It's Christmas time-- music drives us

There is a song from 1984 "Do they know it's Christmas" that started a whole movement of artists writing and recording music for a specific "cause".  So much goodness came out of these gatherings, that "Do they know it's Christmas " has been re-recorded 3 times since.

With the polarity happening in politics, pandemics, climate change, gun violence and racial division we need a song now more then ever to pull us together.  Music moves the world.  Everyday you see it in social media, shopping music, radio stations, background noise both at home and at work.  Music moves this world. 

We jive, we dance, we sing, we shop, we love, we cry, we worship, we eat, we drive, we run, we drink, we relax, we come into this world and we leave with music paving our way.  We crave music in every corner of our world. 

So somebody, somewhere...needs to write us a song. 

Love, Lynn

Playing through the Pandemic

 Playing throughout the Pandemic

I started the pandemic in Reno, Nevada on March 9, 2020. I was there to give a talk about Brain Health and the benefits of Socialization to the Gaming Industry. When I wrote this talk I wasn't expecting for the next year we would be living through a social isolation experiment. If I had I probably would have given them more advise to go on.  As it was, I had retailers reaching out to me for suggestions and customers of our own seeking assistance and guidance over the last 415 days.

If I could go back this is what I would stress. 

Often we underestimate the "Power of Play".  Play is an effective way to learn, develop and grow in critical thinking, socialization and language. Learning to play with your children is incredibly valuable, not just for them but also for you.  Getting to know your children's likes and dislikes, teaching them management skills of how to handle disappointment and patience during turn taking. These are just a sample of easy skills taught during 30 minutes of play, infused with laughter and joy.

These skills are also useful for adults...and boy have we needed them. In the 21st Century it is easy to get lost in technology.  But for the last year we had to depend on technology to get us together, interact, communicate, entertain...socialize. It wasn't our first choice, being online. We made due, we created new platforms and grew new ways to interact safely.  Still we crave personal contact, physical interaction and face time.

Play. Is. Powerful. It's only taken 415 days to be craving humanity so much we might just hug the first stranger (then sanitize). While we wait for the U.S. to get vaccinated, the rest of the world looks on with jealousy and longing. How we handle this next phase is just as important as how we handled the first 415 days.

You've got this, see you on the hug side. 

Love, Lynn

Embrace Hygge at The GameBoard……..

Denmark is ranked as the “Happiest Country in the World” in the 2012, 2013, and 2016 World Happiness Report by the United Nations. Much of it is contributed to the Danish phenomenon called hygge (HOO-gah). The term comes from a Norwegian word meaning “wellbeing” and roughly translates into English as “coziness” or “hug”. It means much more than that- it is a cultural mindset about celebrating simple things and spending more time with family and friends. Hygge moments allow us to take our mind off the daily stress and live in a healthy comforting state of mind.

Whether it’s Valentine’s Day or a cold, windy, snow-filled day, go for the hygge!

The best environment includes some (or all) of the following:

• Flickering candles
• Hot chocolate, tea, coffee, or a glass of wine
• Comfort food such as bowl of crockpot stew or freshly popped popcorn
• Woolen socks or slippers
• Old sweatpants or leggings
• Soft blanket or throw
• Board games* to play, book to read, or a dog/cat to cuddle and pet

*This Valentine’s Day rent a 2 player game  from The GameBoard:

Haru Ichiban (2014 Golden Geek Abstract Board Game Nominee)

Kulami (Mensa Select winner)

Hounded (Foxhunting game of trickery and entrapment)

Paradisio (The 2011 Preferred Choice award from Creative Child Magazine)

Patchwork (Simple rules, short playing time, challenging puzzle)

Pagoda (Hippodice 2013 award winner)

Jarl (The Viking tile-laying game)

The Duke (The 2013 Best Two-Player Game award from Dice Tower)

The Rose King (Join the thorny feud for 2 players)   

            

Happy Valentines Day!

Love Lynn, Meg, Amy, Kevin. Will, Josh, Heidi and Amado

Poke'GO! at The GameBoard

Pokemon GO went live this week in Celebration of 20 years in the Industry.  We would like to Congratulate, Pokemon on the 20 year Anniversary and the success of this live game play!

If you haven't had a chance this week to hear on your news feed about the latest craze, just take a drive around town.  You'll notice all the young folks out wandering around with their phones taking a walk. No, they haven't suddenly decided to ditch the video game world.  Instead the video game world has become mobile.  Bringing the Pokemon game to a live format, out and about in your town catching live Pokemon!

