Canadian Retailers Pricing in USD

[Mickey76]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Squeezed your arm tighter out of joy or fear?

Lol fear for sure. I assured her everyone was harmless. Actually joking aside there was a wider range of people than I would have expected, I thought it would be all stereotypical gamers and there were all kinds including a young couple with a baby. It looked like everyone was having a nice time.

I am also surprised how upset everyone is at Sentry Box Pricing. If bothers you don't shop there. A guy there spent a good 20 minutes helping my wife and I pick a couple of games (We got Power Grid and Pandemic) and explaining the gaming world. (Games out of print, expansions etc.) it was a good time, looking forward to going back.

[DoubleF]

Off topic... I've been migrating away from board games and going towards card games lately.

Coup, Family business, love letter, No thanks etc. are great too for groups that might not want to hunker down and learn a game (darn new culture with lack of concentration).

Back on topic, FX is only one aspect of the cost of a product. There are other costs like rent, shipping etc. which may affect the cost of a product. I think some posters forget this. (This is the exact reason Walmart crushed it's competitors in the early years. Same product, totally different cost to get the product to consumer hands)

[Yanda]

Pandemic and Forbidden Desert are great co-op games to get newer players into new board games. I also highly recommend Alchemists and Lords of Waterdeep.

[BigNumbers]

I just googled this store - I had no idea what it was when I posted my FX comment, as my comment was a generalist business comment as to what crappy business passes on direct FX risk - Not knowing it was a US sourced niche Dungeons Dragons store?!?! Now there is a whole world I didn't know about.... I've heard about Dungeons and Dragons, but didn't (still don't really?) know what it was? I thought it was those metal troll/big hammer trinkets I saw kids playing with at that store in Chinook, by the theatre, when I was younger. Turns out it's a board game?!

Do they sell stuff that young kids, like 3-5, are interested in for board games?

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

Newb here.

I haven't played a good boardgame in eons. mike, would "Puerto Rico" be the one to get?

I prefer Cones of Dunshire, personally.

[cam_wmh]

Out of thanks. Thanks mike, corshi, cliff, bignumbers & finger.

[driveway]

Originally Posted by BigNumbers

I've heard about Dungeons and Dragons, but didn't (still don't really?) know what it was? I thought it was those metal troll/big hammer trinkets I saw kids playing with at that store in Chinook, by the theatre, when I was younger. Turns out it's a board game?!

Do they sell stuff that young kids, like 3-5, are interested in for board games?

D&D is rather more than a board-game, if you want the whole details of what it is and how it works, feel free to PM me. It is not really suitable for kids 3-5, however.

As for the store Sentry Box, yes, they totally have stuff that's suitable for kids of that age, however (while I love Sentry Box) I'm gonna have to show some CP loyalty and recommend you hit up a Phoenix Comics location to start your search for good stuff for your kids. You could probably also PM mikephroen and ask for some good recommendations for what Phoenix carries they'd be into.

Oh, and if anyone's looking for a great, quick, fun game that's really, really easy to turn into a drinking/party game, get yourself a set of Bang! (the Spaghetti Western card game).

[SebC]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

I haven't played a good boardgame in eons. mike, would "Puerto Rico" be the one to get?

The Sentry Box has "demo copies" of games that you can try in the store or rent for $5. If you're interested in gaming I'd recommend going to Open Gaming on a Monday night at Sentry Box, Gamer Sundays at Dickens, hit up Pips or one of the other board game cafes that are popping up, find some friends who are into it on social media (because you probably have some) etc. Play some games, figure out what you like, and then if you really like a game and want your own copy, go ahead and buy it.

As for the Sentry Box, I don't buy stuff from them because of the prices - I buy from them because I'm usually there for several hours a week and they don't even ask for anything in return.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Yanda

Pandemic and Forbidden Desert are great co-op games to get newer players into new board games. I also highly recommend Alchemists and Lords of Waterdeep.

Disagree on Pandemic. Pandemic turns into a situation where one or two individuals tell the other players how to play. It turns into a puppet show. A few individuals I've played the game with hate it for this reason.

Originally Posted by driveway

Oh, and if anyone's looking for a great, quick, fun game that's really, really easy to turn into a drinking/party game, get yourself a set of Bang! (the Spaghetti Western card game).

