Back into the surreal
It’s time to head back out to the diamond. Developer The Game Band has announcedBlaseball: Short Circuits, a series of short, temporary universes in which it will explore some new features forBlaseball‘s future.
Blaseball, if you’re unfamiliar, is a sort of surreal fantasy sports simulation where fans back their favorite teams and watch as they play a whole season of “baseball” in a week. I use air-quotations becauseBlaseballis all about bending the rules; in its first eras, teams saw players get incinerated, had to navigate the vast expanse of the universe, and fought a peanut god.
It all rules, and this video fromPeople Make Gamessums up the appeal quite well if you want a further dive.
Intoday’s blog, The Game Band confirms that the nextBlaseballera will launch in 2022, alongside its forthcoming mobile app. But as it works towards that goal, as well as making a more sustainable schedule, ethical monetization, and an approachable onboarding process, it’s testing a few things out.
That’s whereBlaseball: Short Circuitscomes in. It’s a series of short, low-stakes mini-series of “temporary universes.” The idea is for each to be light on narrative and designed to test out some variations of the coreBlaseballexperience. The 24 teams ofBlaseballwill compete with new rosters in each universe, and at the end of each two-week period, that universe will end. (Don’t worry, previous era’s players are still fine…for now.)
The Game Band says it hopes to research how fans playBlaseball, as well as welcome in new fans and just enjoy some good ol’ fashionedBlaseballaction. The dates are subject to change, but the firstShort Circuitis set to run Nov. 1 through 14. You can follow the action on theBlaseballsite.
