Author: petriesfg

2021 Holiday Calendar

Posted on by petriesfg

Starting with Thanksgiving next week, the whirlwind of special days and closures begin. 2021 is unusual in the number of events that happen over a weekend. Since events will be impacted, we wanted you to be prepared.

Next week for Thanksgiving, we’re closing early at 3PM on Wednesday November 24th. We’ll be closed all day on November 25th, but we’ll be back at normal open on Friday the 26th.

For December we’ll have regular store hours until Monday the 20th when we’ll be opening for a special Monday shopping day, 12:30 to 6PM. Our staff is going to take a well deserved break from December 24th through December 26th.

Finally, for New Years we traditionally do our year-end inventory, so we’ll be closing early on January 1 at 3PM and will be closed all day Sunday the 2nd.

As for sales and special events, we’ll be posting those to our social media channels, on PetriesGames.com, text messages, and future newsletters. We want to make this season fun and exciting for you with specials you won’t see anywhere else in town!

Thanks for making 2021 a great year and we look forward to serving you further into 2022!

 

CLOSURe RECAP!

THANKSGIVING
Nov 24 – Closed at 3PM (Wed)
Nov 25 – Closed all Day (Thur)
CHRISTMAS
Dec 24 – Closed all Day (Fri)
Dec 25 – Closed all Day (Sat)
Dec 26 – Closed all Day (Sun)
NEW YEARS & INVENTORY
Jan 1 – Closed at 3PM (Sat)
Jan 2 – Closed all Day (Sun) (Inventory)

Events Are Back

Posted on by petriesfg

While we never fully closed down during the past year-and-a-half, there were times when it was just the showroom performing curbside delivery. For a few months the play space turned into a mail fulfillment center, then a rudimentary office, then there was that month where it was just two brothers playing Magic… or was it Pokémon? It’s all fading into memory at this point.

Like a hibernating creature emerging from a very long nap, life is slowly getting back to a semblance of normalcy and that includes gaming events at Petries. Some things have changed, but mostly it remains the same. Before we had to limit space there were some nights when traditionally we had 3 or 4 events happening simultaneously. Then occupancy caps and 6-foot rules came into play and in order to keep those events going we had to shuffle them around. Now, those new nights have become the tradition. X-Wing is a good example of this in that it has gone from Tuesday to Thursday. Which means that Board Game night on Thursdays is going to have to share some space. This is one example of our new normal.

Right now we are still trying to keep week nights to no more than 2 events at a time with a little more wiggle-room on Sundays. Saturdays has a few reoccurring events but for the most part is still our open day for larger one-time tournaments and special events.

Tuesday: Magic Commander and KeyForge
Wednesday: Dungeons & Dragons and Flesh & Blood
Thursday: Board Game Night and X-Wing Fighter
Friday: Magic FNM and a second slot for store tournaments (right now we’re looking at KeyForge and a few other titles using this time for a monthly big event).
Saturdays: Armada, D&D, Pathfinder, HeroClix, Battletech, WarHammer and a few other surprises that we have in the works are gearing up for once-a-month or bi-weekly events.
Sundays: Cardfight Vanguard, WarCry and soon-to-return Pokémon

Be patient with us as there’s a lot of work to do to get calendars back up-to-date, special events to plan, and general organization on the events at Petries that are already running. Watch the store calendar as it grows and follow us on Facebook to keep up with the latest updates.

As always, we encourage anyone that needs to practice caution to continue to do so. Wearing masks is at your discretion and encouraged for mixed large groups. If you don’t feel like you’re ready, we’ll see you when you do. There is no rush to return, but we want to be ready for you when you do.

Why We Should All Wing It

Posted on by petriesfg

In the board game world there are a lot of variations of styles play. Heavy gamers, players that want to think or solve puzzles, tend to shy away from something that has a loose end-goal or ambiguous rules. On the flip side, players that want to laugh and get to know other people can be repelled by something that requires an hour of rules explanation and will create an atmosphere where players barely speak to each other because “they’re thinking.”

It’s a rare gem when a party game can still maintain the ‘party’ atmosphere, but still challenge creativity and problem solving without giving in to trivia that we all know Grandpa will win at anyway. That’s why Petrie’s has always been a big fan of Wing It by Flying Leap Games. Flying Leap as a whole is producing titles that push players to think, challenge and discuss ideas in fun and engaging ways that don’t feel dumbed down.

The quick idea is that you have several items at your disposal and you have a problem to solve. If you were facing this problem and only had three of these five items, how would you come out in the end? It’s your chance to be your own MacGyver!

