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Weekly Store Update: 9 June
We have just received word that our shipment of Duncan Rhodes' 'Two Thin Coats' paints is about to land! That's 60 paints! There are other game stories afoot as well, including some updated podcast information and instructions on how to play a 2023 favorite. Check it out!
INTRO
Welcome to our weekly newsletter! For our new readers I'm Eric, and Wendy and I run Stone Valley Games. This newsletter is our way to share both local and world-wide gaming news of interest that popped up last week. It also provides our subscribers, both local and remote, some information on the going's on around here so everyone feels like part of the action. At the bottom of this newsletter we show you the restocks, new items, and preorders added to the store last week. It's not too difficult to navigate, so let's get to it!
PLAYING WITH YOURSELF
We are supporters of solo gaming. Don't get me wrong, we like gathering with friends and family too, the more - the merrier! However, if you've checked out our stock, you probably noticed we have a significant number of games that can be played at lower player counts, including solo. Well...there's a reason for that.
While many of our customers would never play solo, many others - including myself, do. For me the journey to solo was kind of a lifelong effort. In my younger years I played a lot of highly tactical wargames. While there are tons of good multiplayer versions, I moved around too much to get a good gaming group going. So, solo was kind of my only option. Then, flash forward years later to when I opened up our store. First, it was very difficult to find that perfect three-hour window to line up other like-minded players because my free time was becoming harder and harder to come by. I think that's a small business owner problem regardless of 'what' the business is. Additionally, I spent most of my 'playing' time learning how a game works so I could demonstrate it. It was during that time in learning new games I quickly realized many of them with single player options weren't like playing solitaire (the classic card game which is...boring, but a good time waster). No, they were actually very immersive experiences and provided a good, mostly fair, but difficult challenge. Therefore I learned both strategic and thematic games at a player count of one were...good. Ultimately I kind of 'became' a solo player by accident. A happy accident.
Nowadays I have very little time to even learn a game to teach others. When I do play, it's usually a short duration solo game (like Marvel Champions). It's because I have that personal experience that we still carry loads of games focused on lower player counts. Heck... even our preorder this week is a 1 Player game. However, while I have had less and less time to play over the years, there are other folks who not only play lots of solo games, but they like to write and talk about their experiences too - like Jason Montgomery.
Jason is the solo host of Meeple, Myself and I. He started writing solo gaming reviews on Board Game Geek years ago and has recently transitioned to podcasts. His podcasts are professional, well thought out, and interesting. He has his own pace and style, and if you haven't had a chance to hear him yet I encourage you to.
He recently released his third episode of Season Two right here, where he reviewed all three of the Renegade Games Solo Hero Series games - Warp's Edge, Proving Grounds, and Wreckland Run. It's a good listen!
TWO THIN COATS
Our longtime readers know we took months to decide on which modeling paints to carry. For our paint sets we ultimately decided on Army Painter as our primary brand but weren't happy with their lines of single paints. Same for the other big manufacturers' singles. Then we started hearing about Duncan Rhodes' 'Two Thin Coats' paints thru his Kickstarter and it just struck a chord. If you're interested, you can go back to our 27 January and 10 February newsletters where we discuss the origins of our decisions to go with Two Thin Coats in greater depth.
Well, we just received word from Asmodee that these paints are on their way! That's 60 individual paints in the first wave, with additional waves already lined up in the future. How many is 60? About...this many:
While we had originally been told these would release in June, a bit later in the year they modified that estimate to sometime in late July. Then, just last week, they decided to release the paints in Canada, which immediately led to the US release being moved back up to June as well.
So, we're super excited that we'll have the paints here in just a few days! However, because of the 'last minute' launch, there are a few issues to wade through. First, there won't be any restocks available right away. They are telling us the first available restocks 'should' be mid to late July. Second, even though we asked, they were unable to provide product details (dimensions, photos, stock numbers) to be able to load them into our sales system early. That means we'll have to wait and enter them all in individually once they arrive. Which...is 60 separate entries. Bottom line, that will take some time to get done before we can sell them. Without trying to paint myself into a corner (snicker) I'm estimating that we'll have everything done and ready by next week's newsletter. It's going to be so gratifying having these ready to go! We're looking forward to years of happy customers and increased product ranges with this line of paints.
HOW TO PLAY - ARK NOVA
One of our best sellers in 2022 and having climbed high on the Board Game Geek pages over the last year or so is Ark Nova. For players well rounded in modern board games, it's a fairly easy title to grasp. However, for newer board gamers, it's a bit much. To scratch that itch I'd like to show you a quick start rules video from Capstone Games themselves. In 15 minutes, they quickly talk you through a two-player / four-player game. It's not an all-encompassing instruction video, but it does get players playing right away. Check it out here.
FAMILY DAY
June is a big month for our family. We have three family birthdays, and they are all stacked up right around Father's Day. Birthdays range from 2 to 80... a bit of an age range there, no? To celebrate, we have extended family from all over traveling here to Huntsville.
So, our storefront and pick-up lane will be closed on Saturday, 10 June while we celebrate our family day. We'll be having fun in the sun! Currently estimated at 89 degrees, high humidity and late afternoon showers... which is kind of the daily summer forecast - even though summer isn't officially here until 21 June. But...I digress.
Along with the music, food and festivities we do have some family games lined up too. It's the kind that both a 2-year-old and 80-year-old can play. Think things with bean bags 😀 Talk about fun for all ages!!
THE WRAP UP
Okay, enough news for this week! Below are the Restocks, New Items, and Preorders added to the shop last week. You can click on the item to learn more, and many of the products have review and gameplay videos so you can see the game in action. If you're visiting our page and you'd like to keep up with our giveaways, sales, new products, and articles like this one just create an account here. Once created you will be subscribed to our newsletter and become enrolled in our loyalty system, instantly earning 50 Stones that you can use on your very first order. A Stone? One Stone is equivalent to One Cent. That doesn't sound like much, but you earn 2 Stones for every dollar spent and 5 for each product review, so though it may seem small, those savings add up fast! Redeem your Stones upon checkout, and they can save you up to 10% off your cart total. Loyalty Matters!
New Items
No new items this week
In my family, 5 of us have birthdays within a 2 week period in June/July so we end up having one big party as well (although we do a little something on each person’s birthday).
As a suggestion for a good outdoor family party game, my gaming group introduced me to Molkky – it’s kind of like lawn bowling or bocce but a little more chaotic.