Space-Cast! #43. Unstuck in Time
In 1956, not-yet-famous author Kurt Vonnegut unsuccessfully attempted to publish a board game. That game, GHQ, was then stored in a box for decades until designer Geoff Engelstein read about it in a biography and began the long process of restoring this historical artifact. On today’s Space-Cast!, we sit down with Geoff to discuss how GHQ traveled across time, its surprising innovations, and what it might say about Vonnegut’s efforts to contextualize his wartime experiences.
Listen here or download here. Timestamps can be found after the jump.
TIMESTAMPS
1:58 — introducing Kurt Vonnegut’s GHQ
4:31 — how Geoff Engelstein got involved
9:42 — Engelstein’s interest in Vonnegut
15:59 — Vonnegut vs. rules writing
21:37 — developing and publishing GHQ
28:09 — the game itself
36:07 — a game unstuck in time
49:43 — the importance of preservation
57:41 — Geoff’s one rules regret
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Posted on February 20, 2025, in Board Game, Podcast and tagged Board Games, GHQ, Mars International, The Space-Biff! Space-Cast!. Bookmark the permalink. 3 Comments.
SPACE-BIFF! 
My late and very good friend John Kula, who edited and published Simulacrum magazine, was very interested in Vonnegut’s design – we both liked his work and traded notes on what this design might be like.In 2008 he contacted the Lilly library about accessing the information in Vonnegut’s papers.The library pulled the folder and said, there’s about 100 pages in there, photocopies are 30 cents each, JPEGs $2 an exposure. Oh, and you need to get permission from the Vonnegut estate, talk to Donald Farber.
John contacted Farber, offering to publish a summary of information about the play of the game, both as a literary curiosity and so it would not be lost to posterity (and stressing that it would be strictly non-profit).
Don Farber replied that he was ignorant of the game… “Did someone do a game design and attribute it to Kurt? or did Kurt do it and I was out of the loop, which is highly doubtful.”
John did not have the time or inclination to engage with this stonewall, so good for Geoff going the extra mile in badgering Don Farber (though it’s odd that Farber would say that no one had ever expressed an interest in Vonnegut’s game, Kula’s email must have slipped his mind) and paying to get the images from the Lilly Library.
Wow! I’m glad Geoff persevered as well!
Now how do I obtain a crazy entertainment agent for myself?
Have you tried GHQ yet, Brian? If so, what did you think?
Is he more ignorant than crazy?
I haven’t been able to get a copy in Canada (haven’t tried very hard either, too much stuff on the shelf already).