An NYC Legend, the Bermuda Triangle, and a Portal

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The Village Crone in play at Portal Games

The Something Wicked Tour rolled along over the weekend with three more stores in two states and some crazy traffic!

sarges-logoOur visit to Sarge’s Comics and More in New London, CT was short and sweet. While setting up for the event I noticed they had this copy of the old Bermuda Triangle game. I haven’t seen that since I was a kid!

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We gave overviews of The Village Crone to several customers and made many people happy with a free piece of Silver, which came in handy as an actual coaster as well.

StratLogo2On Saturday we braved Manhattan traffic to visit legendary NYC store of The Compleat Strategist.

For years we have heard about this amazing store deep in the heart of the Big Apple. It’s known around the world as “the” place to come see if you are a gamer in New York. It lives up to its reputation.

Not only is the store absolutely packed with games of every type, style and size, the owners Mike and Danny do a great job of matching customers to the perfect game they are looking for.

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We were warmly welcomed and quickly setup right at the front of the store to show off The Village Crone. Within minutes we had people asking how to turn Villagers into Frogs, or what the binding rings did. In between giving overviews, we talked all kinds of business with Mike and Danny and learned a lot about what it takes to have run a game store since 1975!

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Before we knew it we were signing copies of games and wrapping up the night. It was a great event for us and a very cool opportunity to see one of the most unique game stores in the U.S.

portal-logoA sunny, fall Sunday in Manchester, Connecticut saw the Fireside Games minivan pull into The Portal’s parking lot and unload all our goodies. We made our way inside and grabbed a long table in the board game area to setup The Village Crone.

Sunday’s are board game day and before long it was standing room only in there and we had our first game up and running. 5 witches battled it out and we saw one of the best uses of scattering happen, sending almost every Familiar back to the Village Green! In the end it came down to just a few point spread, but we had our winner at 13 points.

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In between games we took a few minutes to explore the store. In addition to a great selection of games and a ton of play space, The Portal has a massive demo game library! Hundreds of games stacked into bookcases mean that you can come here and play anything from an old classic to a brand new release. The hardest decision will be picking which game to try!

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Our next game started up and was a quick 2-player battle that resulted in one of the most crowded Forges we’ve seen and to top it off, it gets Bound so no one can leave! The best part was that while 4 Villagers were in the Forge the other 2 had been turned into frogs, so that was all there was!

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We had a great time and met a lot of great gamers there. If you’re anywhere near the Manchester area and are craving a game, The Portal is definitely the place to go!

We’re only halfway through the Something Wicked tour, so stayed tuned for many more store visits in another 3 states!

Fireside Games is Hiring!

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Fireside Games is growing! Thanks to fans of our games and the amazing support we have found in the board game industry, we find ourselves with more work than ever and looking toward many new opportunities and products. To get there we need help.

We are looking for new members to join the Fireside team in several departments.

Please visit our Careers page to see the openings we are seeking to fill and submit your resume.

We are accepting applications through October and will begin contacting candidates after we wind down our Something Wicked Tour.

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How to Play The Village Crone – Videos!

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The Village Crone releases next week (September 30) in Friendly Local Game Stores (FLGS) everywhere in the US. We invite you to immerse yourself in the medieval town of Wickersby and learn about the gameplay with our Official How to Play videos!

Not only do we have a general gameplay overview video, but we also have some break-out videos on casting Spells, moving Familiars, and Witch’s Schemes. Check them all out on our YouTube Channel. You can share the entire playlist for The Village Crone, or just video you think your friends will find useful.

Want to know what different Spells you’ll be casting in The Village Crone? Check out this video that teaches you what the Spells do, what you need in Ingredients to Cast them, and the special incantations you need to give voice to your witchy desires!

What happens when too many Familiars congregate in one place? Watch the video on Movement & Scattering, to see what happens to Villagers and Familiars when the party gets too big! You can even use Scattering to your advantage if you are clever.

Check out our Something Wicked Tour in the New England area if you want to learn to play from the designer, Anne-Marie De Witt. And be sure to visit the game’s webpage for the FREE 3D Printer Files for all the components if you want to add minis to the game!

