Halloween Links

 Here are some interesting Halloween related links for you to browse on this holiday

Vote for the Scariest Hotel in America 

What is the Most Popular Halloween Candy in Your State? In Illinois it is KitKat

History of the Headless Horseman

History of Trick or Treating

Selling a Haunted House

The Scariest Movie

The Origin of Candy Corn

What's In Commander Boosters

 

What's in a Commander Legends Draft Booster?

Every Commander Legends Draft Booster Pack contains two legendary cards. Some are reprints of classic commanders, others are among the seventy-one potential commanders introduced in the set.

Commander Legends also debuts a special kind of foil—foil-etched cards with beautiful metallic frames. In some Commander Legends Draft Boosters, you can find a foil-etched showcase legend or regular foil borderless planeswalker.

Each Commander Legends Draft Booster contains 20 Magic cards + one ad/token, with two legends, at least one rare, and one foil.

What's in a Commander Legends Collector Booster?

Collector Boosters are a shortcut to the coolest cards in Commander Legends.

Collector boosters are the only Commander Legends booster packs where you're sure to find foil-etched legends—there are two to three in every pack.

Every Commander Legends Collector Booster pack contains five legendary cards, with at least one showcase mythic reprint.

Not found in any other Commander Legends booster packs, Collector Boosters contain at least two extended-art cards, with a chance of up to five.

They also include up to six assorted rare and mythic rare cards, with a minimum of four rares in every pack.

Here's a breakdown of what you'll find in a Commander Legends Collector Booster:

• 2 extended-art cards (1 C/U and 1 R/M)


• 1 foil-etched showcase legendary mythic


• 1 foil-etched showcase legendary R/M or foil borderless planeswalker


• 1 foil-etched showcase legendary uncommon or foil-etched showcase Prismatic Piper


• 1 foil rare or mythic rare (30% chance of extended-art foil)


• 2 foil legendary U/R/M


• 2 foil uncommons (each with a 20% chance of being upgraded to a foil extended-art common or uncommon)


• 5 foil commons


• 1 foil token

I Walk With Monsters Interviews

 I WALK WITH MONSTERS,  releasing in November,is a thrilling, brutal, gorgeous rural horror story unlike anything on the stands.  This comic seizes hold of you from the very first page, and never lets go. The first issue sets in motion the monstrous conflict toward which the series builds, and there’s no escaping until the grim conclusion. It’s perfect for anyone who enjoys Something is Killing the Children, Gideon Falls, Harrow County, The Autumnal, or any other character driven horror.

I WALK WITH MONSTERS is written by Paul Cornell (Saucer State, Action Comics, Wolverine), drawn by rockstar artist Sally Cantirino, with colors by Dearbhla Kelly, letters by Andworld, and design by Tim Daniel. 

Questions for the Writer

Paul Cornell:  

1. Could you describe I walk with Monsters in one sentence?

A young woman and her friend the monster hunt abusive men across America.  

2. Fans of what type of books will like I Walk with Monsters?

Stephen King.  Other Vault horror titles like These Savage Shores.  

 

5. How many issues is the story? Is this a miniseries or ongoing?

Six issues, and we'll get everyone safely to an ending.  

 

6. Paul, Who are some of your influences, both in the comic field and in other media?

Steve Gerber, Christopher Priest (both!), Lauren Beukes, Susanna Clarke, Morrison/Moore/Gaiman, M. John Harrison. 

Questions for the Artist

1. Could you describe I walk with Monsters in one sentence?

I Walk With Monsters is an American gothic horror about a young woman reckoning with what harm has been done to her, and with the capacity to do harm that rests in the hands (or claws or teeth) of her and her companion. 

2. Fans of what type of books will like I Walk with Monsters?

Fans of: Redlands, The Autumnal, Gideon Falls, Something Is Killing The Children.

 

3.  Where might I have seen Sally Cantirino's art before?

Last Song (Black Mask Studios), Dead Beats (A Wave Blue World)

4. Sally, how would you describe your art? Who are your influences?

My art incorporates bold strokes and grunge textures to create a world of unsettling danger in the shadows, but also hope and camaraderie in the people who inhabit that world-- like a good lo-fi garage rock song. My influences on IWWM: Classic EC horror artists, Chris Bachalo's run on "Shade The Changing Man", David Lapham, Becky Cloonan, Ryan Kelly.

