Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Are Store Passe?


This article asking if the sales person is dying as a job category caught my eye, that and the discussion of the growth of the concept of “retailtainment” as the direction in which retailing will move.

If you have read the linked article, there are a couple of points with which I would take issue:
1)      The author grossly overstates the importance of online retailing to the overall retail sector. Although it has grown rapidly, online retailing still accounts for only about 10% of sales in the entire retail sector.

2)      The retail sector typically ramps up hiring for the holiday season in September through November then lays off a lot of those hires after Christmas, so an 89,000 person decline in retail sales people may not be that out of line for the period October to now.

Retailing remains important though with 1 out of every 10 people in the US employed in retailing and it is still where most people get their first job and learn valuable skills, such as interacting and working with other staff members and the public, time management and personal  responsibility , that will serve them, if learned properly, throughout their life. However, unlike when I first entered retailing in the 1980s, people no longer spend their careers as retail salespeople. Movement by stores towards part time work, lower wages and fewer, if any, benefits (and I am talking things like health insurance and retirement plans, not free snacks and a discount off game purchases), have kept employee turnover high across the industry, approximating  67%, meaning the average retailer has to replace two-thirds of their staff every year. This is why many large chains have moved toward self checkouts with only one staff member monitoring 4-6 check out stations while Amazon tests staff less stores, where the customer selects items off the store shelf, scans the items themselves and the purchase gets billed to their Amazon account. Simple once set up and no human interaction needed. Will this happen quickly? Nah, too much infrastructure needs to get implemented for retailers to adopt the model widely anytime soon, but it is coming.

This is why stores will move toward the “retailtainment” model,  in which customers are entertained while they shop. Customers want an experience to go along with their shopping, which is why they flock to a new restaurant when one opens. Dining there is a new experience, one they cannot get elsewhere. In fact this is why new stores have heavy foot traffic for the first few weeks after opening. Customers looking for a new experience stop by to check it out, but once the new wears out, they head off to the next experience.

So what do game stores have to do? Create experiences. Tournament model stores, those with as many or more tables than retail space, already do this, creating weekly or daily experiences for their customers. The rest of us have to use atmospherics (appealing to the senses) to bring the customer back. Stores and salespeople aren’t passé but we will have to work even harder to remain relevant.

Friday, December 21, 2018

5 Reasons to Shop Local


That is a question brick and mortar stores have to face every year and none more so than during the holidays. Granted, the overwhelming number of purchases are still made in brick and mortar stores  (roughly 90% of retail sales are still made in brick and mortar stores, though this number is projected to increase by 14% by 2021). Given that many customers are motivated by price and stuff really is cheaper generally online and, unfortunately, most of our customers are not autistic enough to willingly spend more at their Friendly Local Game Store, just to keep us in business. We need to give them reasons to spend money at the brick and mortar store, rather than online. So here are 5 good reasons to shop locally:

1. Immediacy—when the customer buys a product at a brick and mortar store, they get to use it immediately. When the exception of digital media and PDFs, everything else purchased online takes time to reach them, anywhere from a day to a month or better.  I was just checking out a Kickstarter produced by a local publisher and backers will not receive the game until next March. Even modeling miniatures with a 3D printer takes several hours to complete

2. Finding New Stuff—Despite the vast amount of products available for sale online, in general customers don’t find new product online. They are 3 times more likely to find a new product that delights them in a physical store than in an online one (and don’t worry a lot about showrooming. According to Harris,  70% of customers webroom while only 45% of them showroom).

3. Reinvestment —More of their money stays in the local community when a customer shops at a local store. If a customer spends $100 at a local store, 68% stays in the local community  while if they shop at a chain store, only 45% stays in the community to generate jobs and, of course, if they buy online, none stays in the local community . In addition,  there is a multiplier effect when that money is spent in the community, meaning that money circulates to other business such as office supply stores, janitorial services etc. . In a smaller community like here in Carbondale or London Kentucky, the multiplier effect is only around 1 or 2 times before the money leaves the community but in a more metropolitan area such as Seattle, St. Louis or Chicago, you are looking at a multiplier of 7 to 10 times. And, of course, the sales taxes go back into such things as sidewalks, police, fire safety, sewers ect.

4.  Stronger Communities—Research shows that the more local businesses a community has, residents have stronger civic ties and are more likely to participate in civic affairs. Economic concentration among businesses leads to a monolithic   local power structure and civic apathy. A larger number of locally owned  businesses is positively correlated with participation in local elections and civic activism, helping to counter the decline in civic engagement in the US over the past several decades.

5. More Jobs—Local businesses create more jobs for local people. Maybe it indicates inefficiency, but local retailers create twice as many jobs as Amazon does for the same amount of revenue. Spending money at the FLGS helps maintain jobs, both there and in the large community.
You and I and every other game (and comic) shop owner know this. The trick is getting the word out to the general population. The healthier local businesses are, the healthier the communities their customers live in are, as well.

