- Kevin

What is it about this little game that’s so addictive? Why is my Facebook news reel littered with Bejeweled Blitz score posts with the caption titles “I want my life back!” and “Where did the last two hours go?”?

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say it has something to do with bright colours and fun sound effects. Not to mention the voice that encourages you during solo gaming, “INCREDIBLE!” Maybe this is all an effect of our collective short attention span, but with the new Blitz version of the game they’ve taken it a step further. Now there are leader boards and progress graphs so you can track how much better, or worse, of a bejeweler you are than your friends.

I’m not saying that Bejewled is on the same level as really addictive games like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XI, which both sport in-game reminders that there exists a real world outside of the online fiction. But those games are persistent online worlds geared towards serious gamers who invest time and money into the characters they’re playing. Bejeweled appeals to all markets, casual to pro, and can be just as intense for some.

Still, why is it so addictive? “I want my life back!”

The Japanese company states on their website that their conceptual goal is to “give people a small ‘!’ moment.” With this simple, rectangular chair they have accomplished just that. The chair is constructed of wood and clear acrylic painted to mimic wood grain. The paint on the legs trails off about halfway down to give the illusion that the chair is floating above the ground.

I want to have these around my dining room table.

The project is a creative lifestyle magazine that with each issue will visit a new theme and then explore topics within that theme. We plan on inviting artists, photographers, designers, and writers to participate with each issue theme and truly live up to the name variantMethod. Our brand inspirations are publications like GOOD and WIRED magazine, but we’ll be bringing a bit more attitude to the page.

We’ll be using Hewlett-Packard’s MagCloud service as our printing solution, EXCITING!

Look for it in 2010. Or keep the website on your radar for any project updates.

In July Stefan Sagmeister gave his third TED conference talk at TED GLOBAL. This time he spoke about the power of time off. Essentially taking time every couple of years to stop working and start enjoying. Enough of my drivel, watch the talk:

I really love that carved chair. DO WANT!

And no, I’m not stalking him… What would make you think that? Following a man across the internet isn’t stalking! ha! It’s… just… SHUT UP! D:

The tour, while not all that long, took us through the prep room (which smelled deliciously like dry dog food…), the fermentation room, bottling, packaging, and “the lab” (where their taste-master tests all the brews for flavour and freshness). So we got to see pretty much everything Flying Dog, except the recipes.

Click the picture to go to the Flickr set.

Mameshiba