Welcome to Caltrops and thank-you for visiting. This page will help you decide whether to stay.

Caltrops is a web site about videogames. It was founded in the western United States in 2002 by Entropy Stew, a programmer, Fussbett Sanitario, an artist, and Senor Barborito, a man of varied talents.

There are five: publish articles about games, identify good games, provide a forum for spirited discussion, explore the ways and merits of gaming, and stimulate its readers with stimulating content. Collectively, they are alluded to by the acronym PIPES.

There are some 1000 regular readers in over 100 countries. These countries are on every continent except Antarctica. The readers’ ages range from 13 to 83 but most are between 15 and 60. Many work in the gaming industry, most do not: the ranks of Caltrops include doctors, paralegals, farmers, pipe fitters, stenographers, meatpackers, and deep-sea divers. A shared taste in in web-based comic strips is one reliable indicator of potential friendship; many Caltroppers enjoy strips like Penny Arcade, Johnny Litmus, The Porking Lot, Fish & Game, and Carmack’s Freetown. You may not discuss anything on Caltrops that would be illegal to discuss in the United States. All other topics—politics, media, products available for sale—are acceptable.

The site’s colors were chosen, with the help of scientific research [1,2], to to appeal to our intended readership—outgoing, soulful people.

The typical article is written by an ordinary reader and introduced in the Article Submissions and Editing forum. After a first reading, the article is referred to an editor for editing and back to the author for one or more drafts. It’s then published or rejected by editor-in-chief Ice Cream Jonsey.

Asbestos Longjohns: Figuratively donned before posting a message that you expect will be flamed. Variations, like “asbestos overcoat,” are common.
AAMOF: As a matter of fact.
AGDT: About God Damn Time. Often said on the release of a long-overdue game.
Diss: An unduly harsh statement. Short for dysphemism.
f(G)=A? Are Games Art? This is a running topic of debate; be aware that rehashing old arguments may draw flames.
f(A)=G! All art’s a game! This tongue-in-cheek response can be taken to mean “Oh brother! Not another ‘Are Games Art?’ thread!”
NP: Now Playing. It’s followed by the name of a song to indicate what the author listened to while posting.
RLOF: Really Laughing or Frightened. A hedging response to a statement that’s either funny or insane.
TFRO: The First Rule Of. In David Fincher’s movie Fight Club there were only two rules. The first was literal and the second protected a thing so beautiful and fragile that to analyze it would destroy it. “TFRO” thus precedes a rule that must be read literally.

You shouldn’t. Other sites work very hard and deserve your contribution. We ask that before coming to Caltrops you make a sincere effort to read those other sites.

Only one: Do I Like Fun?
We await your answer.