If you order directly through our website you get the exclusive Silver coaster promo you can use in the game, or ask at your FLGS, they may have snagged a few of this promo at a recent show!

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As you prepare to get your very own copy of The Village Crone, be sure to download the Book of Spells patch for the Unbinding Spell error in the first printing.

Happy Spell-Casting!!

Ghosts, Witches, and a History Lesson – Tour Schemes Completed

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Bewitched statue in Salem

Riding with ghosts, witnessing history, and exploring the paranormal… just a few of the objectives Justin and Anne-Marie had to complete to score the first seven points of the Something Wicked Tour meta game. Let’s take a look at the Schemes they were following and whether they accomplished them or not!

1 Point: Ride with the Damned – take the Trolley of the Doomed (Boston, MA) – COMPLETED

Our first scheme “Ride with the Damned” took us on a dark and spooky ride through historic Boston. We visited Copp’s Hill burying ground, saw the home of the last victim of the Boston Strangler, spent some time with the occupants of the Granary Burying Ground and more. The city is crawling with ghosts and we survived our encounter to score our first Witch’s Scheme!

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Copps Hill Tombstone: This 3 part tombstone is a sad marker of 3 untimely deaths. George Worthylake’s tombstone is on the left, his wife’s on the right and their young daughter’s in the middle. The three were drowned while returning to Boston Lighthouse at Beacon Island where George was keeper. Strangely enough, George’s replacement was found drowned days after taking up the position, giving rise to the legend that the lighthouse was cursed. To this day, a phantom lightkeeper can be seen shining his lantern on the island and climbing the lighthouse stairs. Locals believe it to be George Worthylake, which means this is a photo of the grave of an actual ghost!

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Franklin Grave: Wow, the actual grave of Benjamin Franklin! . . . is in Philadelphia. This monument is where his parents are born.

Paul Revere grave and memorial
Paul Revere grave and memorial

Paul Revere Grave: The large marker in the center is a monument to the famous rider. The tiny tombstone on the bottom right is where he is actually buried.

2 Points: Pay Respects to the Accused – visit the Salem Witch Museum & Memorial (Salem, MA) – COMPLETED

What witch focused tour would be complete without a visit to Salem, MA? We took some time to absorb the history and tragedy of the Witchcraft Hysteria of 1692.

The Witch Trial Memorial is a somber place to remember what happened here. It’s a simple, but touching memorial with stone benches bearing the names of those who were hanged for witchcraft.

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Actual quotes from the accused are carved into the stone threshold of the memorial.

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A plaque at the memorial recaps the trials and lists the names of all the hanged victims.

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The Salem Witch Museum has a retelling of the events that surrounded the hysteria of the trials as well as a look at witches through history.

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On a lighter note, there is a cool statue of Samantha Stevens from Bewitched in the middle of town. Anne-Marie loved this show growing up and later episodes were actually filmed in Salem.

What’s the Score?

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At this point Anne-Marie and Justin have scored 3 points total towards the 13 they need by the end of the Something Wicked tour in October. We’ll be sharing their first 3-point scheme soon, so stay tuned!

Have you visited any of these places? Tell us about your experiences in the comments!

Knight Moves Cafe, Pandemonium Books, & Compleat Strategist Boston

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The Village Crone in play at Knight Moves games

Over the weekend Anne-Marie and Justin made the first two store visits for the Something Wicked Tour.

Knight-moves-cafe-logoWe have started this tour in Boston and the surrounding boroughs and our first stop was at Knight Moves Cafe in Brookline, MA. Knight Moves is a game cafe that focuses on providing a friendly hangout for gamers (both new and veteran) to have a snack, a drink, and a good time playing games together.

We arrived early and the shop was relatively quiet. That would change as the night went on when it was standing room only and we got in several games of The Village Crone and earned some new fans for the game
The owner, Devon, was very helpful and kept directing gamers to our tables as well as serving delicious drinks and snacks all night long.

Their demo library is made of multiple bookcases that are literally overflowing with games. If you want to try out a game in the Brookline area, this is the place to do it!

