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Blaseball
Developer(s)The Game Band
Designer(s)
  • Sam Rosenthal
  • Joel Clark
  • Stephen Bell
Platform(s)Browser
Release20 July 2020
Genre(s)Simulation, Horror
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Blaseball is an online browser baseball simulation horror game[1] developed by The Game Band. It was released on 20 July 2020.[2]

Gameplay

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Blaseball centers on an absurdist simulation of baseball,[3] with random events such as the "incineration" of players by "rogue umpires"[4] with fictional team names. After the first log-in, the players can choose a team and are given some coins.[5] The game allows the players to bet on the outcome of the simulated games by using an in-game currency.[6][7] Each season lasts a week, and the players are able to follow what happens in real time. The matches are organized every day on the hour, while the post-season happens on a Saturday. Each team member has a name and a star rating, which is used to determine their stats.[8] Users are able to use their in-game currency to vote on events and rule changes that will happen after each season.[9]

Development

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Sam Rosenthal, the creative director of The Game Band, spent some time on Zoom calls during a quarantine caused by coronavirus with friends who don't usually play video games, but were still eager to play browser adaptations of board games. The idea of creating a title that would bring people together attracted the developers.[10] At first, he thought to make a horse-racing gambling game, but the team decided that the whole concept was better suited for baseball.[11]

From 9 August 2020 to 24 August 2020, The Game Band put the game on a temporary hiatus, citing the problems associated with running into unexpected viral popularity.[12]

Seasons

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List of Blaseball Seasons
No. Start Subtitle Champion Summary
1 July 20, 2020 None Philly Pies Blaseball has "returned". Parker MacMillan III, a (fictional) social media intern, becomes interim-commissioner of Blaseball. The Philly Pies sweep the Chicago Firefighters. The decree "Open The Forbidden Book" wins the election by an overwhelming majority, triggering several events:
  • Jaylen Hotdogfingers, a pitcher for the Seattle Garages, is incinerated
  • Moab, Utah is swallowed by the Hellmouth, resulting in the Moab Sunbeams being renamed to the Hellmouth Sunbeams
  • "The Discipline Era" begins[13][14]
2 July 27, 2020 The Discipline Era Philly Pies The "Book" tab is added to the website, which displays a mixture of baseball rules and more bizarre statements. Much of it is heavily redacted. Every game's weather is now listed as "Solar Eclipse", during which players may be randomly incinerated by "rogue umpires". The Philly Pies defeat the Charleston Shoe Thieves, becoming Season 2 Champion. The "Peanuts" decree wins the election.
3 August 3, 2020 "The Peanut Plague" / "Uncertainty" Hades Tigers The ability to buy peanuts in-game and eat them one at a time (after a slow animation is played for each one) is added, as well as two new weather types: "Peanuts" (during which players may experience "allergic reactions" or "yummy reactions" corresponding to a loss or gain of skill levels), and "Lots of Birds" (during which exclamations about birds are injected into the gameplay log screen randomly; gameplay was otherwise unaffected). Additionally, three players, Dan Holloway, Daniel Duffy, and Dan Bong, were renamed to Peanut Holloway, Peanutiel Duffy, and Peanut Bong. [15]


The Forbidden Book hints that "atoning" may be possible if fans collectively consume one million peanuts; this theory is further reinforced by the addition of a counter on the website ticker that displays the current number of peanuts collectively eaten. On August 4, 2020, exploiting a bug in the website, a fan eats negative infinity peanuts, inciting angry tweets from the Blaseball Commissioner[16] and similarly angry announcements from the Umpires via Discord, demanding that the cheaters come forward. Shortly thereafter, the Blaseball website was taken down, replaced with a giant rotating Peanut and the word "BLASPHEMY."[17] This is the first known appearance of the character known as The Peanut.

References

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  1. ^ Band, The Game (2020-09-17). "A Dark Week in the Discipline Era". Medium. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
  2. ^ "Introducing BLASEBALL". Twitter. Retrieved 2020-08-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ Martin, Garrett (2020-07-31). "The Problem with Blaseball". Paste (magazine). Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  4. ^ Greszes, Sam (2020-08-06). "An absurdist baseball game is tearing up the internet, thanks to fans". Polygon (website). Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  5. ^ Parrish, Ash (2020-08-10). "What Is The Forbidden Book, And Other Blaseball Questions Answered". Kotaku. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  6. ^ Martens, Todd (2020-08-24). "It's a beautiful summer for 'Blaseball.' Yes, 'Blaseball,' where America's pastime meets 'D&D'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  7. ^ Van Allen, Eric (2020-07-31). "Blaseball Is the Absurd Sports Game That's Been Filling Your Social Feeds". USGamer. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  8. ^ Jackson, Gita (2020-07-21). "Blaseball is the Real Return of Baseball". Vice (magazine). Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  9. ^ Livingston, Christopher (2020-07-29). "Place bets on Blaseball, a simulated baseball league with the occasional Hellmouth". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  10. ^ Valentine, Rebekah (2020-08-20). "Making Blaseball, at our mercy". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2020-08-25.
  11. ^ Farr, Stephanie (2020-08-10). "At Tastykake Stadium, the Philly Pies are two-time champs. Welcome to Blaseball". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  12. ^ Band, The Game (2020-08-09). "Blaseball is Taking an Extended Siesta". Medium. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  13. ^ "Season 1". Blaseball, The Internet Blaseball League Wiki. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  14. ^ "THE BLASEBALL BEAT". us17.campaign-archive.com. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  15. ^ "Peanuts". Blaseball, The Internet Blaseball League Wiki. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  16. ^ "https://twitter.com/blaseball/status/1290345095397429248". Twitter. Retrieved 2020-09-25. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  17. ^ "Peanut Fraud". Blaseball, The Internet Blaseball League Wiki. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
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Category:2020 video games Category:Video games developed in the United States Category:Absurdist fiction Category:Simulation games Category:Browser games Category:Browser-based multiplayer online games Category:Parody video games Category:Horror video games