5. How many issues is the story? Is this a miniseries or ongoing?

It's a 6-issue miniseries!

Haunted Carbondale Oakland Cemetary

 Turning right on Oakland Avenue where it intersects with West Main Street  and heading north will soon bring you to Oakland Cemetary. While Oakland Cemetery is older and has the mystery sarcophagus which visitors can see at any time, Oakland Cemetery has far more incidents of ghosts and just downright strange incidents. Both J. C. and Luella Hundley, whom you might remember from the earlier article on Hundley House, as is Hundley’s son (and prime suspect in their murder) Virgil. There is at least one zinc tombstone in the cemetery. Zinc proved a popular material for tombstones for a period in the 1870s as it was cheaper and easier to form than granite and did not oxidize like bronze. However, stones made from it are hollow and thus more susceptible to damage than granite or bronze work is. With some searching, oblong depressions can be found along the north edge of the cemetery in blocks 80, 81 and 82. This marks the area of a Potter’s Field where transients and those too poor to afford a funeral and stone were buried, generally in a cheap wooden coffin. As the coffin decayed, the ground above it collapsed forming the depression. During the late 1800s, when the ICRR ran along the north side of the  cemetery,  if a hobo or transient was found dead on the train, workers would wrap them up and, when the train passed by a local cemetery like Oakland, pitch the body off the train into the cemetery, where it would receive a pauper’s burial the next day. Those unfortunate souls may account for the ghostly lights that passersby at night on North Oakland have reported seeing floating along the north edge of the cemetery and over the abandoned ICRR railbed (tracks were removed in the 1990s). In case you fancy a short road trip, similar lights have been spotted along the railroad tracks near Boskydell and Makanda.

There have also been reports of a young woman dressed in white seen walking among the stones on the eastern side of the cemetery. This may related to the stone of Thelma Wise, age 26 at the time of her death. Her stone, also in the eastern part of Oakland, reads “Murdered by Unknown Hands”, though official records indicate she died a suicide in Chicago and returned by her family to Carbondale for burial.

There is also the Schwartz Mausoleum, also located in the eastern section of the cemetery.  People have reported it illuminated from inside after dark as well as finding the doors unlocked on occasion.  One story tells of a young man who, while in the cemetery after dark (don’t do this, it is a violation of Carbondale city ordinances), saw the lighted mausoleum and found the door open. Bravely, or foolhardily, he entered only to see the image of a young woman in a stained glass panel at the other end of the crypt turn and look at him. Naturally, he passed out, only to wake the next morning on the cemetery grass outside the mausoleum . Up until about a decade ago, a visitor to the mausoleum early in the morning (after 6 a.m. , remember those ordinances), a visitor would often find holy candles and cards on the low steps leading to the door. However, in recent years, either those who left them have stopped or the city has been much more diligent about removing them.

So take your pick:  glowing lights, ghostly woman or spooky mausoleum.  Just be sure to visit Oakland Cemetery during daylight hours and content yourself with watching from the road after dark.

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.

Uncommon Magic Cards

 It took awhile but we now have almost all of our uncommon Magic cards sorted and alphabetized so tell us what uncommons you are looking for and we will  be glad to pop back into the Magic storeroom and see if we have them.

Unofficial Halloween

 Got curious as to what had happened with Unofficial Halloween this year so took a drive around last night about 10 p.m. Saw one good sized house party on West Main but nothing along South University or S. Illinois. did see one couple waling on Illinois dressed as Deadpool and an angel but no indication as to where they were heading. I did hear that a number of students were out Friday night in costume but assume they were heading to private parties as nothing looked open on the Strip

New GW Releases

 New Games Workshop releases for Halloween

This week we release Warcry Catacombs, the latest edition of skirmish warfare in the Age of Sigmar!

We also release a Warcry Catacombs Board Pack and Warcry Carry Case, together with four new Warcry Warbands.

An from the 41st Millennium, we release the long-awaited Space Marine Terminator Chaplain Tarentus. We can only get 5 of these for Halloween release so if you want one, be sure to pre-order it.

 Gang warfare on Necromunda goes to the next level – literally – with the release of the Gang Stronghold scenery set!

The Orlocks receive an update with the House of Iron book, together with Gang Cards, Orlock Dice and a brand-new boxed set of Orlock Arms Masters and Wreckers.

The battlefields of the future shake again with the release of the Adeptus Titanicus Rulebook, together with the Crucible of Retribution expansion and Open Engine War Cards Pack.

