City planners in Grand Rapids, Michigan, gave away free copies of a custom trivia game based on local areas called Green Pursuits. The game uses the Trivial Pursuit iconography and game play.

The idea is to spur discussion on what residents want to see in their parks and nature areas while simultaneously informing and entertaining.

Local residents have purportedly been enjoying the experiment.

(source)

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PsyX Games debuted MagnetX at the GAMA trade show, calling it a challenge to “the old genre by adding unique game-play that intersects physical senses with mental challenge.” (source)

Which is odd, since games with magnets are not new. Polarity is from 1986 and quite popular. Board Game Geek lists a dozen others. Heck, I remember swinging magnets on fishing lines to pick up tokens in very old games.

But hey, that’s marketing for you.

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The Hip Hop Chess Federation is “dedicated to providing an inclusive setting for individuals to interact, play and develop life strategy skills with people they perceive as mentors.”

To this end, they link Hip Hop music, martial arts, and chess play as a trinity of activities intended to take up the slack from failing school systems. Rap artists lend their cred to the activities.

You can see some rap lyrics created to support the federation in this New York Times article, e.g.:

Poppa raised me to chess moves

And though you’re gone I’m not bitter you left me prepared

We got divided by the years, but I got it from here

Don’t sweat that, sounds bump from Marcy to Lefrak

To that pocket in DC where my man caught his death at

Over my years I’ve seen Rooks get tooken by the Knight

Lose they Crown by tryna defend a Queen

Checkmate, in 4 moves the Bobby Fischer of rap

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