If you aren’t in the Austin, TX area but want to find a local place to meet some new gamers and hang out for the day’s festivities, check out the list of participating retailers on the official Geek & Sundry International TableTop Day page to find one near you.
We have also partnered with Geek & Sundry on the official retailer event kits and there will be special, exclusive Castle Panic promo towers at 300 stores around the country. Check with individual game stores to see if they will have a kit and how they will be distributing the goodies, it will vary by location.
Hosting an event with your friends at your house or neighborhood hang out? Be sure to use the official #tabletopday hashtag to connect with people near and far! You can watch the 24-hour live stream on Twitch and see what gamers all over the world are doing to celebrate gaming this year.
Our games will be featured at the following events this month in Game Libraries, Demos, and Play-to-Win Events thanks to our partners with the Envoy Program from Double Exposure.
The games available to play at each event may vary, please consult the individual conventions for details.
Want to hone your cat-hoarding skills? Check out one of the stores participating in our official launch event with FREE demos on April 2 and 3 from our partners with the Envoy program.
Below is a list of the stores that have signed on to host demos. Please contact the store directly for demo times:
Participating Stores
Dragon’s Keep Gaming Room Fayetteville, AR
Game Castle Santa Clara, CA
Crit Castle Games Aurora, CO
Legacy Cards Comics, Games, & More New London, CT
Emerald City Clearwater, FL
The Adventure Game Store Davie, FL
Tyche’s Games Athens, GA
Other Realms Ltd Honolulu, HI
The Armchair Adventurer Honolulu, HI
Secret Door Games Elkhart, IN
The Game Annex Fort Wayne, IN
A+ Comics and Games Lexington, KY
Modern Myths Northampton, MA
Play More Games Gaithersburg, MD
All About Games Belfast, ME
Acropolis Games Adrian, MI
The Loaded Die Ferndale, MI
Highlander Games Minneapolis, MN
Dark Knight Gaming (Southern Geek Fest) Long Beach, MS
Red Door Games Richlands, NC
Hobbytown USA Lincoln, NE
Arcana Toys, Games, & Hobbies Washington, NJ
Elite Battlegrounds Green Brook, NJ
Fallout Shelter Highland Park, NJ
Alterniverse Hyde Park, NY
Legendary Realms Games Plainview, NY
Diversions Gaming & Hobby Newbury, OH
Old School Gaming Toledo, OH
Recess North Olmsted, OH
Game HQ Oklahoma City, OK
Six Feet Under New Holland, PA
The Temple Games Pawtucket, RI
Blockhouse Games & Comics Mansfield, TX
Mage’s Sanctum Austin, TX
Roll2Play Coppell, TX
The Gathering Place San Angelo, TX
The Island Games Centreville, VA
Your favorite local game store not on the list? Ask if they received one of our exclusive Launch Kits for access to the special Milkshake promo card. You can also encourage them to participate in future new release events throughout the year. They can contact our Marketing team to get details.
Here, Kitty, Kitty! has been getting a lot of positive buzz lately, watch our blog for a review round up coming later this week.
The Second Edition of Bears! is now available at stores across the country! To celebrate this and help you and your friends get up and playing faster, we are partnering with the Envoy program to bring in-store demos to a store near you!
Below is a list of the stores that have signed on to host demos (listed by State). Please contact the store directly to get demo times:
Dragon’s Keep Gaming Room Fayetteville, AR
It’s Your Move Games & Hobbies Oakland, CA
Crit Castle Games Aurora, CO
Elm City Games New Haven, CT
Labyrinth Games & Puzzles Washington, DC
The Adventure Game Store Davie, FL
Other Realms Ltd Honolulu, HI
The Armchair Adventurer Honolulu, HI
Gameopolis Idaho Falls, ID
Cat and Mouse Games Chicago, IL
Red Raccoon Games Bloomington, IL
Better World Books Goshen, IN
GameQuest Fort Wayne, IN
Secret Door Games Elkhart, IN
Hero Complex Games & Entertainment Wichita, KS
A+ Comics and Games Lexington, KY
Play More Games Gaithersburg, MD
Acropolis Games Adrian, MI
The Loaded Die Ferndale, MI
Highlander Games Minneapolis, MN
Dark Knight Gaming (CoastCon) Long Beach, MS
Red Door Games Richlands, NC
Your Local Game Store Matthews, NC
Hobbytown USA Lincoln, NE
Arcana Toys, Games, & Hobbies Washington, NJ
Alterniverse Hyde Park, NY
Dragon Snack Games Buffalo, NY
Legendary Realms Games Plainview, NY
Play the Game, Read the Story Syracuse, NY
Old School Gaming Toledo, OH
Recess North Olmstead, OH
Zimm’s Realm Ada, OK
Guardian Games Portland, OR
The Temple Games Pawtucket, RI
Roll2Play Coppell, TX
The Island Games Centreville, VA
Pegasus Games Madison, WI
Your favorite local game store not on the list? Let them know we will be offering these in-store demos throughout the year with each new release and they can participate in future events. They can contact our Marketing team to get details.
