Chris Struble Writes

I was appalled at public protests this week in several states violating stay at home and physical distancing orders, and demanding that businesses be allowed to re-open. These protesters, who seemed to be overwhelmingly white, drove in trucks past their state capitals, and in some cases, waved confederate flags, and carried guns. I don’t know if any of those actions were illegal. But those who congregated in the hundreds along parade routes and in other dense formations were breaking the law. More importantly, they were endangering other people. The stay at home and physical distancing measures that most states have implemented were a necessary response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the most lethal global plague in a hundred years. As I write, it has killed over 160,000 people worldwide, and over 40,000 Americans. That is more Americans dead in a few weeks than were killed in combat (33,686) in the entire Korean War. My father served in that war, though thankfully he did not die in c

Four Paths is a card game I created at home this past weekend. It is a 2 player civilization building game where you progress a city-state through the ages. You win by progressing faster than your opponent, or defeating your opponent in a series of card battles that deplete their resources. In ancient Greek thought, there were four elements: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. Each of these elements is a path of advancement. For each path there is either a building card or unit card you need to get in each age of civilization. You can get the building or unit by drawing cards from a draw pile, or by stealing cards from your opponent in battles. I am still developing and play testing the game. It is a long way from being publishable. But working on it is giving me one more fun thing to do while I am staying at home.