Ra-son Projects: ¡geekeria!

When Dave and I worked on projects together, we called them "Ra-Son" projects. Over the years, this has encompassed everything from lego-furniture, to social media icons, to games, and blogger personality quizzes.

This particular project was a labor of love, designed especially as a gift for you all. I wasn't going to revive it because the memories were so strong, but then I thought- it was your present. Hiding it away would be darn rude, and it's the sort of behavior that would make Dave raise one of his eyebrows at me.

So here it is, once again, with explanations:

Lotería is a Latin game-of-chance.

It is much like bingo- but instead of ping pong balls, there is a deck of cards, and instead of numbers, there are images on a card. Every image has a name and an assigned number. Every player gets a board (called a "tabla"). The board features a 4×4 grid, and your goal is to get all the images in whatever pattern the caller decides (vertical, horizontal, diagonal, squared, etc).

The caller randomly pulls cards from a deck, and reads their name, or a clue about them. If you have the corresponding image on your tabla, you put a bean or small rock on it.

If you get the pre-designated 4 in a row, you shout "Loteria!". Your winning 4 are confirmed, and then you're declared a winner and you get to claim a prize. Sometimes everyone plays for a dollar, sometimes people bring white elephant gifts. It can be a high stakes game. I know one or two abuelitas who take it super seriously.

There's a number assigned to each image, probably to ease confusion- but the number is rarely used because the images are so very iconic.

During one of our late nights, Dave and I made our own version of this game because the culture of it was so fiercely woven into our early childhoods. Our own version plays on the heavily image-based theme, except integrates our love of geek life.

We call it ¡Geekeria!

Obviously we have no copyright privileges for any of these characters, but we made everything ourselves and had a blast doing so. It was a very peaceful night of creating, and a very strong memory for me. I know loteria is not necessarily part of your culture, but it was our way of saying "Thanks for being a part of our family."

That gratitude is as true today as it was the day we created this for you.

Download the Tablas Download the Cards

You can browse the images below, or download the files above. Then, just print and play. I hope you enjoy it, or at least the idea of it. If you have any questions- just let me know.

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Are there any meaningful games in your childhood or culture? Are you a geek?

(Also, if you're the sort who likes to play and romp and spin, you might be interested in participating in the #GoPlay challenge over at NerdInTheBrain. There's still time!)