While they don’t sell games at Knight Moves Cafe, they do work with Eureka Puzzles & Games, a game store down the street, to promote gaming in the Brookline area.

 

pandemonium-books-logoOn Sunday evening they ventured to the Harvard University area to visit Pandemonium Books & Games in Cambridge.

We played with all the local board game night attendees, squeezing in 4 games over the night.

The first game of the night had a tremendous finish with one player scoring all three of his Witches Schemes on his last turn in an amazing combination of spellcasting!

Thanks to all who came out!

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On Tuesday night we visited the Compleat Strategist in Boston.

Unfortunately we lost the video for this event, so we only have a few photos we grabbed while we were there. Must have been some of those ghosts we met earlier on the Trolley Tour!

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We met some local gamers and showed them what it takes to become The Village Crone. They were pretty good at being witches as it turns out since Justin got trounced soundly!

Up next is our visit to Sarge’s Comics in New London, CT on Friday (6–10pm) and then we will be visiting the legendary New York store of the Compleat Strategist this Saturday from 1pm to 5pm!

Special Tour Schemes for Justin & Anne-Marie!

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Witches scheme tour cards

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Join Justin & Anne-Marie on the Something Wicked Tour, and immerse yourself in the spirit of the tour with a little meta-game.

Follow along as they try to complete their own set of Tour Schemes over the next few weeks. Similar to your goals in The Village Crone, they will have to achieve the objectives on the Scheme Cards to score those points. Will they be able to score a total of 13 points before the last tour date? Stay tuned and see as we share these little extras with you!

The first set of Schemes Justin & Anne-Marie need to complete while they are in the Boston area!
The first set of Schemes Justin & Anne-Marie need to complete while they are in the Boston area!

Up first is a series of schemes in the Boston area. If you see them out and about, say hi, but don’t distract them from their purpose, they want to WIN this tour!

Schemes on Deck:

1 Point: RIDE WITH THE DAMNED – Take the “Trolley of the Doomed” Ghost Tour

1 Point: CONJURE A FAMILIAR – Spot a Familiar in the Cambridge Village Green

2 Points: PAY RESPECTS TO THE ACCUSED – Visit the Salem Witch Trials Memorial & Visit the Salem Witch Museum

3 Points: MARRY MAGIC & MAYHEM – View Phineas Gage’s Skull, Cross Harvard Bridge, & Visit Boston Neck Gallows

They will be providing proof of their Schemes on social media with photos and videos, so watch our YouTube Channel, Facebook Page, and Twitter & Instagram accounts for details.

(For bonus points, you can play along… share your experiences with any of the events/situations on their scheme cards – or make up your own! – through social media. Tag your posts using #SomethingWicked!)

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Get ready for The Village Crone! Releasing September 30

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Best laid plans often find themselves at the mercy of fate, and a customs hold on our shipment of The Village Crone has put us a bit behind so we are sliding the release date to September 30.

We have confirmation it has been released by customs and is in the warehouse. We need some time to get it logged into inventory and prepped for outgoing shipments, but we will definitely make this new release date.

In the meantime, we invite you to view our How to Play video for The Village Crone, and put in your pre-orders with us or your Friendly Local Game Store.

You may also want to meet up with us on the road as we start the Something Wicked Tour this weekend in Brookline, MA at Eureka Puzzles & Knight Moves Cafe on September 19. You can see the entire tour schedule with dates and venues in our tour announcement blog or by viewing our Calendar.

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Don’t forget you can download the 3D printer files for the game components and make your own minis on your personal 3D printer, and if you pre-order through our website, you will get the exclusive Silver promo coaster! (Ask at your FLGS, as they may have gotten a few of these at recent retailer shows.)

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We’ll be sharing more game play videos and game reviews as they come in and stay tuned for fun updates from the Something Wicked Tour!

Casting the Spell

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What fun would a game about witches be without spell-casting? Don’t worry, The Village Crone, is chock full of this kind of fun!

