I just wanted to make a quick announcement: Fair Game will be hosting a rather auspicious event early this morning before opening our doors to the public.
Our twin boys turned 10 this past week and we are celebrating today. Happy birthday Sam and Wil!
Never mind the Elder Gods – having kids will do a great job of driving you insane 
Love you guys!
Yowza! March 30th didn’t really sneak up on us, but nonetheless, I’m surprised to see it here.
Today is TableTop Day all around the world! In case you haven’t heard the incessant cries of gamers everywhere, what this means is today is “officially” dedicated to playing games. Fair Game will be hosting all sorts of #FGTableTop shenanigans starting at 11am and ending around 9pm. There will be lots of games to play, achievements to…achieve, and prizes to win.
Also – for you Easter bunny better-late-than-never shoppers, try out something 
a little less sugary for your Easter Basket and buy a small game or two for your little bunnies. Tomorrow (March 31, 2013), Fair Game will be closed for Easter (and to allow us some time to recoup from Spring Break and build some new Warmachine play surfaces!) so plan ahead!
Posted in Blog, Events, Family, Miniatures, War Machine
Tagged #TableTopDay #FGTableTop
Yes, yes – a thousand yeses my precious! Fair Game is indeed hosting a thing for International TableTop Day on March 30, 2013!
What that is exactly remains to be seen. I imagine we will be playing a lot of TableTop featured games like Zombie Dice, Wits & Wagers, Tsuro and others. We might even break out Pandemic or Elder Signs for some nail-biting fun.
You do know about the Geek and Sundry show Table Top right? If you haven’t watched an episode yet, do yourself a favor and check it out. Wil Wheaton hosts a cadre of famous nerd-gamer actors and actresses playing a game each episode. It really is well done.
International Table Top Day is dedicated to gamers of all types. The idea is to just play games on that day – enjoy your fellow human. Interact. Socialize. Have fun! Felicia Day talks about it here.
Throughout the day we will be raffling off prizes including snacks, coupons and even free games. Most importantly, we will be playing games. Lots and lots of games. Stay tuned for more details!
(and yes, we realize the TableTopDay website does not list us as hosting an event; that isn’t our fault – honest! It appears that they are having issues with their event locator web-app. With any luck, they will get it fixed soon. But, in reality, do you really need to locate an event now? You know where to go! Fair Game for TableTop Day!)
See you soon!
–Josh
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the questions above – or feel like you want to observe (and maybe kibitz a bit) a bunch of gamers getting their nerd-groove on, come on down to Fair Game on Saturday February 23. Starting at 3pm, the Naperville Freaks, Geeks and Weirdos meetup group will be hosting a One-Shot RPG gathering right in our store. I think they even asked first!
“One Shot,” in this sense just means a single play session, rather than an episodic campaign – that way players can get a complete game done in one sitting. The NFGW Group has found a willing band of game masters to run players though a single play session of a variety of role-playing games. From science fiction, to espionage and – of course – fantasy, there is a setting and system for many interests.
If you just want to see what all the fuss is about, stop on by Fair Game after 3pm and just observe. All of our players are required to be friendly and respectful to all questions – lest they be sacrificed to the Elder Gods.
If you think you might want to play, I encourage you to register immediately as spots are filling fast. Below I will link to individual registration pages for the variety of games that will be run. Even if a system is full, feel free to get on the waiting list – you never know, someone might not show up.
Below are a list of the games currently scheduled to run on Saturday, February 25 at Fair Game starting at 3pm.
PARANOIA: ME AND MY SHADOW, MARK IVPARANOIA is fun. Other rpgs are not fun. Play PARANOIA.
Need more? PARANOIA is an award-winning science fiction rpg originally released in 1984 but updated in 2004. A satire of politics, governments, economic systems, roleplaying games, and more big terms that you can shake a stick at, PARANOIA is unique among rpgs because you are NOT expected to cooperate with other players. Instead, you are expected to lie, backstab, trick, cajole, irritate, and bullshit other players all the damn time. (Except if cooperation would benefit you, of course.) As such, players should be mature enough to face Catch-22s and betrayal without pouting or getting upset. Register here.
FATE: TOMB OF HORRORS!Keep. It. Simple. Stupid. This adventure, based off the original S1-Tomb of Horrors AD&D adventure module and featuring characters from the popular 1980s Dungeons & Dragons animated series, is designed to be a quick and easy to learn introduction to the rules of the new FATE Core playtest. Register here.
13th Age: Blood and Lightning
Eclipse Phase: Ego HunterIn this particular story and one shot, you will undertake the role of individuals set on Mars…. and… that is all you need to know for now. 
Register here.
WORLD OF DARKNESS: ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE!
SAVAGE WORLDS: THEY CAME FROM BEYOND SPACE!The Savage Worlds Game System is an open-ended role-playing game system created by Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Its slogan is Fast! Furious! Fun!, which is exactly what it is designed to provide. It’s a simple, easy-to-learn, easy-to-use system that lets you get right into the thick of the action. Register here.
Tagged 13th Age, Eclipse Phase, FATE, FUDGE, One-shot, Paranoia, Role Playing, RPG, Savage Worlds, Worlds of Darkness
Welcome to 2013! The first year in many previous years to contain 4 different digits. Near as I can figure, the last year to feature that was 1987; which is amazingly 26 years ago. But I digress…
Time speeds along at a breakneck pace. Fair Game has now been open for business for just over two years. Wow! We have learned a lot in the last 24 months; moved locations; hired some new people – and continue to marvel at how each new customer brings a new piece to our retail game. Still having fun too. Which – let’s face it – is kind of what we are all about anyway.
Speaking of fun – if you haven’t had a chance to sit down and play some of the new games we have on our demo shelves, do yourself a favor and stop in. We continually add new games – which sometimes may get lost among the plethora of other demos we have packed on the shelves. One game in particular has really taken us by storm – Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures. This gem combines fast Lucas-inspired “aerial” combat with wonderfully detailed miniatures and typical Fantasy Flight flair. A game can take from 20 minutes to over an hour depending on the number of ships in play. Players can field a variety of Star Wars favorites including the X-Wing, Y-Wing, Tie fighter and Tie Fighter Advanced. More ships are on the horizon too – with the Millennium Falcon, Slave One, A-Wingand the Tie Interceptor predicted to arrive any week now.
For those of you already familiar with X-Wing Miniatures (or anyone else ready to jump on board), Fair Game will begin a league event starting Tuesday, Jan 15th at 6pm. The event, titled “The X-Wing Map League of Universal Domination!” will run over a period of four weeks. During the event, participants may play in battles against opposing factions, contesting regions throughout the known Star Wars Universe. Certain regions will gain the controller bonuses for as long as that region remains in their hands.
Although the event officially kicks off on a Tuesday, players can meet at Fair Game any time we are open to play officially sanctioned leagues games – reporting their results as soon as they are done. With any luck, I will have a web page showing the results in <sort of> real time.
If you would like more information, please send us an email or stop on in.
May the Force be with you!
–J
We are rapidly coming up to our two year anniversary here at Fair Game – and like we have done in the past, we will celebrate with a Black Friday sale. Details are a well-guarded secret that will not be revealed until the day before via email (so if you are not already on our email list, sign up over there on the right).
Steeped in mystery, the Black Sale Seance is held each year to determine which products will achieve “sale status”. In all honesty, I cannot recall what occurs during these events since our minds are erased after each one. I’m sure it involves incense and eggnog however.
In any event, I have prepared a gift guide for those of you who have a gamer to buy for. This is just a itsy-bitsy tiny sampling of the games we carry and recommend, so if you still can’t think of something after perusing it, come on in and ask. We love to talk about giving games as gifts!
You can access the 2012 Gift Guide right here.
–josh
This weekend (October 20/21, 2012) Fair Game is hosting a 24 hour marathon gaming session to support the Children’s Miracle Network via the Extra Life foundation.
Every year Extra Life hosts a 24 hour event to increase awareness of their cause and encourage gamers and their friends to donate to a great cause.
For the last four years, thousands of gamers have joined together annually to play for 24 hours for Extra Life – a gaming marathon in support of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals®. Gamers rally friends and family members to sponsor their play. The funds they raise go to help save and improve the lives of kids at the CMN Hospital in their community.
This year, a local group of gamer-friends decided to form their own team, and asked us if we would host the event. Naturally, we agreed immediately – and now the time is upon us.
If you would like to participate, come in and play any time between 10am Saturday October 20 until 10am Sunday, October 21. We will close the store at 10am Sunday, but will be open again at noon as usual. We are encouraging (but not forcing!) gamers to donate during the 24 hour marathon – we can take donations through the register. As an added bonus, numerous Downers Grove merchants have generously donated prizes to be raffled away during the event. Thanks to Emmet’s, The Spice Merchants and Caribou Coffee!
If you can’t make it out and still would like to contribute, why not go right to our part of the team page and give a little by pressing that big blue “Support Me!” button. Every bit counts!
Both Eric and I look forward to seeing the hilarity ensue as die-hard gamers and over-tired shopkeepers try to keep their sanity.
Play Games, Heal Kids
Posted in Events, Family, News
Tagged 24 hours, Charity, Children's Miracle Network, Extra Life
This community; these people; our gamers continue to amaze and astound me. Not only do we have some of the most friendly and outgoing people frequenting our store on a routine basis – it turns out many of those same people are not only great customers, but generous beyond all reason.
We moved the store – literally across the street – last Wednesday. Our customers and friends (often times one-and-the-same) were instrumental in making the the move quick and painless.
Thanks everyone!
Our new address is 5147 Main St. in Downers Grove. If you happen to head to the old store by mistake, just turn right around and look across Main Street – there we are!
We will be living in a bit of chaos as we get things unpacked and shelved over the next few days – but don’t let that stop you from coming by and checking out the new digs. I think you will really like our new location and more open floor plan.
I know I certainly do.
Yes, yes, peoples, GenCon 2012 officially ended over a week ago and I’m just writing about it now. In all honesty, I’m still somewhat recovering. 45 years running and still going strong, GenCon remains the standout gaming convention in the United States bar none. Initial reports have attendance at over 41,000 attendees. Wow!
