I try to exert my vegan influence on most people I come into contact with, and in no case is that influence stronger than with my husband, Yves.
He knew when he got involved with me that veganism is a huge part of my life (um, it touches every single meal!) and has embraced it in his own diet (he calls himself “vegan by marriage”), and taken it upon himself to learn about it and understand the issues. His label reading skills are nearly as strong as my own!
- Filming the Top This! promo video.
Likewise, I have tried to give his board gaming hobby a shot, sitting through long nights of games during which I am badly beaten, struggling to understand up to three new sets of rules in an evening (and refusing to play Agricola, an animal husbandry game). It’s a give and take thing.
When he told me he was developing a pizza flicking board game, I frowned. “Well, what are the toppings?” I asked. The pizza was cheeseless, he said, but there was pepperoni. Ok, well that could be vegan pepperoni easily enough.
But Yves decided to take it a step further. What if he created a “veganized” version of the game, with a bonus set of spinach tokens? Would “my people” be interested in something like that?
I wasn’t totally sure. I mean, these are the same people who will spend $8 on a small clamshell package of vegan marshmallows, and $12 for a pint of vegan ice cream. But would they support a vegan-by-marriage in his attempt to design and sell a pizza-flicking board game? Only time will tell. It’s the only game Yves knows of that is actually designed and marketed with vegans in mind— so maybe consider supporting it!
Top This! is a quick dexterity game for which players flick wooden “pizza topping” pieces onto a pizza-like game board in order to fulfill orders. Top This! is aimed at families, and gamers. It is currently being crowdfunded on Kickstarter. (You can contribute by clicking the link and following the procedure to back it.) Crowdfunding is being used to generate interest in the game and to fund its production. If enough people support the project, the product will be produced.
The game’s publisher, UniForge is hosting a Top This! Peekaboo Pizza Party at The Grand Pizzeria & Bar (74 George Street) to give people an opportunity to try Top This! on Tuesday July 3rd from 5:30-7:30 pm. Everyone is invited to attend.
There will be free pizza- including vegan pizza. There I go exerting my vegan influence again!
The Top This! crowdfunding campaign runs from June 6 to July 22, 2012. Special bonuses are in place for overfunding goals, giving backers additional incentive to encourage others to back the project.
Hope to see you there!
VegOttawa Association 