Weekly Store Update: 3 July

By Stone Valley | July 3, 2022

We've got some hot news to share with you! First, we have just launched our July Board Game Giveaway, so make sure you check that out. We're also officially announcing our Summer Blowout Sale, that's going to be something you don't want to miss...trust us! That, and the latest games and restocks to hit the store last week. It's all epic!

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!

BOARD GAME GIVEAWAY

We've just launched our July Board Game Giveaway! CLICK HERE to learn more about it and sign up!

This month we're giving away a copy of Dawnshade: The Watchers Prophecy. It's a 1 to 4 player co-op action-adventure RPG that plays in about 30 minutes per player.

As a Petarukin, you are used to living secluded in the forests of the Galeswood. Your role in the land of Dawnshade is small and often unnoticed, though not insignificant. But there is unrest brewing in the land… Two factions, The Unity and The Might, are at war for the hearts, minds, and souls of the creatures of Dawnshade. The balance and freedom of your world is threatened by these powerful forces, and only you and your fragile band of misbegotten adventurers can stop them.

Journey through this rich, cooperative “choose your own adventure-style” board game where strategy, luck, and skill unite to bring you thrilling victories, agonizing defeats, and a different journey every time you play!

Our giveaway is open to everyone in the United States. We're drawing the winner on 16 July 2022, so don't wait - sign up today!

4TH OF JULY HOURS

We're going to be open on the 4th, but we're going to switch up our hours a bit. Instead of our normal 12:30 to 6:30, we're going with 10:00 to 4:00 as we have a family engagement later in the afternoon. So, if you plan on stopping in and checking out the store, please take into account the change!

CLOSING RANKS ON LOCAL WARGAMERS

Board games garner their own followers. People tend to circle around themes, or game mechanics, or ease of play, or age categories...all sorts of things. The hobby can definitely handle just about any likes or dislikes, and there's a myriad of gamers for almost every niche.

Then there's wargames. It's a category unto itself, to be sure. There are very few people that I've ever met that had a weak opinion - they were either for them, against, or hadn't tried. Funny thing, they are one of the oldest types of board games available.

Back in the day, when board games 'not' made by Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley were as rare as malls, and folks like Gary Gygax were releasing niche roleplaying games, wargames roamed the land. As a lad, I played that niche roleplaying game with my friends, but my stepfather and uncles introduced me to a world of wargames...and I never really looked back. Sure, Risk and Axis & Allies were fun, but Squad Leader and the much more streamlined Advanced Squad Leader that launched in the mid 80's were our happy place. Not to mention most of my family were veterans of Vietnam or if grandpa jumped in, we'd have some real-world WWII stories mingled in with the cardboard version, so tactics and strategy were my bedtime stories. Sure, a single game might take days or even weeks, but they were ongoing events that we'd pick up when we could right where we left off. Good times.

Years later, we have so, so, so many games of all types, but the smallest group that I've met locally are the wargamers. Based on their comments I'm going to try and round them up to see if we can't get them together for some cardboard Nirvana.

So, if you're in Huntsville or as we like to say around here, the greater Tennessee Valley region, and you'd like me to add you to a running list of like-minded wargamers, drop me a note here or hit me up in the Contact Us button and leave your name, phone number, and email address.

I will maintain the list in our wargaming nook here in the store, so when you stop in you can check it out - or add your name to the list. Let's gather the forces!

SUMMER BLOWOUT SALE

While we have several sales throughout the year, we generally have two really big sales. The obvious one is Black Friday (which also encompasses Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday), and this is the other.

We'll have the banner on top of the webstore there to take you right to the sales page, and our Facebook advertisement will do the same.

This year we're running our Summer Blowout Sale from 14 - 17 July. We'll have hundreds of items on sale from across the store. I've discussed this with Wendy, and we're going to dig a little deeper this year than we had in years past.

You know the deal...it's been financially difficult for all of us this year. A lot of our friends are being as frugal as possible, and we're sure that's not a local phenomenon. Leisure items are usually the first to be skipped in tough times, so we'll see if we can't help getting games out there to put some smiles on faces. That's what it's all about!

How deep will the sales go? Well, we're haven't finalized the list yet (we have a little time for that still) but we're thinking nothing under 30% with the majority of sale items at the 40% to 80% range.

We'll have more details in next week's newsletter, but you might want to mark your calendars...if history is a guide, we think you're going to love 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!