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

How to Promote Yourself, Your Game and Your Store


WOTC has been doing a pretty good job of weekly disseminating both basic and novel ideas used by other stores to keep their customers coming back and making customers feel special. However,  even though it is far easier to generate additional sales from existing customers, at some point you need to get your name out in front of new potential customers and get them into the store. Without a flow of new customers, a store will eventually tap out its existing customer base and see flatlined sales. I wanted to suggest three ways to get your name in front of new customers. As a savvy store owner (or publisher) you are likely already but just in case you’re not:

1.       Social Media—the great thing about social media is that it is free, to start. Set up an account on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, maybe even Vine, Snapchap and Instagram.  Unfortunately, due to the ways in which the various social media sources have tweaked their software, you now really do have to spend money in order to get your name and posts out in front of potential customers. The great thing about social media it that you start out for as little as 5 bucks to boost a Facebook post and have a lot more control over who will see it than you would with advertising in traditional formats. Facebook, and other forms of social media, allow you to have friends and friends of friends see your boosted posts or you can keep them from seeing them and spend your money to reach a targeted market that’s not already familiar with your company. I know stores spending 4 figures just on monthly boosting of social media.

2.       Join Civic Organizations—Become a member of organizations like your local Chamber of Commerce or Rotary Club or Kiwanis or Jaycees or Main Street. Not only do they work to better the community, and he better your community is doing , the better your business will do, but becoming a member allows you to take advantage of the services the organization offers. For example, as a member of our local Chamber of Commerce, I can send out promotions and notices to all other Chamber members , many of whom would have no idea what the store sells. Also,  if you have some sort of negative event take place, a position as a recognized member of the local community  helps mitigate the effects of bad publicity.

3.       Press Releases—The local media is always looking for local news and your store (or company) is newsworthy, whether you are hosting an event, are hiring new staff or even have a list of the top 5 games in your community for the year. This last one is one we sent out and we got a spot on local TV as well as mentions in two local papers, all for about half an hour’s work and another 5 minutes or so emailing them to the local media. Remember, you may not follow local news much but there are a lot of people that do, people who may not know you exist but have money to spend on what you are selling. Don’t know how to write a press release? Search for “sample press release” on the interwebs or hire a local journalism student to write one for you.

Friday, December 14, 2018

Duel Power Coming April 4th

Konami Digital Entertainment Inc, is proud to bring you the newest release, Duel Power.  If you thought last year’s Easter’s release of Legendary Collection Kaibawas a hit with players, wait until they get their hands on this year’s product!  Duel Power celebrates Spring 2019 by rolling together a new 100-card Ultra Rare booster set (including 40 brand-new cards) alongside new Ultra Rare variant artwork of every Yu-Gi-Oh! TV series ace monster (from Dark Magician to Decode Talker), and a new double-sided Gameboard celebrating Yu-Gi-Oh!’s history.

Each box of Duel Power contains 6 new Duel Power booster packs with 5 Ultra Rare cards per pack.  Duel Power’s booster set includes 40 new cards and 60 hot reprints, including the 4 popular “discard” effect monsters (from Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit to Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion); popular Spells and Traps likeInfinite ImpermanenceCard of Demise, and Evenly Matched; Link Monsters from Borreload Dragon to Trickstar Holly Angel; and out-of-print cards likeNaturia BeastHigh Priestess of Prophecy, and 2015’s “Nekroz” Ritual Monsters.

Duel Power’s new cards span the whole history of Yu-Gi-Oh! by revisiting the main monsters from each anime series’ history.  Start with powered-up versions of your Dark Magician like Magician of Chaos (a new Dark Magician Ritual Monster).  Use Cyber Dragon Nachster to power up your most famous Machines from the GX era.  Revisit high-speed Duel Wheeling from 5D’s with the brand-new Synchro Monster Signal Warrior. Flood your field with Xyz Materials using the newZexal-themed Utopic Onomatopeia and Xyz Summon Number 39: Utopia Double. Pump up your ARC-V Pendulum Deck with Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon to burn your opponent’s Life Points and Summon back more monsters.  And finally, for the latest anime series, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS Decks get new cards like Gouki Cage MatchTrickstar Foxglove Witch, and Booster Dragon.

Besides new cards for Decks directly seen on TV, Duel Power also provides new cards for favorites old AND new from the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG tournament scene, likePlatinum GadgetThunder Dragon ThunderstormechBeat Cop from the UnderworldHieratic Seal of the Heavenly SpheresAromaseraphy JasmineSecurity Dragon, and Crowley, the First Propheseer.

No matter which Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series is your favorite, Duel Power has something for you.  And the more of it you like, the more you’ll find in this special commemorative booster set!

Each Duel Power box contains: 6 Duel Power booster packs, each with 5 Ultra Rare cards per pack 6 new Ultra Rare variant art cards, showing off new art versions of the main monsters from each Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series (Dark MagicianElemental HERO NeosStardust DragonNumber 39: UtopiaOdd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, and Decode Talker), and 1 Gameboard.

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Yu Gi Oh Infinity Chasers

From Komani:  
Construct your own ultimate dueling machine!  Take command of a fleet of industrial-strength Machine monsters that combine to unleash unlimited power.  You can link them up side by side, stack them on top of each other, or both – anything goes!  Your Summoning options aren’t restricted even if you use the powerful combination abilities of these Machines, so keep your favorite Xyz Monsters in mind as well because you might just discover a great new way to use them!

Skilled craftswomen that enhance their creations with a touch of magic!  Perfection takes time, and this strategy is all about deflecting attacks from enemy monsters while carefully sculpting the perfect hand and field, then blowing your opponent away with your completed masterpiece!  This Deck employs lots of Spellcasters and can make use of many of the existing Spellcaster-related cards, like Spellbook of Knowledge.

