Bridge and Tunnel

**Release Date**: July 2003

**Set Size**: 12 Buttons

**Publisher**: Bridge and Tunnel Software

**Designers**: Steve Karstensen and Manville Fog

**Artist**: Gerald "G" Hurt

**New Rules**: Rebound Dice, Mood Swing Batch Dice

The Bridge and Tunnel set was a digital-only set released for use in an early version of Button Men Mobile.  The name "Bridge and Tunnel" comes from a passage from the William Gibson novel "Neuromancer." Two sets were developed, one for the Nokia 7210 and another for the Nokia Series 60 that went unreleased. Cheapass Games issued a press release about the game on November 12th, 2003.

*Note: All quotes are from Steve Karstensen, President of Bridge and Tunnel Software unless otherwise attributed.*

According to Bridge and Tunnel founder and co-creator of the program:

"[The set] was approved by James Ernest for the game, but never licensed as an official set; it was a more hands-on approval. James played our version and basically didn’t let us do anything without his ok. [Manville] Fog, [the second co-creator], actually looked into getting a button stamper press and made his own.

We did play test it a lot, against just about every other button that appeared in the digital version and probably a few that weren’t. We did actual physical testing with buttons and dice, as well as a lot of playtesting in the game itself."

The Bridge and Tunnel sets included several unique buttons.

## Character development history

Each character in the first "Bridge and Tunnel" set was from another game by Bridge and Tunnel Software. In addition, all characters from Paddle Battles, a "pong-with-powers" game, featured Rebound Dice. "The Rebound die was invented because we wanted to have a new die that reflected the buttons’ origins, and since several of the characters came from Paddle Battles, we developed it from there."

"Those other characters were for the Series 60 port. We ran out of storage space on the 7210 and wanted to add more for the better phones."

## Nokia 7210 Set

(6) p(6) =(10) (4/12) (4/20)
Agent Orange was a
character from the Pong

clone "Paddle Battles."    |     Huitzilopochtli
(6) (8) =(10) (12) (X)
Huitzilopochti was from
Paddle Battles.
"I actually knew a girl
named Huitzilopocthli
and we eventually wanted
to draw a portrait of her in
a headdress with glowing
eyes, but it didn’t happen."
(4) (4) (30) (30)
"Lisa and Phuong were
from Ticklish Situations.
That one’s a long story.
It was an innuendo-heavy
game show style trivia
     Neithershadow
(6) (10) s(10) (10/20) (6/30)
"Nethershadow was from
The Wizard’s War, a
top-down, turn-based
homage to Magic: the
Gathering. No cards,

just dueling wizards."    Artist ("G") tells further
about Neither Shadow:
"Neithershadow was a villain
of one of my old superheroes
called Guiding Light. That's
why the two are preparing to
fight in the image.
(4) (10) (10) (20) (X)

Phuong was also in the
game "Ticklish Situations."
Fun fact: Phuong also
played Tien Wu in the PC
game “Bikini Karate Babes”
and it’s sequel.
(2) (4) (6) (10) (X)
"Uncle Scratchy was the
mascot of Uncle Scratchy’s
Flea Racing, a horse-racing
parody.
I’m still proud of that one.
I would love to do a remake."

## Unreleased Nokia Series 60.

No official art released; unofficial art created January 2021. This set was not playtested. "I don’t know where those recipes for the new buttons came from. I can’t even remotely guarantee they were ever playtested at all." From text files gathered from the bequeathals of Fog, it appears Fog himself created these buttons with the intent of adding Stinger Dice to the set without discussing it first with Mr.Karstensen, who believed the Stinger Dice were an error.

g(6) =(6) z(8) (16) (10/20)
"G was the nickname our staff
artist (Gerald Hurt) went by."
g(8) s(10) (12) (2/12) (X)
"Phantom Zero was the
protagonist for a game
I was designing. It was
a super-soldier that
hunted powered individuals.
The plan was to get
Phuong to star."
=(6) =(6) (20) (20)
Pinball Wizard appeared
in Paddle Battles.
Based on images in Fog's
files, Pinball Wizard may
have had the ability to
shoot a flaming
pinball (effect unknown) in
     Steve
⟨=(4) =(4) =(8)
=(20) =(X) | (6) (8) =(30) =(30)⟩?

Steve Karstensen was the
President and Founder of
Bridge and Tunnel Software.
He also appeared as the final
boss in Paddle Battles with
two randomly selected
powers from the other Paddle
Battles characters.
s(4) s(4) (30) (30)
Manville Fog co-produced
the Button Men Mobile
game.
"I brought Fog on board
to do the AI and
playtesting because he
was obsessed with BM
and knew it way better
than I did."
The reproduced artwork for
"The Fog" is a reference to
Fog's work on the generic
Button Men Fanatics artwork
and was made using the same
files and template as they were.
z(4) =(20) (V) (V) (V)
"The Grotch appeared in
Paddle Battles. He
resembled an artist’s
mannequin in a white
leotard with a big red G
on the chest. Green skin.
He had eyes and a nose
but was bald with no mouth."

1. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20070803224954fw\_/http://www.bridgeandtunnelsoftware.com/news.html
2. ↑ https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/mobile/923164-button-men/data
3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20040408152646/http://cheapass.com/home/press/press\_031128.html