There are all sorts of places to capture Pokemon as they travel about the countryside, gyms to level up in and  Poke stops.  The GameBoard is offering a promo card for your Pokemon deck when you reach levels 5, 7, 9 and 11 in Poke GO. Stop in at each of these levels and show us you are currently there and we will give you the promo shiny! Plus when you join a team we have a pin for you!  If you bring in your Pokemon playing cards, play a game on site and join our league we will give you double marks for participating that day!  Want to earn another pin?  Make a purchase with us and we will gift you with something shiny to add to your collection!

So join The GameBoard this summer for some extra fun catching your Pokemon!

Love, Lynn

Hey, Baby! it's cold outside!

As the winter drags on, here in Wisconsin, we aren't dismayed.  In fact we love our snow and cold! Sledding, snow shoeing, skiing, dog sledding, hiking, we even run in the snow! Winter is a great season.  When it's all done we come inside, watch football, eat a brat and play a game.

Board games, card games, chess, cribbage we love it all! Wisconsin is steeped in family, history and fun activities.  Families and friends gather together for no reason at all, just to be together.

Sometimes when gathering the reason is focus, why not gather with the focus being the activity?  Get a game, cook some brats....bring family old and new and try a different form of entertainment.  We recently tried a game called Time Stories, a game that is similar to the 1980's mystery parties.  Where you gather for a meal, don a character and become that person for the evening acting out a murder mystery.

Time Stories is a futuristic version where you are a time traveler.  Adventuring to save the future from different failures!  Every time your group fails you are returned to the future and re-sent back in time to try again.  Friends of ours gathered for 2 days this weekend to try a new scenario and see if we could solve the mystery.  At 9 pm on Sunday we finally succeeded, after 2 lovely meals together, 2 different homes, 2 nights of fun and many hours of discussion of how to proceed!  Cooperation at it's finest.  That night 6 folks returned home with the knowledge that we had played well, enjoyed each other and had a great time!

If you have a chance come check out Time Stories and see for yourself, or rent another game and spend time tonight with the family, cause baby it's cold outside!

Love, Lynn

Play before you Pay

This was our motto in 2006 when we began 8 years ago, we have never strayed from the plan. Everything we do in store and out leads towards the belief that if you try it before you buy it, you will be more then satisfied.

In the last 5 years we took it upon ourselves to prove our Industry wrong. You see there were many naysayers out there who think that games can't be borrowed without terrible tragedy befalling them. Here in Sheboygan WI, we knew people were up to the challenge!

We built a program that gave back to our community.  Rent the game at 10% the cost of the game and that 10% is a credit to the future purchase of the same game, when bought within 30 days. Rent and you love it, you get a credit.  You didn't enjoy it, it was a low fee of $2-8 dollars overnight.  Then we upped the ante, if you rent on Saturday you get it 2 days for the price of 1!

So in 2009 we rented our first game.  We rented out 14 games that year,  in 2010 it was 18 games and in 2011 it was only 11, but we doubled down our efforts and in 2012 we rented 22,  in 2013 we rented 45, and in 2014 we rented 186 games!

That's what we are talking about.  Not only is this a great way to spend an evening but its a great way to try our product before you invest.  Demoing a game in your home, with your friends also leads to others trying the product.  Which leads to more folks enjoying this hobby, this industry and loving the wonderful products that are released every month.  WIN!

I recently was describing to a visitor why you should rent and this was how I explained it. Imagine that a new movie is being released...but instead of going to a theater where you can see a trailer. Movie theaters and video rental places no longer exist.  Now movies are being sent directly to DVD/Blue ray, why would you buy it?  Plus without the theaters to drive the sales and gather the sales, costs of those DVD's is going to be much higher.  Probably $50 for a movie. It would seem ridiculous.   Yet that is what the game industry wants us to do.  Sell a $50 game without a showing, preview or rental.

It is up to us to reinvent the ways to sell, but I for one am a huge fan of renting!  Play before you Pay!

See you on Saturday when you pick up that rental!
Love, Lynn

OMG it finally happened!

Can you believe IT?
I couldn't!
I was sure IT would never happen.
But here we are....IT has occurred!      


Here I sit at the store quietly enduring all my emails and enjoying some short conversations with a couple browsers who stopped by.  A quick birthday purchase and run, a request for playing cards and a deep discussion about cribbage boards.  But through it all, I can see IT happened.

Sears is selling it's display pieces and I upgraded to real ways to showcase our sleeve collection!  Doesn't it look pretty?!?!  I am super excited about such a simple change and re-organization, Kevin and I spent 2 days planning and implementing this!!!

Now I can sit back and enjoy organized sleeves, the backyard view at The GameBoard, a cup of tea, a great game and SNOW!  Oh Happy Day!  
~Love Lynn