Servants of the forbidden evil eye clash beneath the pale moon!  These terrifying combatants and their familiars draw their power from a source of unfathomable evil that threatens to consume them at any moment. This strategy employs an unusual style of play that’s highly rewarding but requires you to conform to a specific gameplay condition, similar to the Sky Strikers of Dark Saviors.

All the basic cards for each theme are in this set, along with some additional cards to help support them, so it’s a great starting point for building many different Deck strategies!
The Infinity Chasers booster set contains 60 cards:
40 Super Rares
20 Secret Rares

Friday, November 30, 2018

Three Great Things About WizKids


For those of you not familiar with them, and most people reading this column are, WizKids is the premier collectable miniatures and dice game company (though I could argue not the first as anyone who dealt with Games Workshop during the 1990s could attest, with the company’s tendency to include multiple poses of the same figure in a sleeve of them and customers trying to get that one particular figure with a Multi-melta or Assault Cannon for their army. A figure holding a Bolter just wouldn’t work.), at one time after the release of DiceMasters producing more dice than any other company in the world.

Anyhow, three things that WizKids does that I really like:

1.        Organized Play website—WizKids has really ramped up their OP program over the past couple of years and has made massive improvements to the website the company uses to track tournament results. The company has even embraced the “gamification” trend of the past few years, awarding badges to players and tournament organizers for “unlocking” achievements in OP. Behavioral research indicates that this actually works in terms of encouraging more people to participate in events in the hope of adding more badges to their collection, much as the Scouts have done for decades.

2.       Summer Campaigns—For the last few years, WizKids has run a massively supported summer Organized Play campaign complete with big cool prizes and limited edition boosters to draw customers into stores. In order to get access to these limited boosters, the customer has to come to the store and play in the event. A few retailers have violated the spirit and letter of the program and WizKids, from what I understand, has been pretty diligent in tracking the violators down and reprimanding or even sanctioning them from participating in further programs.

3.       Release Day Tape—The announcement of this was the thing I referenced earlier that made me happy. As I have noted in other columns, violation of street date, especially with high volume collectible items, is a bane of the retail end of the industry. Putting a notice on the packing tape of each box that the item has a release date and to go to the WizKids website to check it before putting the product inside out for sale will certainly help by giving people one less reason to claim they were unaware of the release date.

Saturday, November 24, 2018

Why the Sale of Asmodee Should not Bother Anyone


In case you missed it, private equity firm Eurozeo found another private equity firm Pai Partners, to purchase Asmodee a couple of weeks ago for $1.2 billion euros or roughly $1.4 billion dollars America. Given that Eurozeo spent about $143 million euros in 2013 to purchase the company (That’s about $167 million dollars American), Eurozeo is getting a pretty good return on its investment, quintupling the amount originally invested in the purchase.. However, I have seen some people wonder if the purchase of arguably the premier board game company in the country by a private equity firm a good thing?.  First, it would probably be helpful to define what private equity and a private equity firm are.  From Investopedia:

“The simplest definition of private equity is that it is equity – that is, shares representing ownership of or an interest in an entity – that is not publicly listed or traded. A source of investment capital, private equity actually derives from high net worth individuals and firms that purchase shares of private companies or acquire control of public companies with plans to take them private, eventually become delisting them from public stock exchanges.”

If you have set up your store or company as an LLC or a subchapter-S or any other form of corporation and all of the shares of stock in the corporation are owned by you or you and your partners, with none offered for sale to the public, either on an exchange or OTC (Over the Counter), you have private equity, that is stock in a company that is not available to the public. I cannot buy shares of stock in Asmodee NA. I can, and do, buy shares of stock in Hasbro, because I want to own part of WOTC, and, since WOTC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hasbro, the only way to gain any ownership of WOTC is to buy Hasbro stock. Similarly, a private equity firm, such as Eurozeo, does the same thing, buying up all of the stock in a company, taking the shares off public exchanges and removing ownership of the company from the public, only doing this with multiple companies. Given that, here are three reasons why the sale of Asmodee to a private equity firm should not concern anyone in the industry.

1.    No one knew Asmodee was privately held. Until news stories started circulating about Eurozeo’s plans to sell Asmodee, people in the industry knew Asmodee was privately held, just like most other game companies (and game stores) are. It just didn’t concern anyone because Asmodee kept doing what it had done before the original purchase and after the original purpose, putting out games (and buying up or entering into partnerships with other game companies).

2.    A lot more companies are privately held than you might think. As noted above, most game companies in the industry, whether publisher, distributor or retailer, are privately held. In fact, a lot of the businesses you deal with every day are privately held companies. Here is a list of a lot of them.

3.    Debacles like Toys R Us are very rare.  Bain Capital, KKR and Vornado used a leveraged buyout to take TRU private, borrowing lots of money to buy TRU, with the expectation that TRU would generate enough profits to repay the debt. They figured wrongly and destroyed the company. Pai Partners’ willingness to pay 5 times Asmodee’s 2013 purchase price indicates the company sees significant value in the company. Pai will likely use debt to finance part of the purchase, since the company’s website says it likes to take an equity state in a company, meaning money invested, of between 100 and 400 million euros, leaving the rest of the Asmodee purchase to be funded through debt. However, Asmodee has a much stronger market position than did TRU.

