For Max’s 14th birthday, we made two cakes, one on the day itself, and one for his party a few days later. What can I say? We like making cakes.

The first was Riven-themed, but made in a hurry, so it was nowhere near as complex as last year’s Myst Island cake.

For those not familiar with Riven, here are two screenshots for reference, lifted from the comprehensive Riven Help and Graphics:

The “New Age” reference is a pun, since Myst and its ilk are separated into Ages. The symbol is the D’ni numeral 14.

For the second cake, Max requested one on the theme of traffic cones. Yes, traffic cones. In the Uru game, areas of the D’ni city were cordoned off with traffic cones to indicate areas that weren’t fully restored. So Max has become something of a traffic cone fan.

We considered creating a cake in the shape of a single 3D traffic cone, but decided that it was too bulky and unusual a shape to make work. A flat triangular cake decorated like a traffic cone seemed a little too straightforward. Then we hit upon the idea of having the cake itself be only partially completed, with traffic cones to indicate its Under Construction state:

Ben helped out with the Lego figures, so we all enjoyed building it. The cones are ice cream cone tips, frosted orange. Max declared it very cool, so the customer was satisfied.