Great concept of a game. Awful for innuendo. Has a few role cards that really muck up the game (Santa). I suggest always aggressively playing with dynamite. The game can stagnate if you have a bunch of individuals play too defensively/conservatively. IMO, this game isn't as quick as most people say it is. If this is a problem for you, a similar style of game with hidden roles that works well (card games though) might be Resistance, Coup, or even Saboteur.

I like card games that generally last 20 mins or less. I find they're better gateways into board games than Catan. That being said, I also run into crazy people who can actually spend an hour playing monopoly deal (1 round) because of how crazily defensive they play (burn all the rent cards, no one can get a set of 3). I even played a round of Catan that lasted an hour and a half. I wanted to strangle those people afterwards.

TBQH, I've heard of Sentry Box, but I always thought it was an internet cafe.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

Newb here.

I haven't played a good boardgame in eons. mike, would "Puerto Rico" be the one to get?

Gateway games:

http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/l...on-gamers.html

PR has dropped in my estimation. Who sits adjacent to you can really skew the game. Also, at a certain point it becomes obvious what path you have to take.

Some call it five person solitaire - but what you do does impact your opponents.

And, there is the whole controversy about the "colonists" (slaves).

Still, a great and influential game. Available on iOS too.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Disagree on Pandemic. Pandemic turns into a situation where one or two individuals tell the other players how to play. It turns into a puppet show. A few individuals I've played the game with hate it for this reason.

This is a problem with all strictly co-operative games... which is why Dead of Winter is so freakin' good. The possibility - but not certainty - that someone at the table is a traitor trying to make the other players make bad decisions makes you look really suspicious if you start trying to play in a dictatorial fashion. So you have to keep it in check, because even if you're not the traitor, you don't want to end up exiled.

[Looch City]

Have you guys played Legendary, Marvel deck building game? It's like a cooperative version of Dominion if you've ever played that.

Really fun game, lots of replay value, and different levels of difficulty to choose from. Only downside is it takes some time to setup and clean up haha.

But it's not like Pandemic where other players can easily dictate what you do.

[Looch City]

dp

[WhiteTiger]

When we're looking for card games, smaller groups tend to go for Citadels.

Larger groups go for Bang! or Werewolf

[CliffFletcher]

I loathe co-operatives. Those and deckbuilders with no interaction (Dominion and its ilk). If I'm around people who are so conflict-averse that they won't play a game where you try to overtly defeat someone else, I'll find something else to do besides play a game.

[troutman]

This thread is a little de-railed. Great game thread here:

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...ighlight=catan

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Sentry Box sucks. Everything they sell can be had on Amazon or Ebay for 30% cheaper. Brick and mortar is awful for niche products.

3.5 MM 4 for $90? #### off.

It is, but if you want a place to play, you need to support the local game shops.

People buying Settlers of Catan don't need that place to play but lots of CCG, RPG, and minatures (XWing, Warhammer) players would be out of luck, especially at the competitive level, without a store like Sentry Box.

Personally, I game at Metal Galaxy (new store by the old Back Alley location) and Eastridge Hobbies (Riverbend) whenever I can, because they price the product as competitively as possible, even though I know for a fact that both stores have lost money or made almost no profit on some sealed MTG product they sold me in the last few months due to exchange.

My experience with Mike at Phoenix has been nothing but positive as well, but I don't make it to that side of the city enough to do much shopping there.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Disagree on Pandemic. Pandemic turns into a situation where one or two individuals tell the other players how to play. It turns into a puppet show. A few individuals I've played the game with hate it for this reason.

That's why Hanabi is such a good co-op. You hold your cards facing away from you, such that your teammates can see them, and the rules limit what they can tell you. You have to deduce the rest.

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I loathe co-operatives. Those and deckbuilders with no interaction (Dominion and its ilk). If I'm around people who are so conflict-averse that they won't play a game where you try to overtly defeat someone else, I'll find something else to do besides play a game.

Star Realms might be the deckbuilder for you, though anything other than a two-player game is a "variant".

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by SebC

That's why Hanabi is such a good co-op. You hold your cards facing away from you, such that your teammates can see them, and the rules limit what they can tell you. You have to deduce the rest.

Star Realms might be the deckbuilder for you, though anything other than a two-player game is a "variant".

Hanabi is great. Especially for younger kids.