So, I figure, unless PAI uncovers something really bad in Asmodee’s financial statements, the sale will go through and the company will keep making great games, just as it did under Eurozeo’s ownership


Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Why Shop Local

Why shop local? Well, aside from the fact that it keeps the store in business, here are some other reasons from the Gift Guide of the Nov. 18th Southern Illinoisan newspaper:

1. Your money stays in the local economy. Different studies have different figures but in general, for every $100 you spend, if you spend it at a locally owned store, $65 to $70 stays within the local economy, spent with other local businesses or paid to staff members. $35 to $45 stays within the local economy if you spend it at a chain store and, of course,none stays within the local economy if you spend it online

2.  Your money recirculates in the economy before leaving to help other communities. In a comparatively small town like Carbondale, it will cycle through other businesses 2-3 times but in a large one like St.Louis or Chicago, the same dollar will circulate 7-12 times before cycling out.

3.Local businesses donate more to community based causes and non-profits. According to the Seattle Good Business Network, local businesses donate 250% more locally than do chain stores.

4. Taxes--Though no one really likes to pay them, the fact is that they go to fund the local police and fire departments, sewers and water, street repair, mass transit and other things that make life easier and safer.

Friday, November 16, 2018

Stocking Stuffers


Not only is this the time of year for big holiday game purchases, like Star Wars Armada from Fantasy Flight, Fortune and Glory from Flying Frog or Horus Heresy:  Betrayal at Calith from Games Workshop, any of which will set you back $100 or more, but the season also calls for smaller presents as well, for stocking stuffers, secret Santas or gift exchange. For these, you want a game that provides a lot of fun without melting down your pocketbook
. Here are some suggestions:
1.       Love Letter from AEG. This is Castle Perilous Games & Books Selected Stocking Stuffer of the Season for several reasons.  First, Love Letter is a lot of fun, plays quickly and offers quite a bit of replay value, especially with the number of variants that AEG has released.  In addition, it boasts a great price point at $9.99 for the basic game and only $10.99 for the Batman, Hobbit and Adventure Time variants. There’s even a Letters to Santa version if you want to get really thematic. Add in that the game is attractively packaged in both boxed and clamshell versions and you have a great stocking stuffer.

2.       Timeline from Asmodee. Gnome Games picked this one as its Stocking Stuffer of 2015 for the same reasons Castle Perilous Games & Books chose Love Letter (In fact, Gnome Games selected Love Letter as its Stocking Stuffer for 2013).  Timeline comes packaged in an attractive tin that fits neatly into a stocking, has an equally attractive $14.99 price point and offers plenty of replayability. Add in the fact that it actually teaches a bit of history and you have an all-around great choice.
3.       Fluxx from Looney Labs.  At $16 to $20, Fluxx is a bit more expensive than the first two options but still comparatively cheap and comes in a wide variety of variations. You can buy Nature Fluxx, Stoner Fluxx, Star Fluxx, Cthulhu Fluxx, Pirate Fluxx, Batman Fluxx or even, should your tastes run that way, just plain Fluxx. The number of Fluxx games make it relatively easy to find a version that would appeal to anyone on your Secret Santa or gift exchange list. In addition, since the rules change with every game, even with every hand, Fluxx, whatever version you buy, offers immense replayability.

4.       Happy Birthday from North Star Games.  Though Happy Birthday doesn’t have the name recognition of North Star Games’ other games such as Evolution and Wits and Wagers,  or even the other games on this list, it is an enjoyable game in its own right, which is one of the reasons it makes the list. Also, surprisingly given the size of North Star Games’ other products, Happy Birthday comes in a compact 3’ x3’ box with a nice heft to it, perfect for tucking into a stocking. Add in the extremely reasonable $12.99 price point and that fact that Happy Birthday is a game that younger children especially like to play, the age range is 6 and up and the game can handle up to 8 players, making it good for family get togethers and you have one more great stocking stuffer.

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

How To Get Your Name Out There

All game (and comic) stores have to work to get their names out in front of potential customers and

WOTC has been doing a pretty good job of weekly disseminating both basic and novel ideas used by other stores to keep their customers coming back and making customers feel special. However,  even though it is far easier to generate additional sales from existing customers, at some point you need to get your name out in front of new potential customers and get them into the store. Without a flow of new customers, a store will eventually tap out its existing customer base and see flatlined sales. I wanted to suggest three ways to get your name in front of new customers. As a savvy store owner (or publisher) you are likely already but just in case you’re not:

1.       Social Media—the great thing about social media is that it is free, to start. Set up an account on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, maybe even Vine, Snapchap and Instagram.  Unfortunately, due to the ways in which the various social media sources have tweaked their software, you now really do have to spend money in order to get your name and posts out in front of potential customers. The great thing about social media it that you start out for as little as 5 bucks to boost a Facebook post and have a lot more control over who will see it than you would with advertising in traditional formats. Facebook, and other forms of social media, allow you to have friends and friends of friends see your boosted posts or you can keep them from seeing them and spend your money to reach a targeted market that’s not already familiar with your company. I know stores spending 4 figures just on monthly boosting of social media.