And, from Black Library, Warcry, Blood of the Everchosen, Inferno! Volume 5 and Warhammer Horror: The Reverie.

Candy Scavenger Hunt

Carbondale Main Street will host a scavenger hunt for candy on Halloween afternoon. Apparently you get a sheet with clues and decipher the clues to find the tables throughout downtown. Spoiler alert:  one of the tables will be located here.

Haunted Carbondale Faner Hall

 

Faner Hall, named after SIUC Professor of English Robert Faner, who died in the 1960s, stands like a wall on the SIUC  grounds as if it divided the old part of campus from the new.  Dedicated in 1975, a campus legend says it was designed so as to frustrate any student protestors who attempted to take over the building as the administration could quickly seal off individual sections. A classic example of the Brutalist style of architecture popular at the time, the building houses many of the departments comprising SIUC’s core curriculum-anthropology, philosophy, English, criminal justice and economics among others, and if the stories are true, at least one ghost.

According to those who have reporting seeing, the ghost appears as a female student in her early twenties, with shoulder length brown hair, wearing a striped sweater (not the Freddy Kruger type), jeans and carrying a book bag. According to the story explaining her presence In what is after all a building of relatively recent construction, she fell, slipped or jumped from an upper floor of Faner onto the concrete plaza below. Of course, given the style of Faner’s construction, it would be very hard for anyone to fall from an upper floor of the building and a search of news records unsurprisingly turned up no reference to any such death. Still the stories persist and were fairly common on campus during the 1990s

Encounters with the girl generally took place during the evening and most often involved custodial staff cleaning up after most students and faculty had department for the day but enough students were in the building for evening classes that seeing one more did not seem out of place, at least at first. The most common stories involved a custodian sweeping in the hall, the girl walks past, the custodian turns around and the girl is gone.  Another common story involved the cleaner sweeping the hallway, again the girl walks past, this time in the same direction. The girl turns a corner, the janitor follows a few seconds later and the girl has vanished. Granted, anyone who has ventured into Faner knows how easy it is to get lost in there,  but it is not bad enough that someone can vanish in less than 5 seconds.

The best story of the Faner ghost involves one of the women’s bathrooms. A custodian was in  it cleaning, when a young woman walked in and, ignoring the cleaner, entered one of the stalls and closed the door behind her. The woman went ahead with her work and finished cleaning, except for that one stall. Some fifteen minutes had passed and the custodian realized the girl had not emerged. Wondering if there was a problem, she walked over to the stall and asked “Excuse me, are you OK?”  No response. She knocked on the door. The door slowly swung open , revealing the empty stall.

It appeared the Faner ghost might have departed the building, as no new stories about her cropped up for several years. Then on one of last year’s Haunted Carbondale tours, one of the participants said she had worked as a staff member for one of the departments in the building and had, as part of her job, worked late a number of evenings in the building.  On several occasions, she heard a knock on the office door and opened it to find no-one there. At least twice, she opened the door to see a young woman walking away, not responding when she called after her. Maybe the Faner ghost does still walk the halls of the building after all.

A student was killed during the construction of Faner Hall when a load of construction materials fell on him, but since the DE story reports he was a fraternity member, it is doubtful he returned as a girl carrying a backpack.

Ogre Zombie Painting Contest

 Just in time for Halloween, it's the Ogre Zombie Painting Contest. Pick up one of our Ogre Zombie Paint Night kits, paint it up and post a picture in this event by 9p.m. On Oct 30. People will have until 6 p.m. on Nov. 1 (All Saints Day) to vote for their favorite paint jobs by liking the pictures. Figure with the most likes receives $20 in store credit. 2nd place gets $10. Gentlepainters, grab your brushes.

Commander Legends Pre-orders

 We are now taking pre-payment for Commander Legends.  Draft Booster Boxes through November 8, or when wer run out of our allocation, are $129.99. Pre-release sets of 6 boosters are $30 for sets of 6 boosters if you pre-order 4 or more sealed deck sets. Pre-release sets of 6 boosters in quantities of 3 sets or less are $35 each. WOTC is not offering boxed pre-release kits as in the past, just the boosters.

Painting Contest

 We will be announcing our next painting contest this week, featuring the WizKids Ogre Zombie. You will have until Halloween to purchase and paint up one of them in order to win store credit.

