Published , by Chris Jarrard
Published , by Chris Jarrard
During the COVID-19 altered landscape of 2020, some friends who wanted an easy way to play board games online ended up creating an entirely new game unlike anything that had come prior. Their creation was dubbed Blaseball and it bears only a passing resemblance to America’s Pastime. It is centered around spectator betting and regular injections of insanity. After a lengthy break for its creators following the completion of Season 11, Baseball is expected to make its grand return on March 1.
The underlying rules and structure of the game are outlined at the official Blaseball Wiki. In short, multiple teams of Blaseball players duke it out hourly during week-long seasons. Participants can bet virtual currency on outcomes and cash in their winnings on items that grant passive buffs to earnings or on votes. Participants can place votes on various decrees. The winning decree will go into effect in subsequent seasons and is determined at the end of a season.
These decrees are the real meat and potatoes of the Blaseball experience. They can wildly affect game outcomes by altering player stats, eliminating teams, or outright murdering star players. It goes so much deeper than this but it's hard to fully explain in short order. One famous decree, known as Peanuts, was offered up for a vote during Season 2. Participants opted to vote the decree into effect despite the lack of additional description. When it went into effect, participants could buy peanuts with in-game currency, all players with the name Dan were renamed peanuts, and multiple players suffered crippling peanut allergy reactions.
If this sounds like the type of tomfoolery you would be interested in, there is still time to sign up for Blaseball ahead of the Season 12 first pitch on March 1. We aren’t exactly sure what will happen, which is wildly exciting.