2.       Join Civic Organizations—Become a member of organizations like your local Chamber of Commerce or Rotary Club or Kiwanis or Jaycees or Main Street. Not only do they work to better the community, and he better your community is doing , the better your business will do, but becoming a member allows you to take advantage of the services the organization offers. For example, as a member of our local Chamber of Commerce, I can send out promotions and notices to all other Chamber members , many of whom would have no idea what the store sells. Also,  if you have some sort of negative event take place, a position as a recognized member of the local community  helps mitigate the effects of bad publicity.

3.       Press Releases—The local media is always looking for local news and your store (or company) is newsworthy, whether you are hosting an event, are hiring new staff or even have a list of the top 5 games in your community for the year. This last one is one we sent out and we got a spot on local TV as well as mentions in two local papers, all for about half an hour’s work and another 5 minutes or so emailing them to the local media. Remember, you may not follow local news much but there are a lot of people that do, people who may not know you exist but have money to spend on what you are selling. Don’t know how to write a press release? Search for “sample press release” on the interwebs or hire a local journalism student to write one for you.

Friday, November 9, 2018

GMTricks of the Trade

Another in the series of GM Tricks of the Trade from Troll Lord Games 

Being a GM, DM, or CK is a tricky business. You must be able to think on the fly, keep people engaged and lead them down the path to adventure. Bogged down in the minutiae? Stuck in a dungeon? It's important to lead the players to the best game they can have. That's why our CEO and founder, Stephen Chenault -- a gamer for over 40 years and CK that can keep a game of 20 plus moving smoothly -- has put together another 5 gems guaranteed to give you your best game.
#1: When starting a new campaign, or a running a convention game, or even a one-shot adventure, keep the goals of the adventure relatively simple. Players, especially new players, are going to need a little time to adjust to the new game (even if it’s the same RPG), the setting, in some cases the rules -- and in others your style of play. They have new characters with new backgrounds and personalities, etc. Keeping it simple allows them time to get a grip on what they want to see and how they want to play the character. Simple goals include small dungeons (4-5) rooms, travel from point A to point B, an escort adventure, hunting a monster or brigand. Now, all that said, it behooves you to introduce elements for a larger game that is coming in sessions in the future.

#2: With #1 above in mind-- When you are running a long campaign, try to avoid making ‘save the world’ the game’s focus. If you are going that route, that’s great, just plan to have hosts of games in the middle that have little or nothing to do with saving the world. It gives everyone a break from mission-oriented games, makes many stories, and allows for level and treasure acquisition.

#3: Occasionally you’ll have players that want to correct you, or at least “help” you understand the rules a little better. These players, whether well intentioned or not, are often a bit troublesome. I’ve found that little good comes out of arguing with them. I often take note of their comment and calmly respond with “there’s more going on here than you aware of” or perhaps “I look at that a little differently”. Make eye contact, direct the comment to them, and make sure everyone can hear it. Be consistent and don’t give in. The vast majority of people stop after a while, usually because they think you are just doing it wrong and are beyond help, and you can get on with the game. Arguing is just going to bog it all down and cut everyone else out of the game for 20 minutes while you resolve the situation. It’s important to note however, to not linger on the person. Make your comment and move on immediately.
 
#4: Give ‘em a death swing. When they are dying and all is lost give them one last shot at glory. We are talking negative 10 death. When the character cannot be saved, the damage is done, the hit points bludgeoned out, tell ‘em to take one more swing. It doesn’t change their fate, but it allows them to go out in glory…or to utterly miss and make things a little worse, but at least they can try. Give ‘em a death swing.

#5: Use player input, and if their idea is better than yours, go for it. I once had characters passing through a large tunnel that was guarded by some mythic beast chained to a wall. The wall was decorated with the faces of the dead. My plan was to have the characters use brute strength to force their way through in an epic battle. But mid-catastrophe (they were getting hammered) one of them decided that the faces of the dead on the wall were the creature’s source of power and began destroying them. I thought to myself, well that’s just wicked cool, and went with it! They never knew until later of course, but it didn’t take away from the moment. It was just too cool. It’s why I’ve said, though I created the world of Aihrde and wrote the Codex of Aihrde, it wasn’t done in a vacuum. Inspiration came from a host of sources and all the players at my table.

Follow these simple rules when interacting with your group and you will be assured a great game night, every night.

Sunday, November 4, 2018

Free Comics for Election Day

Since we believe strongly in people voting, com into the store on Election Day wearing your "I voted" sticker and we will give you a free comic from the stack we have behind the counter. Vote early, but only vote once. 

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

GM Tricks and Tips

Courtesy of Troll Lord Games

Being a GM, DM, or CK is a tricky business. You must be able to think on the fly, keep people engaged and lead them down the path to adventure. Bogged down in the minutiae? Stuck in a dungeon? It's important to lead the players to the best game they can have. That's why our CEO and founder, Stephen Chenault -- a gamer for over 40 years and CK that can keep a game of 20 plus moving smoothly -- has put together another 5 gems guaranteed to give you your best game.
#1: Big games with large numbers of players require a great deal of energy. Keeping up with all the players can be difficult and often your attention is consumed by only a few. Try to keep an eye on the whole table, even while role playing with one or two players. If you see someone disengaging, looking at their phone, or just looking about, get their attention with a hand gesture and make eye contact. I usually look at them, get their attention and hold my finger up in a “wait one sec” gesture. Turn back to the players at hand, but don’t let it go on very long. A minute at most. Break it off with a simple “Okay, while you are doing that” and turn back to the disengaged player and engage them with an equally simple “While that is going on, what are you doing?”