Games Workshop Releases

 Releasing this Saturday from Games Workshop

This week the Necrons are reinforced with Ophydian Destroyers, the C’Tan Shard of the Void Dragon, the Convergence of Dominion and the return of a classic – the Necron Monolith.

But they’re not along as the Space Marines receive relief in the form of the Primaris Techmarine and Hammerfall Bunker.

And, from Black Library, Warhammer Chronicles: Elves brings together the works of Graham McNeill, while Nexus and Other Stories is a great introductory title for anyone just starting out in the hobby.

Haunted Carbondale Walking Tour

 If you want to take one of the Haunted Carbondale Walking Tours, we have three tours remaining:  Friday October 23, Friday Oct 30 and Saturday Oct 31. All tours cost $10 per person, kids under 6 are free and leave the store at 7 p.m. Private tours at other times are available, schedule permitting, for $20 per person with a minimum of 2 people

Haunted Carbondale--Shryock Auditorium

 

One of the oldest buildings remaining on the SIUC campus, Shryock Auditorium opened its doors to the public in 1918 and since then has hosted performances and presentations by many celebrated people including President William Howard Taft, Depeche Mode, VP (at the time) Richard M. Nixon, Carol Channing,  Buckminister Fuller, Arlo Gutherie, and Paula Poundstone to name a few, as well as the funeral of the man whose name it bears and who died in his office in the building just before the spring student convocation in 1935, Henry William Shryock. According to some, he never left.

Shryock joined the English department at what is now SIUC in 1894 and worked his way up the ladder to assume the office of the President in 1913. During his time as President, he oversaw the building of the first campus power plant, the creation of a Bureau of Rural Social Work and the construction of the auditorium that now bears his name. After opening, with his funeral as the first event held at Shryock, the Auditorium hosted most major entertainment events on campus until the mid 1960s and the opening of SIU, now Bantera, Arena. Although the entertainment has moved to the Arena, according to a number of people “Henry” as the ghost is known, still walks Shryock and has since 1935, although it is doubtful that such a staid persona as a college president would pull such pranks as moving and hiding items, putting seats in the auditorium up and down or turning off and on the every burning stage light known as “Henry”.

Other reported activities include footsteps backstage and in the balcony, doors opening and closing by themselves and the occasional sighting of a shadowy figure by the building’s massive pipe organ. Several years ago the Little Egypt Ghost Society got permission from the University and hosted a “ghost hunt” in the building for Girl Scouts in the region. Locked in the building to prevent outsiders from slipping in, the Scouts got to handle the Society’s equipment, including the “Ghost Meter”  and EMF detector. During the  “hunt” the Scouts picked up some fragments of voices and temperature changes but nothing more dramatic. Towards the end of the evening, the Scouts and the Society settled into the seats at the front of the auditorium. The Scouts were told, if ghosts were present and wanted to answer questions, they would light up the Meter, I light for yes and 2 for no. The Scouts started questioning “Henry” and the Meter started flashing answers in response, secretly controlled by one of the Society members. It would appear the “real Henry” did not care for this and made its feelings known by slamming hard a door to the right of the stage, which caused everyone to jump, ending the Q&A.

While the rest of the Society packed up and moved the Scouts out of the Auditorium, a pair of Society members  investigated the area from where the slam had come. Every door they tried had a damper on it, designed to prevent it from making the slamming sound. They did find a door leading to the outside that did slam loudly, but it was locked and they had to get the keys from the SIUC staff member to open it. So what slammed the door? Perchance the “real Henry” got annoyed with the “Fake Henry” and wanted to show his displeasure. It is also doubtful that the University would look favorably on visitors wandering the halls without permission, so without checking for hours, best to view the Auditorium from Old Main Mall.

Commander Legends Preorders

We are now taking pre-orders for Commander Legends Draft and Collector Booster boxes and Commander Decks.  Decks are $29.99, Draft Boxes are $129.99 and Collector Booster Boxes are $299.99. Pre-orders will close on November 8th and you will be able to pick up your boxes any time November 13 or later.  

Haunted Carbondale Hundley House

Since the Carbondale Times does not post its material online, we got their permission to post the Haunted Carbondale series on the store blog and will link it to the Haunted Carbondale Page on the store website

Located at 601 West Main Street, Hundley House has attracted national attention for its reported hauntings and for the double murder that took place there the night of  Dec. 12^th 1928. That night, someone shot banker and former Carbondale mayor J. C. Hundley and his wife Luella. The murder remains unsolved and the ghosts still active.