We were recently in the ATL for a distribution show and took a night out to visit Treefort Games in Fayetteville, GA.
It was a cool, calm Friday night when we pulled in to the parking lot at dusk. We got set up just in time for a group of curious players to walk up and take their seats at The Village Crone. Maureen explained the game to this crop of young witches and away they went, casting spells left and right and scattering Familiars all over the village! It was a really tight game with the last round being the true test. One misspoken spell was caught and the potential winner was left a few points shy of victory.
Meanwhile Kris was introducing a few players to the joys of backstabbing in Munchkin Panic. They embraced the spirit of the game and there were several uneasy alliances kept on the sly throughout the game. They managed to finish with 4 towers still standing! Excellent use of the bare minimum cooperation required in that game.
The second play through of The Village Crone had some veteran gamers who immersed themselves in the strategy and quickly racked up their points, choosing their schemes carefully to maximize their efforts. There were lots of laughs and plenty of thwarting of other player’s plans. After that they played Bears! and chatted about board games and themes and enjoyed their night at the table.
Kris guided a team of players through the perils of the zombie apocalypse in Dead Panic. They were having such a blast, and then one of them became a zombie. It was a test of friendship when the final two characters took a stand to fight off the horde and escape to the van together.
We enjoyed teaching so many players to play our games and getting to chat with the owner, John. He has created a great space for his local gamers and the community they have formed was warm and welcoming. Everyone seemed to know each other and inquired about family members and checked in on life.
It was really inspiring to see how the younger players look up to John and how everyone encouraged each other to be themselves and pursue their diverse interests. We feel fortunate to have gotten to be part of their world for an evening and encourage you to stop by Treefort Games if you find yourself in the Atlanta area.
Well, that was a whirlwind tour! Thirteen stops in 25 days across 6 states! No wonder we’re tired.
The leaves are changing colors and there is a distinct chill in the air. It must be the approach of autumn and the time of Witches. It’s also the 12th stop on our Something Wicked Tour as we visit Crossroad Games in Standish, Maine!
This was a quick visit on our tour as we setup The Village Crone and spent some time chatting with Lacey and Chuck about the game business while waiting for some players to finish up another game.
Pretty soon it was game on and our players wasted no time in getting down to the business of scoring schemes. Familiars were flying and Villagers were changing to frogs and back into humans faster than you could say “Eye of Newt”!
The next game was just as fun, with the Forge filling up with frogs and some quick scoring at the end that took everyone by surprise.
We stuck around to sign some games and visit with fans, then it was time to hit the road.
It was a dark and stormy night… The 13th store visit on the 13th of October. Coincidence? We think not! But we couldn’t think of a better way to wrap up our Something Wicked Tour here in New England!
We made our way to Diversions Puzzles & Games in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and met up with the Events Coordinator, Ian, who let us have our pick of tables in their very cool play space downstairs.
Diversions is another one of those “Tardis-esque” game stores that has a really small front window, but once you get inside it just keeps going to reveal a massive amount of clean, open space filled with well-organized games, clearly displayed and more puzzles than we’ve ever seen in one spot. The downstairs play space is really big and made for a really great place to run our last demos of the tour.
We had barely set up the game when the first group gathered around and before you could say “Broomstick” we had a 6-player game up and running. As more gamers flocked to see what was happening it became clear we needed to spread the fun, so we set up a second game and ran another group through that.
Once the first game ended we had just enough time to catch our breath and take some photos before we got our third group started. This turned into a huge battle with players getting caught in a defensive battle of trying to use Protection to stop the other players from completing their schemes. It may seem like it works on paper, but it’s a losing strategy and sure enough, both players ran out of ingredients and couldn’t recover. But minutes after finishing the game, there was nothing but discussion of new strategies and “next time” plans being made.
We’ve had a lot of fun crisscrossing New England, catching some of spooky sights, playing games with so many people, and getting to see more of the Friendly Local Game Stores that keep board gaming accessible and fun. Thanks for joining us on our journey. We hope you’ve had fun following along. Now make sure you pick up your own copy of The Village Crone and bring fun home!
Two more stops on our Something Wicked tour led us back to Connecticut for an evening and then on to Vermont.
Gamer’s Gambit in Danbury, Connecticut is a sister store to the Dragon’s Den and it made for a great follow up visit.
The Village Crone was a popular table that night as we kept players busy casting spells and foiling plans from the minute we setup the game until closing time.
Much like the Dragon’s Den, Gamer’s Gambit covers a lot of gaming bases from minis, rpgs, comics, and board games to retro video gaming. As Justin browsed the store during a break in the action he noticed that in addition to games, they actually sell used game systems. He even found an old Atari Lynx on the shelf, looking for a new home! Continue reading Gamer’s Gambit and Quarterstaff Games
Last week saw a fair amount of city driving with several visits in and around New York City, and then a jog a up the Hudson Valley. In the past we’ve visited Lairs, Havens, and Taverns. The Village Crone has now taken us to us Cafes, a Lab, and a Den. Check them out!