#2: Use magic. It's easy to forget that magic is a huge part of the story because we define it in game terms with mechanics (whatever those may be). Try to bring a magical feel to the game through terrain descriptions, psychic feelings, what players see and hear. Examples include 1) they stumble across pools of magic gathered like a mist; 2) a vision that allows them to momentarily see into another plane; 3) A creature cloven with axe and shield does not bleed, but the cuts reveal nothing but flesh or empty space. It's an easy habit to get out of, but once you bring magical effects to the table, it makes the world and adventure that much more fun.


 #3: When running continuous games, or campaigns, not one offs, try to mix up your timing. Not long ago, I found myself in a deep rut that developed after several years. Our games were shorter and I felt compelled to hit certain elements that included a recap, opening journey, target, action, close. Rinse and Repeat. After a while it became very predictable and boring. To solve it I began treating each 3-hour game as a part of a larger 12-hour session. There was no obvious break in the time. We stopped at midnight and where we stopped is where we picked up next week. It didn’t matter where (though I avoided stopping in the middle of a combat or role playing sessions). This made for several games where there was no action. Some games where there was only action. At times the adventure has ended by 9 pm with 3 hours left to play and we were moving on to the next adventure (whatever that may be). It’s made the game far less predictable and more fun as no one can predict what is happening next.
 
#4: When prepping for a game try to make a general outline. Just a loose series of notes of what you want to happen and what encounters are planned. Players are extremely innovative and solve problems in the wildest ways. Keeping a script that you are wanting to follow is a recipe for frustration and confusion. Adjust the outline as circumstances develop.

#5: Look for adventure everywhere. In movies, comics, novels, walks in the park, feeding your dog, people in a cross walk. Once you begin seeing the potential excitement that can unfold from almost any everyday event, you’ll be able to react to players and their reactions almost anywhere and anytime. Furthermore, it will allow you to adjust quickly to games that go off your outline and into the wild blue yonder. After awhile you’ll find you can shoehorn an adventure into an overall campaign arc with little problem.

Monday, October 29, 2018

Pre-orders

It really helps a store to judge how much of a product to order if you put in an pre-order. We really fly blind as far as ordering stuff without pre-orders. D&D books, HeroClix, Warhammer items, we can get a pretty good feel for what will sell locally but something new, say like Folklore or KeyForge or Transformers, we have no idea what will sell, unless we get people in requesting it or even better asking for pre-orders for it so we have a handle on how much to get. Right now, since we have no pre-orders for KeyForge, we are going comparatively light on it, compared to some stores which are ordering dozens or even hundreds of copies. Help us to make sure we have the games (and comics) you want on release by letting us know you want them.

Thursday, October 4, 2018

Evil Hat Cuts Back

Evil Hat Productions announced this week that it is cutting back on both its production schedule and staff. Citing the publication of too many games that have not performed as expected, the company will postpone or take off the schedule a dozen or so upcoming projects. Also the company will let go of its Heads of Marketing and Business Development and Senior Art Director.

There are wayyyyy too many game releases coming out, both through regular channels of distribution, ie. us, and through direct to consumer platforms like Kickstarter for the current market to absorb. Monthly, we see something on the order of 200 plus solicitations for new games and supplements , not to mention all of the current releases. The market, as it is, cannot absorb so much product in such a short period of time. There is a vast market out there but the tabletop gaming industry needs to work to get into it.

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

How to make Art for Card Games

In case you are interested how game companies design their cards and include the art, here is an overview from Stonemeier Games:

Games like Shards of Infinity and Ascension are deck-building games which means they have lots of cards and therefore require lots of art. This art is all original, and only a few characters/monsters make it from one game to the next - you spend a lot of time makin' stuff up. 

When you’re developing art for a card game you have about 50+ pieces of art that need to be made, several artists to manage, and deadlines.

At Stone Blade, the process looks like this: Once we have the big picture mechanics and story locked down, it's time to start working on character briefs.

Character Briefs are little blurbs that artists use to create their art.

Once you have a bunch of these briefs written up, they're sent off to the artists. Generally, we look at the briefs and pick the artist who we believe will execute the piece best.

In other words, maybe you have one artist who is great at creating monsters, and another who's awesome at designing heroes in action, you'd send the monster to the monster person and the action to the action person. Sometimes we switch it up for fun because throwing a wrench into your process every once in a while can drum up new ideas, but most of the time this is how we do things.

And then you get the sketches back--

What you imagined when you wrote the brief and the art you get back doesn't always match up and that's part of the fun. If you get too attached to what your perspective of a piece of art should look like, you're going to be in for a lot of disappointment, because it's a sad reminder that you are not telepathic.

If you want to get a taste for what the brief to sketch process feels like, try this quick experiment:

Read the character brief below and imagine what this character looks like, then scroll down to check out the sketches at the end of the newsletter. How much alike or different the character is that the one you imagined? 
Rue Bo Vai wears black power armor that is pieced together all over her body. She is more human than most Wraethes. Her head and hands burn with pink/purple Wraethe energy. Under the flames, her skin looks smooth and pitch black. There are a few burning symbols etched into the skin. She's holding an Order monk in the air with one hand, staring him in the eyes. He looks terrified. She looks calm.
As you and the artist learn to communicate better, the work you get back should start to be an awesome mix of both your imaginations.

