In flipping through the March, 1974, issue of “Analog” magazine, I saw this remarkably plain, all-text ad for a board wargame, “Triplanetary” from Game Designers Workshop. 1974 was a tad before my time as regards such games, but I certainly recognize the genre… a decade later I got sucked into the FASA Star Trek ship combat game. On the one hand, I have difficulty imagining such games standing a chance in hell of surviving today when faced with modern video games… but on the other hand I know of several comic book shops that have numerous tables set up for just such games, and I’ve often seen them in use. Reality and assumptions often don’t match; it’s impressive when you’re faced with reality but can’t reconcile the obviously wrong assumption. Shrug.
Anyway, what struck me most was just how *plain* the ad is. Compare with the incredibly detailed, complex and technically spectacular artwork you often see created for modern games like Halo or Warhammer or WoW. And where’s the web address? Does it even have a Facebook account??
