2020: A Year in Possibilities

A new year, a new decade, and the start of an Anthropocene epoch.  Humans, for better or worse, are now a major influencer of global events.  We can’t control earthquakes, volcanoes, and other natural disasters, but we do drive the new global weather pattern and change in base gases in the atmosphere.  What does 2020 have in store for life on Earth?  Is there some way to realign the way we live and act to help deter the detrimental effect of life in the 20th century?  2020 is the future and it’s demanding that we become part of the global ecology, not exploiters of it.

The new big idea - grow it!  Life in today’s corporate agriculture food web has done immense damage to the balance of life on Earth.  There was a time that it was necessary to grow food and raw materials needed for running a homestead.  This basic part of life gave individuals a connection to the environmental health of the local community.  Now in the corporate food state, price is the main driver of production.  There are occasions where the quality of food stuffs are extremely high and benefit society as a whole, but it doesn’t happen enough. 

At every cannabis event I attend in the NYC area, individuals can’t stop talking about growing their own pot.  This push to agriculture is a good thing and should be expanded to include other plants that grow with synergy with cannabis and hemp.  Individuals need to understand that mono-crops are bad for farming and using multiple types of crops helps promote growth and helps repel harmful insects.  All these motivated individuals could be the start of a new wave of environmentally friendly farms.  Both cannabis and hemp are good cash crops and can help farms be more profitable and more self-sufficient.  These are not new ideas, but ideas lost in corporate’s blitz for money. 

America produces almost limitless amounts of waste and garbage.  Every day I read about how the recycling culture is in crisis and that materials that can be recycled are now being buried in dumps. How did we get here? We just expected others to deal with our mess and be charged for it, that’s capitalism.  Unfortunately, the capitalist model for profits means that if it’s cheaper to bury it, that’s what they will do.  Just stunningly moronic sheer stupidity!  The Netherlands recycles 100% of it’s waste, and makes money from other countries’ garbage.  That’s smart business and is sustainable for the future.  Waste isn’t garbage, it’s a resource that can be used to create beneficial things for humanity, not poison fish!  2020 demands that we rethink our waste and learn to deal with it locally and cost effectively.

Reusing and recycling needs to be the motto of the electronics industry.  Every item produced will have a history, and that path needs to be reusing and recycling the valuable materials in phones, computers, and game systems.  Teaching students how to reuse old technology will be a important in the future, the vastness of this cheap resource can jump start a new after-market of all electronics.  Schools need to return to hands on learning: things like shop class, apprenticeships, and lab-based science.  I believe that knowing how to use a computer is a valuable skill, but knowing how to repair them is a more valuable skill.  Society needs men and women that can work creatively with their hands and have technical knowledge of how things work. 

2020 must be the year we transform living spaces into net-positive energy providers.  The 20th century idea of big energy is over.  We have the ability to transform our electrical grid by decentralizing it and allowing people to generate their own power with solar, wind, and other green sources, like flowing water.  The Earthship concept of your having your dwelling provide most of your living needs is an idea that has come back and will transform how humans live on Earth.  Humans will change into providers, not just consumers.  The idea of living within the resources of the local environment will encourage humans to live in a more sustainable manner.  The “Amazon next day delivery” culture needs to change. We must learn to be a beneficial part of this beautiful planet, not just takers!

One Step Ahead

When I first created the Roll-a-Bong board game, I knew it wasn’t the only pot smoking game on the market.  I did realize that most of the games were made as a joke and that they were cheap in quality or expensive for no apparent reason.  I had a game that I created  in the 80’s and I felt it was the time to update it and to try to sell it.  My first attempt was a bust! 

I produced 100 Roll-a-Bong prototypes and sent them to everyone I knew. The quality of the art was poor and the game did not reflect my wishes, but the artist refused to change what he did.  Somehow, someway, the game was good enough for a old friend of mine to see it’s potential.  My friend Jim was in investments and liked what he saw.  The conversation went something like this… “Gary, I hate the art, and the game is confusing.  The box is cheap and the board sucks!” “So what did you like Jim?” “I love Roll-a-Bong, I remember playing it in college. This game is crap, but I like Roll-a-Bong!”

Jim worked with me. He found a great artist, Edison Goncalves, and he encouraged me to think big.  Six months later, I had a first class game and a high quality Chinese printer.  The game came alive and I produced 2000 games with my wife’s help.  Everywhere I went with my game, people were amazed. I was told several times that it was too good.  I pointed out that my game sold at a lower retail price than my competitors. From the NYC Toy Show to the Cannabis Cup in Denver, I promoted my game.  I never found a national retailer interested and sales were slow in the NY area. 