Once we have the sketches there are several rounds of notes and tweaks that bring the card to their finished form. Adaptability is key here: Can you see the potential in any piece of art you get back? What changes to the sketches would get you to that goal?

Even if the piece isn't exactly what you envisioned, its best to work with the artist to tweak the design if possible rather than starting over. This is done by talking to the artists and being strategic with your edits. It's wild to see how the change of a color or the slight adjustment of an arm can affect an image.

Then the card is done, but your work is not over. The next part of the process is looking at the card and saying: If I had to go through the art process for this card again, how would I have done it differently? 

The answer to this question is specific to the way you and each individual artist work together. Here are a few examples of changes you might make:
  • Maybe it means adding more details about the character's personality.
  • Maybe it means describing the pose before getting into the details of the costume. 
  • Maybe it means writing a little less or writing a little more. 
  • Maybe it means adding a bit of the character's role in the story into the description.
I've found all of these to be true at one time or another with the artists I've worked with. Asking this question helps me improve my ability to adapt to imaginative differences and work together with the artists to create consistently cool art.

Monday, September 17, 2018

More Tricks of the GM Trade

Here is another set of tricks of the grade for the GM from Stephen Chenault of Troll Lord games:

This is the 6th in our ongoing tips and tricks for GMs. Periodically we will send out these little nuggets written by Master GM Stephen Chenault.


Being a GM, DM, or CK is a tricky business. You must be able to think on the fly, keep people engaged and lead them down the path to adventure. Bogged down in the minutiae? Stuck in a dungeon? It's important to lead the players to the best game they can have. That's why our CEO and founder, Stephen Chenault -- a gamer for over 40 years and CK that can keep a game of 20 plus moving smoothly -- has put together another 5 gems guaranteed to give you your best game.
#1: When you begin a game, ground it in something very relatable. Set aside the plots, backgrounds, persons and monsters and for just a moment focus on the real. For instance, you can begin the game around a well, where one of the characters is drawing up an old iron-banded wooden bucket. The rope is in tethers, but somehow holds together. A bent ladle lies on the side of the well. Any situation where people can relate is good: tavern bar, sitting on a horse, wooded lane, etc. It starts the game on a solid foundation, making the whole wild experience that is going to come a little more believable.

#2: Never allow an NPC that is helping the characters to dominate the combat. It completely robs the players of their moment. Personally, I try to avoid having NPCs join the characters in their combats. Sometime it can’t be helped as the characters may hire a cleric, wizard or some other class, expecting them to fight. But even then, do not allow the NPC to save the day and dominate any encounter. They should be background noise at best.

 #3: NPCs are a huge part of the game. Make sure you use them constantly. In towns, on roads, etc. Make the vast majority of them neutral to the characters or helpful…whether a merchant selling something or a farmer on the road giving them directions. This does several things for the game. It creates a real-world experience, as most people you meet in your daily life are not out to get you. Players become used to dealing with normal people and they don’t become so gun shy of all strangers turning every encounter into “IT’S A TRAP”. This in turn allows you to surprise the players with with the occassional, but rare, evil NPCs who actually ARE out to get the characters.
 
#4: Meta-gaming has earned a bad reputation in the RPG world, but it is not deserved. Sometimes you have to step out of the game to figure out what the players want to do next. As much as you recap last week's game at the beginning of a game (see previous email for that tip), don’t shy away from stepping out of the game and asking the players what they plan to do next.

#5: If someone does something at the table that is really unique, even if it’s a little odd, go with it. Don’t wreck unique ideas because they may seem unreasonable or aren’t supported by the rules. I watched a player once, whose ranger had been tracking a horse and rider for a while, enter the town and lose the trail. So, he tried to find them by sniffing the air, hoping to get a whiff of the horse and rider. With no particular scent ability, he should not be able to do this, but I thought, “Wow, that is really cool, thinking out of the box.” The game master said “No” without a second’s hesitation. A perfect opportunity to engage the character was lost. Even if you don’t acquiesce in their request, go with it. A better response would have been, “You pick up the scent, just faintly, so you are doubly sure the rider came to town.” The player is happy they achieved something, and are participating in the game and the other players learn to think out of the box, and to stretch their abilities.

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Game Design Tips

For you wannabe game designers, Peter at Jellybean Games posted a list of 54 game design tips.  Here are the first three:

1. Most of game design is giving people systems which they can use to have fun. The rest is removing systems which they will use to avoid having fun.
2. Any card that causes players to skip a turn, undoes their last move, or prevents them from being able to take cool actions may as well just read “Have less fun.” Avoid. You never need it.
3. It doesn’t matter if another, popular game does it – your game is going to be competing against current and future games. The standards are higher. Cut your mechanics which are causing negative experiences.

You can read the rest here

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Splendor Play Mat

Picked up a playmat for the Splendor game at the recent Alliance Open House and have added it to the copy in the game library for you to either use here or at home when you rent a copy of the game. If you want one for yourself, let us know and we can get one for you later in the week.