First up we had one more trip into Manhattan to The UnCommons NYC, a popular game café with a very extensive game library. There is a cover charge to get in, but you can play as many games as you want from their massive collection and stay as long as you like. Looking in their windows you can see a lot of fun games in their window displays.
We unloaded our witchy goodness and got ready to cast some spells. Anne-Marie got the first group started and played with several groups of would-be witches throughout the evening. A lucky gamer got to go head-to-head with Anne-Marie in a 2-player game. It’s pretty cool to learn from the designer!
It was a late night, but a fun one. If you find yourself in Manhattan with a jonesing for a cuppa and a board game, this your place.
We also got to spent two pretty amazing afternoons at the Brooklyn Game Lab. It’s an after school program where kids can not only play great games but study them, and even make their own games.
The whole thing is run by a great team and Bob and his crew really do an amazing job of keeping 40+ kids focused every day. Some days it’s RPG’s, other days it’s board games and for Thursday and Friday the kids had a really special treat of getting to meet Justin and Anne-Marie while they learned Castle Panic and The Village Crone.
The older kids were started on The Village Crone while the younger players went into the outdoor garden area and learned how to play Castle Panic. A few kids even dared to go up against the bigger foes in The Wizard’s Tower.
After we played for a while, the kids all got to make their notes on winning strategies for the game, expansion ideas and even new components. It’s all an organized part of how the game lab staff gets the kids to really focus on the games they are playing and think about them.
After that we had a brief Q&A session where the kids got to ask Justin and Anne-Marie all about their inspirations, and what it takes to make a game go from an idea to a finished product. It’s a really unique program and we were very excited to have been a part of it.
While we had fun in the Big Apple, we were glad to leave the bustling city traffic behind.
It was a cold and rainy afternoon as we made our way to The Dragon’s Den in Poughkeepsie but we were warmly welcomed by David and Sean as soon as we walked in. They had gone out of their way to make our event special with fancy Halloween themed tablecloths, signs, and even tasty snacks.
No sooner had we setup than the first group of players wanted to know all about our latest release. We had two games going almost nonstop for the entire event with many new fans being made this day. One player even declared The Village Crone to be “The best game ever!” after thoroughly crushing their opponents.
We spent a few minutes talking with the owner David about business and what it takes to run a store like this. The amount of fun stuff here is pretty amazing. Retro video games in the back, comics on the sides, board, card and minis games in between, and tons of table space. It’s a great store and the gamers in the area are lucky to have such a cool place to hangout.
We played more games than we could count and even sold out all the inventory of The Village Crone the store had before we called it a night. Our thanks to the staff at the Dragon’s Den for a great time!
What’s Next?
This week we’ve got a quick stop in Connecticut at Gamer’s Gambit and then we’re heading North to Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine! To see our remaining schedule, check out our Something Wicked Tour blog!
The Something Wicked Tour rolled along over the weekend with three more stores in two states and some crazy traffic!
Our 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!
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.
On 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.
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!
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.
A 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.
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!
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!
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!
Over the weekend Anne-Marie and Justin made the first two store visits for the Something Wicked Tour.
We 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.
On 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!
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!
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!
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!
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
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!)
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.
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.
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.)
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!
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.
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.
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.
The main objective in The Village Crone is to be the first witch to score 13 victory points. You score points by completing Witch’s Schemes valued at 1, 2, or 3 points, depending on the difficulty level of the objectives in the scheme.
In order to score a Scheme, all conditions on the card must be met in the same turn. Cards contain both Active and Passive Schemes. What’s the difference? Active Schemes must be completed by the Witch scoring the card, Passive Schemes may be met by conditions existing on the board or by the Witch scoring the card.
One of the many fun features of The Village Crone, is the modular game board. In this game, the play area is comprised of six (6), 9×9 boards that each represent a different location in the medieval village of Wickersby.
The layout of the boards is changeable each time you play. For standard play, we recommend you lay them out on a standard 3 x 2 grid; however, if you would like more complexity in your game you may choose to offset the boards, creating new pathways that must be maneuvered when moving Villagers and Familiars from location to location to achieve your Schemes.
With this added flexibility in the game, you will discover new challenges to your strategy each time you play. The “best” path from the Forge to the Mill will change each time you lay the tiles differently, adding a simple, yet meaningful, twist that keeps the game feeling fresh even after repeated play.
You can pre-orderThe Village Crone on our site or at your Friendly Local Game Store. It officially releases in stores everywhere September 30. To read the full rules, visit the information page aboutThe Village Crone and click on the PDF download link under the How to Play header.
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We were recently in the ATL for a distribution show and took a night out to visit 