Quite active socially, the Hundleys had returned from an evening out and were finalizing plans to close up the house for the Christmas holidays and decamp for Florida until the New Year.  According to the Hundley’s butler, the last person to see the couple alive, Hundley had gone upstairs to prepare for bed while Mrs. Hundley went over last minute details with him before the couple left by train the following day.  He said later that both appeared in good spirits and were anticipating the trip.

Sometime after midnight, a neighbor across the street up nursing a sick baby heard a gunshot and saw the light go out in Hundley’s bedroom. She called the police but, due to the late hour, the authorities from Murphysboro responded (Carbondale was significantly smaller than Murphysboro at the time and the Hundley property was located at what at the time was the edge of Carbondale) but, due to the rain and muddy roads, took well over an hour to arrive. When they arrived, no one answered at the house and the front door was locked. Entering through the kitchen door, which was shut but unlocked, they found Luella Hundley dead at the foot of the servant’s staircase at the back of the house, while J. C. Hundley lay on his bed, barely alive, but did not survive the trip to the hospital. Both had been shot with what the police later determined was a .45 caliber Colt army revolver.

Suspicion immediately fell on Hundley’s son from his first marriage, Virgil, who, while well liked in the community, had a reputation as a bad businessman continually in need of money. Reportedly, the elder Hundley had just cut his son out of his will but Virgil testified, during his later trial for the murder, that the two men had patched up their differences before the murder. No changed will was ever found and Virgil’s wife testified that he was at home at their house next door the night of the murder. Acquitted of the murders,  Virgil and the other principals in the murder, his wife and his sister Dora left Carbondale. Reportedly working for the railroad for several years, Virgil divorced his wife and eventually returned to Carbondale, purchasing a house on the south side of town where he died in the 1960s. He, his father  and stepmother are all buried near each other in Carbondale’s Oakland Cemetery . The case still remains open and a reward offered.

Since the 1990s, at least, Hundley House has been reportedly haunted by the spirits of J. C. and Luella. Passersby have reported hearing a gunshot and seeing the porch swing moving without a breeze.  Past owners of the house have reported televisions and CD players turning on and off by themselves, doors slamming and groans as if someone in pain, especially around the back staircase.  The  Ghost Lab paranormal investigators investigated Hundley House in 2010 with their investigation appearing on the Discovery Channel on  Jan 8^th 2011. Hundley House recently sold and is in private hands with no indication the new owner welcomes visitors, so best to view Carbondale’s best known haunted house from the sidewalk.

GW Dice

 GW released 4 sets of dice to go along with the launch of the new Space Marine Codex:  Thousand Suns, Salamanders, Raven Guard and Iron Hands. These dice are $35 per set but are limited to one set of each per store and GW does not have any plans to produce additional sets.

D&D Update

 Here is the current status on D&D at the store. Brandon Hale is running a campaign on Wednesday nights set in Ravenloft through the last Wednesday in October. Syd returns from quarantine from her bout with COVID-19 this week and will start running D&D again on Friday nights on October 16. She will return to running D&D on Wednesday nights on November 4th.

Haunted Carbondale Walking Tours

 The Haunted Carbondale Walking tours leave the store each Friday and Saturday night in October, except for Oct. 24, which has been booked for a private tour,  at 7 p.m. and take about one and a half to two hours to complete. The tours start at the store and loop west through the West Walnut Historic District before returning to the store on Main Street. Dress for the weather and wear comfortable shoes. $10 per person, children 6 and under are free with a parent or guardian. Private tours are available for groups of 4 or more on other nights of the week for $20 per person.

Used Board Game Update

 For those of you that want to see what used boardgames we have in stock that are not listed in our eBay store, here is a partial list. We do not list these on eBay because of the ebay fees. The prices on these games are generally not high enough to justify listing them in the eBay store. However, we will be happy to ship any of them listed on the site.

Zendikar Rising Bundle

 Zendikar Rising Bundles now have a street date of Nov. 13. No idea why they are taking so long to arrive.