Thursday, August 30, 2018

More tricks of the GM's trade from Troll Lord Games



Being a GM, DM, or CK is a tricky business. You must be able to think on the fly, keep people engaged and lead them down the path to adventure. Bogged down in the minutiae? Stuck in a dungeon? It's important to lead the players to the best game they can have. That's why our CEO and founder, Stephen Chenault -- a gamer for over 40 years and CK that can keep a game of 20 plus moving smoothly -- has put together another 5 gems guaranteed to give you your best game.
#1: This is going to sound kind of weird. But when running the game you are going to make notes, so be sure to make them legible. Take the extra 2 seconds. I rarely do and my notes are a jumbled mess of stuff I can hardly read. I’m constantly having to compare notes with one of my players, Mac Golden (we’ve been gaming together since ’84, co-creator of Castles & Crusades), to figure out what I wrote 7 weeks ago, because I can’t read my hand writing (see image).

#2: Two of the best ways to toughen a monster are increased AC and damage reduction. Characters at mid to high level can deal an extraordinary amount of damage. A high AC mitigates that and makes the encounter challenging. Far more enjoyable is damage reduction. Knowing they are hitting a monster, but that it has survived the terrible storm, makes players begin to question the very actions they are taking. Don't hesitate to adjust AC or add damage reduction.
#3: If you are running a campaign, which I almost always do, you will probably have to recap the previous week’s game. Try to keep the recaps very short. I try to never recap more than 3 minutes. This isn’t always possible. Some players may have missed the last game. Some just can’t remember what went on or they have other things going on that distract them from the game (like Ferris Bueller said, “Life comes at you fast”). If it’s going to take very long, turn the recap over to the players, pick one player and ask them what their character did, the others will almost inevitably join in. This serves three purposes: 1) recaps nicely 2) and this is the most important….it involves the players in a Q/A so you don’t dominate the table for the first 30 minutes of the game and 3) allows you a few minutes to get some last-minute notes done. As a complete side note, if YOU can’t remember what went on, it will save you the embarrassment.
#4: Healing should not be a passive act. Describe it much as you would a battle description. “You have to grab the flesh and pinch it together, the blood wells up and around your hand, soaking your garments. You breathe the blessings of your god across the wound and the flesh mends, though it is mottled blue and black from the terrible bruising.” After you’ve done this a few times, players will get into the spirit of things and you can turn the action over to them. Then you can ask, “What do you do to heal them…?”

#5: When a game is going bad and you are losing the interest of the players, bring in an encounter. Make it sudden and fast. This should not be a punitive encounter, it is not vindictive or to punish the players for not paying attention. After all, the fault is yours, you lost them or bored them. Use the encounter to get everyone’s attention and get their adrenaline pumping. Nothing brings someone back to the table like “Roll for initiative.” Keep it fun, but dangerous.

Monday, August 27, 2018

Gencon Incident

A shoving incident involving the President of GAMA has escalated to the point that a police report has been filed. No word yet as to whether charges will be filed. Here is the official GAMA board statement on the incident and here is GAMA President and Iello Head Stephan Brissaud' statement.

And then there is this: The GAMA board has opted not to renew the contract of GAMA Executive Director John Ward

Friday, August 24, 2018

4 More Tricks of the Trade

Stephen Chenault, of Troll Lord Games, presents 4 more ways to improve your game as the DM:

Being a GM, DM, or CK is a tricky business. You must be able to think on the fly, keep people engaged and lead them down the path to adventure. Bogged down in the minutiae? Stuck in a dungeon? It's important to lead the players to the best game they can have. That's why our CEO and founder, Stephen Chenault -- a gamer for over 40 years and CK that can keep a game of 20 plus moving smoothly -- has put together another 5 gems guaranteed to give you your best game.
#1: Liven up your combat. Key words can go a long way. For example, you might suffer 1d8 points of damage from the club or the blow to their shield may have driven the iron of it back into your nose and cheek, lacerating the flesh and as the shield arm numbs from the blow the taste of blood seeps into your mouth.
 
#2: RPGs are not just about dungeons. Dungeons are in RPGs. Overland adventures allow you far more control over the game, its pace, tone and direction. In dungeons you are limited to direction, terrain and encounters. There are none of those limitations outdoors. Terrain changes, weather changes, encounters can be wild and varied. Dungeons can be fun, but they can drag out and allow you little room to maneuver.
 
#3: It’s really best to establish a procedure at the table. I generally run combat rounds from my right to left. After a few minutes everyone knows what to expect and who I am about to call on. Not only does this bring order to the table and allow people time to think and prepare reactions, study abilities, etc. but it also allows the GM even more control as you can, without warning, shake up the order. At times you’ll need to go out of order as something happens to a character to the left first. Whether it is necessary, or something you do to shake things up, going out of order serves two purposes a) it can quickly draw someone who is bored back to the table and b) creates a heightened level of suspense as most players, already used to the structure, pay attention to figure out why things are suddenly out of order.
 
#4: Allow players to roll initiative each round, no matter what the rules call for. It makes the combat unpredictable, allowing chance to play an even greater roll, and gives one more opportunity for an exciting, battle-changing roll. It also gives the player even more to do at the table. And, as always, rolling dice is just plain fun and rolling initiative 10 times in a combat as opposed to one is that much more fun.

#5: Be fluid at the table. Be ready to adjust the scenario quickly. Move terrain you had pre-planned, change NPC personalities you had pre-planned. Characters who go into an encounter expecting X will be thrown off guard and secretly surprised when they encounter Y. This goes for role playing to actual mechanics. Changing the order of play as noted in #3 above is a good example of this. But far beyond that, be able to shift gears according to player characters.