Gen Con Goodness

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Fireside Games Gen Con 2016 Booth Number 743

Final preparations are underway for Gen Con 2016, and we couldn’t be more excited! We’ll have free demos, promos, events, and all kinds of fun!

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Free Demos in Booth #743: Want to check out the latest games from Fireside? This is the best way to make sure you’re taught the rules correctly with friendly people who want to make sure your experience is great. We’ll be demoing Star Trek Panic, Here, Kitty, Kitty!, Dastardly Dirigibles, and Bears! in booth #743.

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Promos for Demos: We’ll also be giving demoers these hard- to-find promos for checking out the games.
Star Trek Panic: Vulcan Mind-Meld
Here, Kitty, Kitty!: Milkshake
Dastardly Dirigibles: Smoke Bomb
Bears!: Alarm Clock

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Heir-On-Stick-Blog-PostExtras: Dastardly Dirigibles winners can pose with the dapper Heir-on-a-Stick to show their win to the world. And purchasers of Star Trek Panic receive a spare U.S.S. Enterprise! It’ll look great on your desk. That is, until you need to replace the one in your game after all of that damage!

Events: This year, Fireside Games is hosting events for the first time! We sold out of our original events within 3 days and opened up more. Just 4 seats remain open. One for Dead Panic, and three for The Village CroneClick here to sign up. After you click on the link, select the Board Game category to find our events. Hope to see you there!

As Seen on TV! Orphan Black

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Orphan Black logo

If you are a fan of Orphan Black, you may have recognized a few familiar “faces” in the new Season 4 set location, Rabbit Hole Comics.

In episode 2, “Transgressive Border Crossing,” formerly separated clones Sarah and Cosima are reunited in a secret lab in the basement of a Comic shop. When Sarah and Mrs. S enter the shop we get a good little “geek out” when they pan the shop and there is an eye-catching display of our favorite games.

We caught this quick picture to show off a little. Forgive our proud little hearts. :)

Games shown: Bears!, Castle Panic: The Wizard’s Tower expansion, Castle Panic: The Dark Titan expansion. You can even see a bit of Bloodsuckers and The Village Crone if you look closely!

FREE Bears! Demos in stores for Release of Second Edition

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Bears! second edition box cover

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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.

Will you be playing along at home? Download Bears! score sheets and scoring reminder cards!

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scoring reminder cards in Bears!

DragonCon, Here We Come!

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Dragon Con logo

It’s that time of year again already! Next week we will be heading to Atlanta, GA along with 70,000 other people for DragonCon.

This year the Exhibitor Space is in AmericasMart Building 2. We will be on the First Floor in Booth 1425.

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We will have copies of The Village Crone for advance sale, so you can take it home with you before it releases in stores in September. But we only have a limited supply, so be sure to come by early.

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DragonCon is a unique show and we get to see some pretty sweet costumes walk by the booth! If you are going to the show this year, stop by and say “Hi!” You can pick up the 6th Level Agranok card for The Dark Titan or an Alarm Clock for Bears!

Oh, and we’ll have these super sweet Deluxe Monster Draw Bags for Castle Panic for sale. We just got them back in stock!

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Bears! Trail Mix’d Available Now!

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Bears! Trail Mix'd game contents

The latest threat to your woodland fun isn’t marching toward the Castle, it’s invading your campsite, and game stores everywhere, today. The brand new expansion to Bears! is now available!

Bears! Trail Mix’d is a single die expansion to our fast-paced, dice-pairing game Bears! and changes up the game play by introducing 6 new rules to shake up your strategy and keep you on your toes.

This expansion easily fits into the base game box and is fully transportable to your next summer picnic or bonfire. Be sure to pick up your copy before the July 4th family reunion and get the whole family involved in the frantic, fun, and addictive experience of gaming.

Bears! Trail Mix’d is rated for ages 7 and up, retails for $4.95, and requires Bears! to play. Ask about it at your Friendly Local Game Store.

Want to have a little extra fun? Write your own product announcement with our silly fill-in-the-blank word game, or download and print your own score sheets for the game!

Write the Product Announcement – Word Game
Download & print your own score sheets!

Origins Game Fair ReCap

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What a way to start the summer! We returned to Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH after a few years away and were greeted with warm smiles from eager gamers.

The quiet before the rush.

When the hall opened on Thursday morning there was a steady stream of attendees getting their first look around the hall and we even had a few beeline straight to make their Bears! Trail Mix’d purchase. This expansion to our fast-paced, dice-pairing game Bears! doesn’t officially release until June 24, but we had a stash of advance copies and people weren’t shy about snagging one of their very own.

We had a lot of interest in The Dark Titan expansion to Castle Panic and kept that demo table running regularly most of the weekend. There were many Castle Panic first-timers sitting down so they got to experience the true panic the expansion brings to the game. The ratio of wins to losses was pretty evenly matched and everyone seemed to actually enjoy the anxiety brought by the new Monsters and Agranok.

Edgar taught a 6-player group how to fend off Agranok in this Castle Panic and The Dark Titan demo.

There was a heightened interest in Dead Panic so we cracked open a copy for the second demo table and that one stayed full most of the weekend as well. We had a fantastic play through with a young gamer and her dad. She was a boss at taking out zombies with her chain saw and there were a lot of smiles in that apocalypse.

Our favorite zombie apocalypse survival team of the weekend.

The best thing about doing game conventions is all the familiar faces and the new friends we make, and this year’s Origins Game Fair was no exception. We want to thank everyone who came by the booth to say hi, pick up the latest promos, and take a copy of a game home with them.