Giga Comic

 

Giga is a new series from Vault Comics. The author,  Alex Paknadel,, reached out to us and agreed to answer some questions  about the series. You may recognice him from his work on Boom Comics' Arcadia and Marvel Comics' Lords of Empyre

Today I am excited to share the first issue of GIGA, my new giant robot murder mystery series from Vault Comics. Folks like James Tynion, IV, Scott Snyder, Kieron Gillen, Dennis "Hopeless" Hallum, Jamie McKelvie and others are already calling GIGA one of the very best books of the year. Accordingly, I really hope you'll give it a read and consider preordering #1 in good numbers before its FOC this Monday, October 5.

1. Anything more you want to say about the plot aside from the blurbs

 

I don't want to give too much away here, but I think what's caught people's attention about this book is that it isn't the usual giant robot smackdown. I love that material and there's some of that in the book, but in the main this is a book that depicts what happens AFTER the city-leveling smackdown - centuries after, in fact. The robots that laid waste to our towns and cities came to rest and apparently never woke up, so before long we humans did what we always do and made the best of a crappy situation; we moved in and made our destroyers our homes and our gods in one. A new religion sprang up to account for the change, led by a team of engineer-priests who also govern the city and enforce its laws. It's a sprawling, textured world with its own rules we've created here, and I hope people will enjoy visiting it.

2. Fans of what type of books will like Giga

Giga's a genre mashup at its core, so I'd say if you're into anything from Neon Genesis Evangelion to Brubaker and Phillips' Criminal via Urusawa's Pluto then you're going to enjoy this. If you're a fan of meticulous worldbuilding and mythology then this will also hit all of those buttons. We've striven to present a plausible world with real stakes here, so in general I'd just say if you're a fan of good stories then our book is for you.

3. How many issues is the series?

The first arc is 5 issues and it constitutes a complete story, but if sales warrant it then I have many, many more tales to tell with these characters in this world.

4. Readers will know the artist from what other books?

John is a new talent with a few anthologies under his belt, but this is his first long form work. I couldn't be more excited to be working with him as he takes his first steps in what I predict will be a long and storied career. When I was planning the book I decided that I wanted the art to be very warm and textured, which is the often the last thing you'd expect to see in this genre. John can handle the spectacle readers rightly demand, but there's a punky, cartoonish quality to his character work that makes the book feel way more indie than it is.

5. What else would you like to say to someone who is intrigued by Giga but hasn't quite decided?

 

I'd say please just give us a shot. GIGA won't be for everybody because nothing is, but the team's passion and commitment to the project is evident on the page. I've been working with this publisher and this team on this for well over a year now, and I can honestly tell you it's a labor of love for every single one of us. For that reason, I'm very confident that if most readers pick up our first issue they'll see how different our approach is and be curious to see more.

Rampage Boardgame

 The first version of Terror in Meeple City was titled Rampage and featured Godzilla knockoff monsters scoring points by destroying a city and its inhabitants. Unfortunately the name and theme of the game provided far too close to the Rampage video game and Repos Publications received a cease and desist order causing them to change the name. you can watch Wil Wheaton play the original version of the Game here on International TableTop Day back in 2014

Origins Awards

 GAMA announced the Origins Awards today. For those of you not familiar with the Origins, they are the American version of the Spiel des Jahres, the German awards for best boardgames of the year. The Origins cover more categories than the Spiel, as RPG and miniatures rules and lines, as well as board and card games, qualify for Origins Awards, while the Spiel is only awarded to board and card games.  Here is the list:

• Best Board Game/Game of the Year: Tiny Towns by AEG
• Best Card Game: Point Salad by AEG
• Best Family Game: The Quacks of Quedlinburg by North Star Game
• Digital Adaptation: Tsuro VR by Calliope Games / Thunderbox Entertainment Digital
• Best Collectible Game: Marvel HeroClix: Avengers Black Panther and the Illuminati Booster Brick by WizKids
• Best Roleplaying Game: Teens in Space by Renegade Game Studios
• Best Game Accessory: Citadel Contrast Paint by Games Workshop
• Best Miniatures Game: Warcry by Games Workshop
• Best Historical Miniatures Game: Bolt Action: Campaign D-Day Operation Overlord by Osprey Games / Warlord Games
• Best Historical Game: Pandemic: Fall of Rome by Z-Man Games

Commander Legends

 Due to production issues, the pre-release and release dates for Commander Legends have been pushed back to November 13 and 20th respectively .Boxes of Legends boosters will be available on the 13 and the remaining products release on the 20th.

Used Board Games

 Added more used board games to the Used Board and RPG list on the store website. Also removed a few that sold. Will add more over the weekend.