You main objective in The Village Crone is to score 13 points first by completing Witch’s Schemes. To do so, you will be sending out your Familiars to harvest Ingredients you need to cast a variety of spells to achieve the objectives on your Witch’s Scheme cards.

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There are 8 different spell types you can cast, each requiring a different mix of Ingredients and a special incantation. We have provided incantations for you, but you are permitted to make up your own if you are feeling particularly witchy while playing.

Pages 4 & 5 of the rule book go into detail about each spell, giving examples of how they work and how they affect the Villagers, and possibly your Familiars.

Let’s take a look at a specific spell-casting scenario: Continue reading Casting the Spell

Reaping the Rewards – Harvesting Ingredients

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We’ve recently discussed the importance of using your Familiars to gather the Ingredients you need to cast Spells in The Village Crone. Let’s take a closer look at the Ingredients and how you will be using them.

There are five types of Ingredients: Fire, Flour, Silver, Soil, and Eye of Newt.

Fire is created at the Forge, Flour at the Mill, Silver is found at the Lord’s Manor, and Soil is harvested at the Farm. Eye of Newt is a wild card and can be used in place of any of the other Ingredients to complete your Spells.

Three Eye of Newt cards are shuffled into each of the other Ingredient decks at the beginning of the game. These will be drawn at random during the Harvest phase, so you may or may not end up with one.

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You receive 2 Ingredient cards from each location in which you have a Familiar. If you have more than one Familiar in the same location, you get 2 cards for EACH Familiar.

You receive Ingredients during the Harvest phase of a round. Remember, you only get Ingredients from locations in which you have a Familiar during the Harvest phase. If you do not have any Familiars in a location to receive Ingredients, you may take 3 Ingredients from the Tithe Barn as charity. There is also a rule that allows witches to trade Ingredients during the Move & Cast Spells phase, but the rate of trade is negotiated between players. You may be able to “buy” an Ingredient you need from another player, but it can cost you!

When you cast a Spell, you discard those Ingredients. If another player blocks your Spell with a Protection Spell, you still lose those Ingredients.

Don’t forget to consult your Book of Spells often to remember the Ingredients you will need to be collecting to cast the Spells on your Witch’s Scheme cards. And remember there are multiple ways to achieve some of your Schemes, so get creative and use your resources wisely!

Happy Casting!

Something Wicked Tour for The Village Crone

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There is a crispness in the air and something whispers on the wind. Fall approaches, as does the witching hour. We invite you to join us as we bring The Village Crone to game stores across New England with the Something Wicked Tour!

Our newest game is full of spell-casting and witchy fun, and releases in September. We are hitting the road to traverse the Northeast United States, teaching new witches how to play and visiting some spooky places along the way.

Anne-Marie De Witt (designer of The Village Crone) and Justin De Witt (co-owner of Fireside Games) will be making the following stops to demo The Village Crone, talk about game design, share promos for the game, and generally be enchanting! We hope to see you along the way.

something-wicked-tour-mapSept 19    5:30-6:30PM
Eureka Puzzles & More
Brookline, MA
Signing Event Q&A

Sept 19    7-11PM
Knight Moves Cafe
Brookline, Ma
Demo night

Sept 20    6-10PM
Pandemonium Books & Games
Cambridge, MA

Sept 22    4-8PM
Compleat Strategist
Boston, MA

Sept 25    6-10PM
Sarge’s Comics & Games
New London, CT

Sept 26    2-6PM
Compleat Strategist
New York, NY

Sept 27    12-4PM
Time Machine/The Portal
Manchester, CT

Sept 30    7-11PM
The UnCommons NYC
New York, NY

the-village-crone-box-3D-left-webOct 1 & 2    2-6PM
Brooklyn Game Lab
Brooklyn, NY

Oct 3        2-6PM
Dragon’s Den
Poughkeepsie, NY

Oct 4        12-3PM
Gamer’s Gambit
Danbury, CT

Oct 6        6-10PM
Quarterstaff Games
Burlington, VT

Oct 11        1-5PM
Crossroad Games
Standish, ME

Oct 13        5-9PM
Diversions Puzzles & Games
Portsmouth, NH