The second to last stop on The Dark Titan Cometh Tour was to one of our favorite stores, Game Depot in Tempe, Arizona. We first visited this great shop during our West by Southwest tour in 2013 and had a fantastic visit with a huge turnout, so we knew we were in for a good time. (Check out our blog post about that visit.) Sure enough, as we approached the store we could see our poster and postcards proudly displayed on the window and a huge crowd waiting for us inside.
We can’t say enough about the owners, Patty and David. They have turned their store into a community and never miss the chance to turn an event into a celebration. Patty even wore her WXSW button from 2013 and made an amazing wizard’s tower out of our games!
As soon as we walked into the store we were seeing familiar faces from our visit 2 years ago. Some of our smaller fans had gotten bigger and were now ready for the new challenges of the expansions. After hugs and hellos, it was time to get to fightin’ monsters! We set up 2 games of Castle Panic with The Dark Titan and 1 game with Castle Panic, The Wizard’s Tower, and The Dark Titan and started filling seats.
One familiar face that we were glad to see again was our friend Noble Hess. He is our biggest fan in the area and acts as the Fireside Games unofficial ambassador at Game Depot. Just like back in 2013, he jumped right in and helped us out. We showed Noble how to play The Dark Titan, and he became our extra hand for the rest of the day, helping when we were too busy and answering questions that came up. Thanks again, Noble!
Agranok showed up throughout the day, varying in strength from level 1 to level 4, and even the promo level 6 for one brave group of gamers. (That didn’t work out so good for them, but they came close!) Some Castles survived and others were crushed, including one painfully classic moment where a player drew Draw 3 Monsters, Draw 4 Monsters, and the Goblin King all in one turn.
Through nail-biting victories and Castle-stomping defeats, everyone had a great time. It was nonstop Castle defending the entire day, with new games starting as soon as one game ended. We did have to pause every few minutes to sign a game or two for happy fans, which is always fun for us. It was great to see so many folks who enjoy our game come back years later to experience the next chapter in the story.
As the day wound down, we had our final victory and said goodbye to all the fantastic people that came out for the event. We enjoyed a late dinner with Patty, Dave, and Noble and then headed off for a well deserved rest. If you’re in the Phoenix area, or just passing through, you really owe it to yourself to visit Game Depot and say hi to the gang.
We’re headed to Specialities Games, Toys & Gifts in San Angelo, Texas (another store we fell in love with on the WXSW tour!), for an event on Monday, March 30th, at 4:00 p.m. that will be the final stop of The Dark Titan Cometh Tour!
Get a look at the bustling event at Game Depot in this video: