What do you get for the gamer who has everything?

So the holidays are fast approaching and it’s time to start thinking about that special someone(s) in your life. But what’s this? You don’t know what to get them? Well don’t worry, Drew is here to help!

For the person who is new to the hobby...

Ticket to Ride and Pandemic are two classics that everyone will love and want to play again and again. These are two of the best gateway games into the hobby and both now have smaller box versions. Ticket to Ride London (RRP £19.99) and Pandemic: Hot Zone (RRP £19.99) are great purchases for anyone new to modern board games with slightly simpler rules, and playing just that bit faster than their big-box versions. Both play very well at two player+ and could be a nice way to entice people into this great hobby!

For the person who wants to play games with their children...

Need something that all the family can enjoy? Not a problem, Rhino Hero: Super Battle is one of our favourites at the cafe. It’s easy to put in front of anyone and for them to enjoy it. Even if you are playing with younger children, you can have just as much fun creating the tower and knocking it down again! At the very low price of £20.99 (RRP) this game will offer hours of fun.

Another great suggestion is the delightfully silly Who Did It? (RRP £10.99) As a small box game it’s easy to take anywhere, and is a solid little memory game of trying to lay the blame on whose pet animal pooped on the floor. Though the idea may sound ridiculous, when playing with your kids you'll realise just how much fun you can have blaming some else's turtle.

For the person who plays Roleplaying games... Well, for those who play the world’s most popular game, that's right D&D! Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is releasing just in time for Christmas. This is the latest sourcebook to be released for 5e and will add a TON of new content for player characters such as expanded subclasses, new rules, more puzzles just more everything. Anyone who plays or runs DnD would love this book, and it comes with a beautiful cover art variant! (RRP £41.99)

Another great suggestion for the DnD fan in your life is The Heroes' Feast, a cookbook for 80 recipes based on the magical world of DnD. An excellent way to prep for the snacks for the next game session!

Or maybe they've got enough D&D books. So, why not try Cyberpunk Red?

The PDF was recently released and at the time of writing this blog, I am currently reading through it and I have to say, I’m really digging the book! An excellent layout, great artwork and well written. Now, again, the physical books are on the way but with the current world situation, there isn’t a 100% guarantee that over in the UK we will have them before Christmas… But there is a good chance that you will see it time for Christmas, if not it will be shortly after. We've recently signed up for the Bits & Mortar program which means if you pre-order the book with us you'll get access to a copy of of the PDF once pre-orders are confirmed.

(RRP £49.99)

For the person who likes rolling dice...

Sometimes people just like to roll dice and there’s nothing wrong with that because there's an entire genre of game they'll love the roll & write. And our top recommendation for a roll & write is, Welcome to Dino World. The premise of which is nice and simple, you’re looking to create a dinosaur park with limited space and the roll of the dice. There are two modes of play, in the simple mode you just have to build the park with no worries at all, and danger mode in which dinosaurs could breakout and wreck havoc on the park… and your points! (RRP £24.99)

Maybe you are into the fast high octane type of board game in which you roll and move because writing doesn’t do it for you. No worries, you need to try out the push your luck game, Deep Sea Adventure. You play as divers, heading to the bottom of the ocean in search of the treasures deep below and as always, you all share one oxygen tank. Each turn you roll 2 dice to determine how you move, and in which direction, towards the boat back to safety? Or out to gather more treasure? For every treasure you have on you at the start of your turn, you’ll drop the shared oxygen tracker down. How far are you willing to go? How far is everyone else? Will you make it back with all your treasure? (RRP £20.99)

For the person who might want something different (but still tabletop related)...

Okay, so there was just another couple of games I wanted to mention so I’m sticking them here. It’s my blog and I’ll do as I want! The first game is the brilliant Escape the Dark Sector, the sci-fi sequel to Escape the Dark Castle. In Escape the Dark Sector you find yourself trapped on a dark space station where you will have to overcome a variety of dangers, traps, and terrors. From cyborg guards and faulty replicators to killer alien organisms, each challenge is beautifully represented on large, well-illustrated cards. The goal? Overcome these challenges and escape. Like Dark Castle, Dark Sector is an enjoyable choose your own adventure story game with a good level of difficulty and luck that will keep you coming back. (RRP £34.99)

The other is a simply lovely game that I would be happy to put in front of almost any group, Bargain Quest. Monsters threaten the town, and heroes will rise to face these monsters and slay them for glory! To do so they will need equipment… Armour, weapons and magic. Luckily, you and up to 6 players run the only shops in town for such merchandise. Players will have to draft items and choose one to go in the shop window to entice the heroes into your store and use the rest of your hand as items in stock to sell to them. They will then go fight the monsters… If they win, you earn glory for being the shop that sold them the items… If they die… well at least they can’t leave a bad review? At the end of the game, whoever has the most gold and glory will win the game! It’s good fun, simple, light, and just ever so charming. (RRP £39.99)

All these games, at time of writing, are either available at all your local FLGs (or at least the distributors) or are available to pre-order. Support local this Christmas and enjoy sharing the hobby with your loved ones this year!

Board Game Addict

Drew!

Updates and what's happening...

