Weekly Store Update: 25 September

By Stone Valley | September 25, 2022

Nostalgia ran deep as we loaded in lots of traditional games, like Monopoly, Operation, and the like. A little bit of 'in with the old' to mix with the more modern games we carry. That way even brand-new players can pop in and find something they are familiar with on the shelves. There is a lot more than that happening at the shop too, like our new sponsorship, so why not check it all 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. All in all it's not too difficult to navigate, so let's get to it!

NEW SPONSORSHIP

We are proud sponsors of several interesting and creative endeavors. There are the two podcasts: Solosaurus and Meeple, Myself and I. Then there's our local artist (you can see more of his work in this very article).

However, as you probably know, both Solosaurus and Meeple, Myself and I have run into real-life and have not been as productive lately. So, when Baker from Bored Online? Board Offline! reached out to us we figured it might be time to add another stallion to the stable.

Unlike the two podcasts, Bored Online? Board Offline! is both not a solo-only focus, and is also a YouTube channel, so it's all video. Currently they are putting out ten or so videos a month and have been producing for 8 years. Here's a taste of their work:

- How to Play Gloomhaven Part 1 https://youtu.be/U9aB5LzMHR0
- 50 Best Board Games of All Time #10-1 - https://youtu.be/KSqeIvwg4pM
- Wingspan Solo Gameplay - https://youtu.be/WOCKwVZ7HFs

So, you will start to see us talking about their content in these pages. We're looking forward to it!

EASY MODE

In case you didn't see it pop up last week, R. Talsorian Games released their Cyberpunk RED Easy Mode on Drive Thru RPG.

Cyberpunk RED Easy Mode is a quick introduction to the classic tabletop roleplaying game of the Dark Future and encompasses everything you need to explore the post-War world of the Time of the Red, including:

A dive into the history and geography of Night City and the greater Cyberpunk world.
The basic rules for the game, set up to help you learn them and get playing right away.
Five unique Characters for you to play: a charismatic Rockerboy, a lethal Solo, an inventive Tech, a lifesaving Medtech, and a hard-hitting Media.
A new introductory mission: Getting Paid. Because that briefcase full of Eurobucks is the difference between making rent and living on the street in the Time of the Red.

Best part, it's absolutely free! Just check out this link.

FEEDING OFF AND ON AGAIN

You might have noticed that our newsletter was not emailed out last week. Instead, you most likely received it yesterday. Normally those go out via email every Sunday, but this time around it was an issue with our feed which caused these to go out back-to-back.

When we publish the newsletter, it copies to our RSS Feed too. Then, we use MailChimp to propagate that feed via email to all of our subscribers. Therefore, if there's an issue with the feed, the email simply does not go out.

Once we realized that email missed the deadline, we did some of our own troubleshooting but soon realized it was beyond our technical capabilities. So, we reached out to our WP Tech support team. Though it took them several days to figure it out, they have it working again. Turned out to be a problem with the permalinks and once those were reset, the RSS Feed turned back on - hence last week's newsletter finally released...followed by this week. Oh technology, how we love thee... when it works 😀

VISITING THE SWAMP

Stone Valley is more than the name of our board game shop. It's also the name of our fantasy Pangea. A giant land mass that has a powerful and mysterious Obelisk of Power at the center. Which... just happens to be our store symbol too. Over 600,000 years have passed since the single tribe of inhabitants at the center splintered and populated all reaches of the Pangea. We've met the Plains, Mountains, Desert, and now...the Swamp!

I asked our artist to imagine a human being in a swamp environment for tens of thousands of years and how that might impact their genetic makeup - and this is what he came up with. I think it's spot on, and it's the creepiest entry into our art series thus far. Definitely perfect timing for the upcoming Halloween season, right?

It's just ole' Vlathact grabbing a quick snack on the way to his humble home. After working a 10-hour day at the peat moss factory he's looking forward to relaxing by the sputtering fire, consuming his evening ration of delicious rancid flesh, and continuing his pet project. After months of tinkering, he's 'this' close to perfecting the formula that turns his nitrogen rich environment into a combustible resource. Once he has that sorted out he'll show them...he'll show them all!

There are still two more areas to visit in Stone Valley: the Forests and the Waterland. After we are introduced to each area and each character we will continue to delve into this rich world for more stories in the future. We hope you like it!

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!