“I don’t go to Metairie unless I really have to.”
Ballzack, Rainbow in Marrero
This Saturday, while doing my once-every-couple-of-months run to Metairie, I passed by the newly-opened +1 Gaming and decided to pop my head in.
They’ve recently opened, so stock is a little on the low side I think. It seems to cater mostly to Warhammer and similar games, but still, a gaming store is a gaming store. They also have a whole bunch of tables for games – it appears that you can just show up with your stuff and play with friends. Pretty neat.
I decided to pick up my own “copy” of the card game Bang!, a really fun, easy, spaghetti-western style card game. Dave and Belen bring it with them on their travels, and we have fun playing it – probably mostly due to everyone always saying “It’s my turn? Ok, I want to drink a beer and then bang Belen.”
When checking out, I was asked if I was a “hero”. There were too many awesome responses that my neurons misfired, and I lamely replied “Huh?” They’ve developed a customer loyalty type program – being a hero gets you a discount, and when you make a purchase, you roll 2d10 (i.e. random number from 1-100) and based on the outcome, you get something for free.
I rolled a 1. As a joke, I think they should have an anti-prize for rolling a 1 – like getting slapped in the face with a fish or reduced discount for the purchase or something.
But, a 1 still won me something: either a bag of chips or a pencil. I went with the infinitely more useful pencil, and will use it at our D&D game tomorrow.
As he was describing to me the program though, it sounded kinda familiar, but couldn’t quite place from where. I knew it was a webcomic, but as hard as I tried, I just couldn’t make the connection. Luckily, I voiced this recollection to him. He told me I was right, and it was a Ctrl+Alt+Del comic (this one, specifically). They’d been inspired by it, sat down and did the math, and realized that it was actually pretty viable.
I think that involving a game into the buying process is fun. A group of us will head over there for a field trip soon, and perhaps sit down and run through a quick game of Castle Ravenloft or two.
Hooray, nerds.
Cool. I haven’t been to +1 yet, but I plan to go this Thursday night for their Board Game Night. Come on by if you want to try Dominant Species, currently my favorite game. I’m sure people will be playing other stuff if that doesn’t sound like it’s your game.