So, sadly I'm writing this having shut down the cafe for the second time.

As of Thursday, 5th November, all hospitality must close except for Takeaway or Delivery, till December 2nd (at earliest), including Meeple Perk. We have taken the decision to currently shut down the cafe entirely, with the potential we may open for click+collect retail products for any Christmas shoppers. This isn't 100% set in stone currently, as we need more information on how we can operate and what we could offer our community.

This means that the Board Games Rental, is currently on hold, but will return in the future, once it is deemed safe.

So, how are we feeling about all of this?

Well I, Rhi, am relieved to be perfectly honest.

Each week the rules were changing and we didn't know what was happening from one day to the next. Scouring the internet for further information because we'd seen a rumour of closures or further limitations on groups meeting leaked to the papers. Which, let's be honest, is exhausting!

We're not, ecstatic about the closures, as everyone knows it's lost income, it's worries for small and micro businesses and it's wondering will we survive the winter, BUT in our case we know it was the right decision. I won't get into the politics of when it should have happened, if I feel the Tories are doing enough, that's not what this blog is for. I will say that we will be ok. We should see the New Year and your local board games cafe will return, even if slightly changed to adhere to any new restrictions.

We still have a Ko-Fi page, so if you do want to support us during these trying times feel free to drop a donation on: www.ko-fi.com/meepleperk

There is also the potential opportunity for us to re-open once a week and perform Click+Collect retail orders, Board Games Rentals and delicious Coffee. We'll update you when we have a final decision on that though but for now, just know, we are ok and we hope you are as well.

Take care of yourselves, and your loved ones and we'll see you all in four weeks, if not sooner.

Much love,

Rhi

Resident Coffee Addict of Meeple Perk

Our new found hobby as Twitch Streamers!

Hello Everybody!

So some of you may not know that Drew and I have been using our spare time when we're not at the cafe to start Twitch streaming video games and board games and let me tell you... It's been bloody amazing!

I didn't know what to write a blog about for a little while now because everything became very rinse repeat, and my routine was stagnating mostly because I wasn't needing to leave the house etc, unless we had work. So I felt myself slumping back into that lockdown feeling where I didn't have time for things I enjoyed anymore, like yoga which had been an on-off emotional outlet for me when not working. But now that I know I have a schedule I have to keep with my followers, I have to have a shower and do my make up (by choice! I could stream without if I wanted), it's added that structure my days are missing. Plus it's just an amazing confidence boost, getting to sit there and share a game I love with people online and have them interact with me about the game. Literally an incredible feeling which has really boosted my mental health this past two weeks.

Additionally, both Drew and I have hit Affiliate status on Twitch! Drew has his adorable emotes which I'll show case below, and a fourth emote when he gets over 15 subscribers! This means we can earn money whilst also doing something else we love (even if it's just a few dollars).

Created by the amazing SammWinnard

So what's the plan with Twitch?

Well for the moment it's a great creative outlet for me. I haven't really been able to enjoy playing games with people for a while due to restrictions, and although I do love Social Mondays on the Discord Server I feel very limited in what I can do. I don't expect to get huge on a streaming platform, but I do hope to be somewhat successful with it and keep it up when we return to longer hours in the future.

Right now I'm finding my niche in the online Twitch community, which will probably be point and click adventure games (my not so secret game passion). I've joined a few different Discord communities to learn more about how to get better at interacting with chat, and about creating your own branch for your channel and it's been a lot of fun to have them support me and come to watch me stream. It's like finding another little family to push me through these difficult times when I can't do my actual job to the fullest.

For now though, I'll mostly be having fun streaming games I enjoy with the people I like and chatting rubbish on the internet. No grand plans just enjoying myself.

But how is it really improving your mental health you might ask...

Well for starters as I said above, routine. I have to keep to my schedule or potentially disappoint my followers, so I have to get all my daily jobs done before I stream because afterwards I'm too wiped to do anything else (except Mondays when I host Social Gaming!)

But aside from the obvious of routine, it's a social outlet for me. I've been awful over lockdown at hiding from interacting socially with people and finding ways to avoid it because I was too drained, or mentally didn't feel up to it. Being on camera though and chatting outloud about a game I love and references to different aspects is just so much more enjoyable for me than typing a text, or online message. I feel like I'm in a conversation with people I haven't seen in months while I read their chat messages and answer their questions or get their input on a game. Plus, I've met some awesome people through joining a new community and even had the opportunity to play games with small streamers I follow in the US.

Finally, it's given me a reason to get dressed on my days off. That sounds awful I know but knowing I want to look presentable and do my make up for the streams make me more productive (even if I am wearing PJ bottoms with my geeky t-shirt!)

I think I've rambled long enough about my new found love of streaming. If you have the chance please check out the Official Meeple Perk channel on www.twitch.tv/meepleperk!

We will be streaming board games every Wednesday 6-9PM and Drew will host other streams throughout the week. If you want to check in on me, Rhi, my channel is www.twitch.tv/rhibles and I stream Monday 3-6PM, Wednesday 6-9PM with Drew, and Thursday 6-9PM.

Take care everyone and make sure to find joy in the small things!

Rhi

Resident Coffee Addict of Meeple Perk