I bet a lot of you are wondering what Valley of the Sun Meetup is, especially since I have it plastered all over the side of my blog. Those of you who haven’t visited the site yet are really missing out on the opportunity to promote your own games and to find others around Phoenix. No gimmicks or people trying to sell you stuff here.
Tiny Epic Kingdoms is the the pocket sized game that plays like a big box Euro game.
The very idea of this pretty much blew my mind as I envisioned strategic brawls taking place at the local watering hole. That’s right, I play games at local bar and not having to lug in a gigantic box of nerdgasm to a neutral social setting was highly appealing to me. Also, I was intrigued by the game play and the quality of the game pieces that were packed into such a tiny box. After all, the base price of this game is only $16.
Magic the Gathering’s Born of the Gods Pre-release is this week and with the new Theros expansion comes a few new games mechanics.
Inspire – A creature’s inspired ability triggers every time the creature becomes untapped. That’s normally at the start of your turn, but an inspired ability triggers no matter how or when the creature untaps. If multiple inspired abilities you control go on the stack at the same time, you get to decide in what order to put them on the stack. (The last one you add to the stack will resolve first, as usual.)
Tribute – A creature with a tribute ability offers your opponent a choice as the card enters the battlefield. You choose an opponent and that opponent decides whether to “pay tribute” by having the card enter the battlefield with two +x/+x counters on it. If he or she does, then that’s it—you’ve got a bigger Monster. If he or she decides not to pay tribute, then the card enters-the-battlefield and it’s ability triggered instead. Either way, it’s good for you.
Heroic – A heroic ability triggers whenever you cast any spell that targets the heroic creature, including a spell that also targets another creature. If a spell targets multiple creatures with heroic abilities, all of them trigger. Activated abilities, such as equip, do not cause heroic abilities to trigger, nor do triggered abilities. An instant or sorcery spell has a target if it includes the word “target” in its rules text. Each Aura spell also has a target, indicated by its enchant ability. Creature spells and other permanent spells (except for Auras) never have targets. A heroic ability triggers only when the creature’s controller casts a spell that targets it, not when any other player does
I’ve also list the stores in the East Valley that have planned events. All the events listed below are scheduled for February 1st and 2nd. Keep in mind these events are with sealed decks so remember to arrive ahead of time for deck building.
The gaming community has grown exponentially over the years, especially with the sudden spotlight on geek culture with popular TV shows like The Big Bang Theory and the myriad of comic book films hitting the big screen. The awesome part of all this is that more people are taking a jump down the rabbit hole of gaming, comics and overall nerdiness. With this new surge of fresh blood in the gaming community I’ve deemed the term “Gamer” no longer specific enough to describe such a large dynamic group. So I’ve taken it upon myself to classify our hierarchy into six distinct categories. So I’ll start with the loneliest of gamer.
Desert Sky Games
2531 S. Gilbert Road. #106. Gilbert AZ, 85295
(602) 615-5214
Store Hours:
M-Th: 10am – 10pm
F: 10am – 12am
Sa: 10am – 10pm
Su: 10am – 6pm
First Impression:
I’ve never been to desert sky games before as they’re relatively new to the valley. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was how well they used their space. I want to say about 85% of the store was filled with gaming tables. Which was really nice compared to some other stores I’ve visited lately. There was also plenty of room to move around, so I didn’t have to awkwardly hit everyone’s chair backs just to get across the room. The staff was friendly and asked us if there was anything specific we needed. They didn’t have the specific game I was looking for however they ended up ordering it for me with no issues. They also had some sweet retro arcade games you could play for a quarter so I got to play Super Mario Bro’s with my daughter before we left. Overall I was impressed with the store except for the price of their MTG cards, however they redeemed themselves by having really great stock for all other cards.
Pop Culture Paradise Tempe
715 S. Forest Avenue. Tempe, AZ, 85281
(480) 557-6640
Store Hours:
M-Tu and Th-Sa: 11am – 10pm
W: 9am – 10pm
Su: 11am – 6pm
First Impression:
Walking into Pop Culture is kind of like walking into a small cave. Immediately I felt claustrophobic and that remained an ongoing theme as I browsed through the store. Pop Culture’s Tempe location carries a little bit of everything. I saw shirts, toy collectibles, comics, board games, RPGs, and the basic TCG’s here. However I felt like they weren’t really strong in any single category but don’t get me wrong that doesn’t mean I won’t go there again. I feel like the store just needs a good reorganization and direction. Otherwise their staff was very friendly and you can order most anything you need here. In fact I’ve ordered several comics from them in the past and had great service.
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Gamers Inn
1232 East Southern Avenue. Mesa AZ, 85204
(480)-507-0509 or (602) 531- 5275 for afterhours pick-up
Store Hours:
M – W: Closed
TH: 3pm – 12am
F-Sa: 12pm – 2am
Su: 12pm – 10pm
First Impression:
Gamer’s Inn is a far cry from what it used to be but that doesn’t mean it deserves all the negative reviews I’ve seen on the web. From what I’ve been told, the owner has moved most of their sales to their internet based store. So they simply don’t offer the same products they used to and they have changed their store front to reflect that. In short Gamer’s Inn is no longer mecca for Pen and Paper gamer’s but a hub for Magic the Gathering and Warhammer.
Game Depot
3136 S. McClintock Drive. Tempe AZ, 85282
(480)-966-4727
Store Hours:
M-T & F-Sa: 10am – 7pm
W: 10am – 8pm
Th: 10am – 9pm
Su: 12pm – 6pm
First Impression:
I called down to Game Depot expecting them not to have the games i was looking for. However to my surprise they had both games in stock. I said thank you and then waited until my shift was over to run down there. I picked out several games and went up to the cashier, David. He asked me about a few of the expansions i had picked up, insuring i already had the originals before i bought them. He also asked if i was the one who called on the phone earlier this morning and than apologized for one of the games i had asked about being out of stock. He said that another person had come in and picked it up before i got there and next time i call down i should ask them to put it on hold for me. Over all my visit was a kind and informative one.
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GloryHoundd Presents 