Og Licensed by Skotos Tech for Online Play

BERKELEY, CA, September 6, 2000 – You me go bang hairy cave thing. Hairy cave thing food. Big food. Monosyllabic vocabularies aren't just for Neanderthals any more. Skotos Tech has licensed 'Og', a humorous prehistoric roleplaying game of limited words, to create multiplayer interactive online fiction games. Soon, everyone will be able to struggle for survival before the dawn of history with the minor inconveniences of ignorance, miscommunication and misunderstanding.

Og was first published by Wingnut Games in 1995. The second edition, 'Land of OG' was recently released by Wingnut Games. It portrays the world of prehistoric cavemen the way it's presented in the movies. Pteranodons ("Big Sun Things"), Mammoths ("Big Hairies") and T-Rexes ("Big Big Smelly Bang Things") terrorize our primitive ancestors in a world of homey caves, pet dinosaurs, and prehistoric tools. "It's the prehistoric era the way it should have been," say Aldo Ghiozzi, President of Wingnut Games. "It's more fun then you can shake a club at."

Much of the emphasis in Og is on language. Cavemen no use big words. That's what the game is all about. Players must use imaginative ways to communicate with limited vocabularies, often in the face of adversity. What happens when language is drastically reduced? Og presents one possible result in a roleplaying format.

"It's the idea of a limited language that really makes Og exciting," says Christopher Allen, President & CEO of Skotos Tech. "Each caveman has a different, limited vocabulary, and different cavemen might initially not understand each other at all. That's hard to represent in a face-to-face game, but when you put it online, everything changes. The computer acts as an interpreter, and each character only hears those things that he or she actually understands."

The Og game will run using the Skotos text-dominant StoryBuilder Server, an online game platform which has been built around socialization. "Og has a very limited vocabulary," says Christopher Allen, "but it's still an ideal game for Skotos. You might be having trouble exchanging words in Og, but you'll have hundreds of social verbs available to you -- from salute to nod to whistle to hug -- and hundreds of adverbs on top of that. You'll be able to smile tentatively or nod excitedly and those things carry a lot of meaning, even if the words you say aren't understood."

In late 2000 the Skotos Og game will initially be released as a small- scale Stage [a short-term LARP-style game], giving players the opportunity to interact with events and try to communicate while doing so. A full-scale Og Grand Theatre with "hosts" [GameMasters] and extended plots are tentatively planned for 2001.

About Skotos Tech

Skotos Tech is an online game company committed to creating a community of players, storytellers, and world builders. Skotos offers tools that allow its StoryBuilders to concentrate on the plot, character, and detail of the worlds they create. Skotos provides an environment that allows players to explore these worlds, share their accomplishments, and possibly become StoryBuilders themselves. Skotos Tech is located in Berkeley, California. Its first game, Castle Marrach, begins a limited beta test in late September, 2000. More information is available at www.skotos.net.

About Wingnut Games

Wingnut Games is a roleplaying company located in Brentwood, California. Wingnut Games, established in 1993, has published some of the funniest games in the paper game community, including, Battle Cattle, Land of Og and Stuperpowers! More information is available at www.wingnutgames.com.