New game promos included a 6th Level Agranok card for The Dark Titan and an Alarm Clock for Bears!

If you missed out on the 6th Level Agranok promo or the Bears! Alarm Clock, don’t worry, we’ll have them at other shows this year. Check out our Calendar for future appearances.

We hope to see many of you in July at GenCon in Indy. (We’ll have The Village Crone on the table there, as well as a special promo you’ll want to be sure to pick up.) We’ll be in booth #1949.

See You At Origins Game Fair!

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We are returning to Origins Game Fair this year! We invite you to stop by our booth (#839) to check out the latest games and promos, get in a demo, and update your game collection with our new releases.

Our in-booth demos this year will focus on Castle Panic and the brand-new expansion, The Dark Titan, and Bears! and its new expansion Trail Mix’d.

The Dark Titan released in April and has been very popular among Castle Panic fans. (Did you know you can combine it with The Wizard’s Tower as well for maximum panic?!) Bears! Trail Mix’d doesn’t actually release until late June so you can score an advance copy at the show!

We have special promos for the new games as well, so you’ll want to be sure to come to booth #839 to pick up the latest game swag to make all your friends jealous.

We look forward to seeing you in Columbus!

Bears! Trail Mix’d Now Open for Pre-Order

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Summer is approaching, and with it family gatherings and camping trips. What better way to add some extra fun to your outdoor adventures than with a portable, fun, family game?

Our popular fast-paced, dice-pairing game Bears! is getting a brand new expansion in June and it is now available for pre-order!

Bears! Trail Mix’d introduces a new die with six new faces, each triggering a new scoring rule/strategy for each round of the game. Add this to your existing copy of Bears! to really shake things up and test your speed and decision-making in the heat of the moment.

Bears! and Bears! Trail Mix’d are easy to teach your non-gaming friends and family. Fast play time keeps everyone engaged and gets even the shyest member of the family shouting “Bears!” at the end of a round.

For more information on Bears! Trail Mix’d visit our information page and watch the How to Play video.

Ask at your local game store or you can pre-order on our website. It officially releases in store June 24, but we will have a limited number of advance copies for sale at Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH on June 4–7. Visit us in booth #839 to pick up a copy and a special new promo for Bears!

International TableTop Day – Part 2

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Kris wearing flame hat

We had representatives on the ground at two additional events for International Table Top Day this year. We’re excited the growth of the company has provided us the additional staff so we can play games with more people in more locations on more occasions in the future.

The Flame Hat made its debut at The Malted Meeple for International TableTop Day. Pretty swank, huh?

First up, we started the day in Hudson, OH with Kris and Maureen on location at The Malted Meeple, a gaming cafe that offers a wide variety of snacks and beverages (craft beers and sodas, and hand-crafted milkshakes!) as well as an extensive game library. Kris debuted the Flame Hat in her intro video for the event. You can watch it in action below:

The Malted Meeple main gaming area.
This area was packed all day!

We got set up in an event space off the main room around 11 AM and there were already several gamers at other tables enjoying games. We were set up to handle demos of Castle Panic with The Dark Titan, as well as Dead Panic and Bears! Partway through the day they broke out a copy of Munchkin Panic to show a few gamers how they were different and get a couple more demos underway.

We were running multiple demos all day. Our tables were always full!

Aside from the event room we had copies of the games out at tables in the main room among the throngs of people who kept the staff at The Malted Meeple hopping all day with milkshake orders and lots of snack prep! There was rarely an empty table and the place stayed full well into the evening. Maureen even played a couple of raucous games of Bears! right at the bar!

A rare moment you could actually see the bar, they were so busy all day and even had to call in extra staff!

It was great fun to see our games making the rounds and meet some big fans who came out specifically for Castle Panic swag. We even got to see our Troll coasters all over the place with each drink order!

Image courtesy of The Malted Meeple.
Our Troll coasters in action!

Next up, a few hours later and entire time zone away, Edgar and Gabby were at Dragon’s Lair Comic & Fantasy in Austin, TX for their in-store event!

They ran several demos of Castle Panic with The Dark Titan as well as a few with Castle Panic and BOTH The Dark Titan and The Wizard’s Tower expansions! Edgar also ran some people through some exciting games of Bears! They ran out of space and time as the tables remained full all day, but managed to talk to a lot of people about the upcoming Bears! Trail Mix’d expansion to Bears! as well as the forthcoming The Village Crone, expected out this fall.

Image courtesy of Dragon’s Lair Austin
Edgar giving the Castle Panic + The Dark Titan + The Wizard’s Tower demo

Dragon’s Lair is an awesome store and they planned a big event with several game companies represented and lots of open gaming happening. The staff there was very accommodating and supportive and the event attendees were great fun. There were even a few people who survived The Dark Titan! It was a long day full of fun, Castle destruction, and awesome people.

We look forward to future events at Dragon’s Lair and hope to see more of the Austin gaming community out at events like this. Thanks to the folks at Dragon’s Lair and The Malted Meeple for helping us have such a successful International TableTop Day!

Kris & Maureen will be back at The Malted Meeple later in the month as we are in their Publisher Spotlight this month. So if you are local in Ohio and missed TableTop Day you get a second chance at the fun. Check our calendar and watch our Facebook for information on the next visit.

You’ll be seeing more of Edgar as well as he heads up our new volunteer corps, The Torch Program. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer for Fireside Games, we are currently actively recruiting for the Austin area as well as for GenCon 2015. Contact us for more details.