I never stopped innovating.  I created a Roll-a-Bong Deluxe version, and have the prototypes made.  They are ready for a national roll out when the time is right. I also found a way to play the game with friends on-line.  On the Roll20 game platform, Roll-a-Bong awaits .  Here players will find Roll-a-Bong, free to play.  Also available is Roll-a-Bong Deluxe - this you need to arrange with me, but it’s still available.  I can proudly say that my game is the only cannabis board game available for online play!

And I didn’t stop there. No, I continued to innovate.  Available only through my website are today’s best cannabis games.  I buy in bulk so you can save!  Roll-a-Bong Games is a one-stop shop for the best of the best.  We add new games all the time and we stop selling those that don’t interest players anymore.  I also offer several blogs a week on various subjects related to ganja and gaming.  One thing is for sure, I’m a life-long gamer, and I love to share games with other people. 

Staying one step ahead is a state of being for me, a gamer’s Avant Garde, a desire to the new and creative.  Roll-a-Bong Games has that drive and seems to be ready to do what’s new and fun.  Infused D&D is ready to launch, a chance to play today’s hottest game, all while earning treasure and experience (basically smoking).  The player experience is central and our goal for our customers.  We are planning all the time, next up will be a Game Show featuring cannabis games - sounds really fun!  I can’t wait, keep watch…

Stoner City, Pass the Grass, and Lords of Cannabis

I recently got my hands on a perfect copy of the 1970’s classic stoner game, Stoner City.  The circular track has a monopoly feel and play, allowing stoners to purchase properties.  It has a variety of squares where players must pay the pot, and getting out of jail was never so easy.  The smokin’ tokens are a variety of smoking devices and the pot leaf dice make this canna-monopoly game a hazy fun time.  The game’s money shows the words “In Pot We Trust” showing Dead Presidents of the United States.  The game allows you to grow weed, so you need weed tokens, and there is a ton of tiny pot leaves to represent your grow.  Lastly there are “Karma” cards, these both give and take, somehow balancing the karma at the table.

I’m sure that Monopoly wouldn’t allow anyone to produce a game like this anymore, its just looks like Monopoly in so many ways and it plays like a simple version, there is no hiding it.  Stoner City is a rare find and should be treasured and protected, there are a limited number out there and once those copies are gone, there will be no more produced.  If you can’t get you hands on “Stoner City” I have a few games that could be a good substitute and play, in some ways, better than this vintage classic.  Here are a few:

Pass The Grass is an interactive board game that borrows elements ranging from the innocent world of Milton Bradley to the psychedelic vibe of the Grateful Dead. Rolling both dice and joints, players make their way around the board in a quest for the perfect buzz while completing hilarious challenges and satisfying their lust for “munchies.” Pass the Grass can be played with 2 or more players but they must be 21 or over.  Take turns drawing cards (and puffs) and complete challenges to win. Includes: 1 game board, 2 dice, 6 game "tokens," 2 decks of cards, and a rule book.

Game play: Everybody puts $1 in the jackpot. There are two sets of cards, you roll dice and there are places on the board that tell you to do different things. You take a card, and each card will tell you to do something different. There are credit and pass cards. A credit card means you do what the card says, which could be anything from taking a hit off a joint, to eating some munchies, to telling an embarrassing story. If you take a pass card, you pass it to anybody and then they have to do it. If they choose not to, they’re out. If you land on the jackpot, you get all the money and everyone replenishes it with $1 each, but it can be more if players want. Players who choose not to ante up are out. Last player still playing wins the pot. (Everyone else wins a nice buzz.) For a shorter game, play ends when someone lands on the jackpot.

Lords of Cannabis is a “The Strategic Game of Reaping, Corruption, and Conquest!” Reap the rewards of expanding throughout the vast pot fields of cannabis from building on rich resource plots and shrewd trading. Be the first player with ten points to win. Keep in mind- one strategy might work once, but in the next game...everything will change! Game Includes: One 17” x 17” game board, 100 Stash Cards, 38 Crop Cards, 2 Dice, 1 Sheriff Badge, 6 Reference and 2 Reward Cards, 24 Numbered Chips, 6 Building Tiles and 15 Tunnels per color.  Fans of “Settlers of Catan” will quickly see the similarities, so? The game is really fun.