Blaseball Returns to Fundamentals Next Month With Short Circuits

Blaseball, the absurdist player-driven online fantasy sport, is making a return after its last lengthy hiatus ("siesta") on November 1 with Short Circuits — a mini-series of sorts intended to reimagine the game from the ground up.

Short Circuits are "a low-stakes mini-series of temporary universes where anything can happen," each lasting two weeks. The first Short Circuit, which starts on November 1 at 8am PT/11am ET, will last for two "seasons," with each season lasting a week.

Historically, Blaseball's major storylines have taken place over the course of two major "eras," each consisting of several seasons lasting about a week. Short Circuits is not considered a full era in Blaseball, but rather is serving as a test ground for developer The Game Band to return the game to its fundamentals and use feedback to ensure future eras are a more welcoming experience to new players.

Blaseball is an absurdist fantasy sport played entirely in a browser that largely follows the rules and conventions of baseball, but with fictional, AI-driven teams, occasional bizarre events, a few rule modifications, and future changes to the game voted on by the spectators. We wrote in-depth about what Blaseball is earlier this year prior to the game's last era, and while the story since then has taken some pretty wild and confusing turns, Short Circuits appears to be an attempt to reign things in and ensure that everyone can participate easily without knowing what came before.

Per the press release, no prior Blaseball experience is required to participate in Short Circuits. The game is free and playable only in-browser via the official website.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

source https://www.ign.com/articles/blaseball-returns-fundamentals-short-circuits