerdery.

    1. Re:Nethack by xvan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Nethack wins in the references field.
      But I think Dwarf Fortress sandbox beats it / will eventualy beat it, on gameplay... It's crazy the unexpected things that surge from that physics model.

  4. Re:No. by camperdave · · Score: 2

    Is the actual quote not "Can any headline which ends in a quiestion mark be answered bye the word no?"

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  5. Settlers? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2

    I don't know about you, but I've never seen Settlers of Catan at any party also featuring beer pong. (I have seen D&D played, in fact enhanced by beer pong...before you ask.)

  6. spin glass by bugs2squash · · Score: 4, Funny

    This could be as close to playing spin the bottle as any of us get.

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  7. Re:If a tree falls in the forest ... by TheLink · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Doesn't seem geeky to me. How about programming games:
    e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega_(video_game)
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_War
    More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Programming_games

    How much geekier can it get than writing programs as a game?

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  8. 3 words by bmimatt · · Score: 4, Informative

    Leisure Suit Larry