I won’t bore you with the history and background about the ‘con – just dive into the highlights from my perspective.
For me (and I suspect for many others as well), GenCon isn’t only about the games. The people, environment and the energy at this convention is amazing. Everywhere you look you will find the gaming culture permeating the convention hall and outlying hotels, restaurants and bars. It is – frankly – awesome. Being around so many gamers brings about a sense of familiarity which I cannot imagine anywhere else. It is like being at a yearly reunion with forty thousand of your friends and acquaintances who come with no pre-conceived opinions or biases based on your gender, race or gaming preference.
Everyone just kind of gets along. At all hours of the day (and night). For 4 days straight.
How cool!
Anyway, more to the point. For this post I wanted to go over my biggest surprises - both good and bad. I will write more in a later entry (I don’t want this to get too long). So here goes.
Surprise #1 – Kickstarter is EVERYWHERE! It was amazing how many vendors had projects already on Kickstarter, or were showing/selling games which had been funded through Kickstarter. As a retailer, I am conflicted with the fulfillment methods used by various participants, but I am absolutely convinced we are seeing more games produced by smaller independents which would not exist without this “crowdsourcing” facility. More games (usually) are a good thing for our industry.
Surprise #2 – Wooden Wars. I happened upon a game being played in the
family/kids section of the vendor hall called Wooden Wars. Within 60 seconds I was hooked as I watched 6 kids (I would say ages 5-12) moving wooden soldiers (about 5″ high) around a battlefield which was sprawling on the floor. Each child was in charge of a variety of units including infantry, calvary and artillery. These particular soldiers were painted up as Napoleonic era units in bright colorful uniforms. After movement, the moderator (who turned out to be the creator of the game) would allow the kids some combat – which basically involved lobbing a ‘super ball’ from the firing unit to their target. Any unit toppled over was eliminated.
Brilliant.
I watched with a grin on my face as this kids had an absolute blast for 30 minutes or so until the battle was over. I walked over to the designer of the game and introduced myself – expressing my desire to have this game for sale at Fair Game as soon as possible. Which leads me to…
Surprise #2A – the creator of Wooden Wars, Thomas Voss, has a Kickstarter up in order to collect enough money so he can start manufacturing the pieces in a cost-effective way using a laser cutting machine. I vowed to back his project (and promptly followed through when I returned home) even though he hadn’t really considered the small retailer in his business model. Thomas and I have been in email contact, and I guarantee at some point we will be carrying these soldiers in some capacity at Fair Game. That being said, I encourage you to get in early on this project if you are considering giving these wonderful soldiers as gifts this holiday season. If you do contribute, make sure you mention that Fair Game sent you!
edit: Thomas pointed out that the lack of retailer contributor levels certainly does not imply he has not considered the retailer. Once the initial launch of Wooden Wars has succeeded and he manages to get his laser machines working without hurting himself or innocent bystanders, retailer support will soon follow. First things first!
Surprise #3: Zombicide (warning, more Kickstarter content below)
Another Kickstarter success story, this game (brought to us by CoolMiniOrNot) was over-funded by some ridiculous amount. One of my friends was part of the initial funding run and brought his recently received copy to GenCon for all of us to play.
What a disappointment.
The bits and pieces of the game are fantastic – and there are plenty of them. However, after playing the first three scenarios, it seems clear that the game design process took second stage to the production quality of the components.
The scenarios seem wildly unbalanced and too easy for the players. The automobiles are very over powered, and the tracking of sound from each player seems overly fiddly and unnecessary.
In an nutshell Zombicide appears incomplete and inadequately play-tested.
Given the fantastic pieces within the box, I really wanted to enjoy this game – as I believe did everyone else – but we just couldn’t muscle through any more scenarios when there were so many other good games to play. In fact, after that last scenario was played, the owner of the game stated that he would likely sell it when he returned home.
It sold on eBay quite quickly.
Well, that’s it for now. I promise to write some more GenCon coverage in later posts once I get my notes *ahem* organized.
–J
In case I haven’t made it clear in most of my previous posts- Fair Game was opened primarily as a vehicle to spread our love of games to other people within the community and beyond. Eric, myself and my family are all gamers through-and-through. Our store was opened out of passion, not capitalism.
We really love games.
In that regard, we are closing Fair Game for 4 days starting Thursday August 16, and re-opening on Monday August 20. These are four very important days for gamers throughout the country – and indeed the world. The convention known as GenCon has come around again. We decided that as important as it is to “run a business,” it is still secondary to our enjoyment at playing games with good friends and fellow gamers – so it wasn’t too hard of a decision for us to close down during the convention.
If you can spare the 3 hour drive from Downers Grove, come on down to Indy and check out the convention. It has something for everyone! I plan on playing boardgames, Warmachine and others until my eyes are drooping from fatigue. Four days straight. I will also be tweeting random thoughts and photos as I experience the ‘con, so if you are interested make sure you follow us by clicking the button on the right, or clicking Follow @FairGameStore.
If you do come down and happen to see us wandering around with a Fair Game T-Shirt, make sure you stop and say ‘hi!’.
–J