Wing It, at its core, is not new in game mechanics. There are many games that are similar where cards are used to compare to other cards and then the randomness that ensues creates a joke or a talking point. But Wing It doesn’t rely on the randomness so much as it uses randomness as a weapon to brandish out of the box solutions. And it does so without ostracizing anyone in the family. Smaller kids can still use their imagination and tell stories while older players can choose to come up with viable solutions. The seriousness of a single game can be tailored for the group.

Flying Leap Games has an on-line version of Wing It that you can access by visiting the Flying Leap Games website, and then clicking “Play Wing It (for FREE!) Online.” Additionally, follow our Facebook or Instagram, and we’ll be posing various Wing It challenges throughout the summer for you to solve.

Come check out Wing It and Flying Leap Games’ other title The Million Dollar Doodle where players collaboratively create funny, weird products, and then pitch them to each other to win a million dollar investment!* Just another example of Flying Leap Games’ mission to bring you easy to understand games that create challenge and relationship building opportunities.

 

* money not included.

PFG is Giving You a Second Chance!

Posted on by petriesfg

In 2020 we looked for the best games for distance gaming & replayability for all ages. These were titles that passed several tests for families and individuals in quarantine. Are they easy to explain to non-gamers? Do they have a broad age range appeal? Is there replayability—meaning, does the game have a puzzle element that brings a player back to better their own scores or previous successes? And does it have a good solitaire or two-player appeal?

Over the next several months we’ll be revealing those to you that checked off a large portion of our credentials.

Second Chance, from Stronghold Games, plays well over Zoom, is easily taught to young gamers and non-gamers alike, and has a wide player count from solitaire all the way to 6 players. And it plays in only 15 minutes, so that leaves plenty of time to play it multiple times in one sitting. Each player starts with a 9×9 grid that they want to fill as completely as possible. To begin the game, everyone receives a different card with a starting tile and marks off its spaces on their grid.

Every turn, two puzzle tile cards are revealed, and each player chooses one of them, then marks off squares on their personal grid that match the shape of the image shown on their chosen card. Multiple players can choose the same card. If a player cannot fit either revealed shape into their grid, they get a second chance and reveal one card from the deck just for them. If they can fit this shape in their grid, they do continue normally next round; otherwise, they are eliminated from play.

The game ends when all players have been eliminated, the deck of puzzle cards has run out, or a player has completely filled their grid. If someone has filled their grid, they win. If all players have been eliminated or the deck ran out of cards, then whoever has the fewest empty spaces wins.

All through April, spend $60 in one visit & receive a copy of Second Chance free! This offer cannot be combined with any other offer, credit, or discount and is limited to one per customer, one per visit. The offer ends once supplies are gone.

 

The State of Magic the Gathering Events & Other Games

Posted on by petriesfg

With the release of Magic Strixhaven coming up fast, mixed with Colorado’s various statements of restrictions becoming a bit more lax, we’re getting a lot of questions on what is the status of Magic and other events.

The honest answer is “we don’t know.” Wizards of the Coast has maintained a clear message that no in-store events are allowed for North America (regardless of state status), just like it was for the previous prerelease Kaldheim. However, a quick call to the WotC retail support has given me the information that things may be changing on the 14th of April.

Similarly, Pokemon has maintained a strict no event status for more than a year, however, they started allowing it in other countries like Australia and New Zealand. Other companies have refrained from putting down any hard rules, with a few stating that it is up to the store owner to regulate safety and follow the guidance of their individual state and county.

Petrie’s is still holding fast to the guidelines give by our county’s “yellow” status. We require masks on when moving about the store, for customers and employees. We encourage 6-foot distances. We also are adhering to the 50% occupancy based on the retail and indoor events guidelines in the yello-status updates.

However, we are also planning ahead. With the potential of changes coming, we have put Strixhaven events on the calendar with the understanding that they may be cancelled. If Wizards does not change the North America status by April 14, Strixhaven will be a take-home only prerelease event.

We encourage you to watch our calendar as it gets repopulated with events, but we also encourage you to call in before events to ensure that nothing has changed. If you do not feel safe playing games with strangers, cannot wear a face mask for long periods of time, or are showing symptoms of any kind, we are still encouraging you to stay home — that has not changed.

Petrie’s is still committed to staying safe, but we also want to be there for you as things progress toward a rough sense of normalcy. If you have any questions or concerns, we encourage you to reach out to us and let us know.

We hope to be able to see you all soon.