Author: T3d-1978

Star Wars Imperial Assault Minis!

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Watch out! The Galactic Empire is advancing their forces, and it’s only up to the brave heroes of the Rebel Alliance to stop them! Join your friends in Star Wars Imperial Assault to stop Darth Vader and his forces.

Here at Off the Shelf Games, you can fully enjoy the 1-5 player tactical board game with fully painted minis! We finished the final ones live on twitch, which you can watch here. Otherwise, you can see all of the finished products down below – heroes, storm troopers, and everyone in-between.

The Painted Minis

  • The heroes, together
  • Luke Skywalker
  • Fenn Signis
  • Mak Eshka’rey
  • Gaarkhan
  • Gideon Argus
  • Jyn Odan
  • Diala Passil
  • Nexu
  • Red Troopers
  • Blue Troopers
  • Grey Troopers
  • Trandoshan Hunters
  • Royal Gaurd
  • Darth Vader

Watch the Livestreams Here!

Here’s all the streams we’ve recorded painting the Star Wars Imperial Assault minis, uploaded to Youtube for your viewing convenience! As of this moment, we’re still trying to get them all uploaded, so you may not be able to find all the videos you want. Don’t worry! We promise we’re getting them uploaded as soon as possible.

The first full livestream for Imperial Assault

If you want to join in with the fun, join us on Twitch every Saturday morning from 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM where we’ll be going through our library of 700+ games and painting every mini we find! And if this isn’t your jam, tell a friend! We always appreciate the support, and hope that they’ll find something they’ll enjoy too.

Ogre Zombie Paint Night

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Calling all painters! We’re back with another virtual paint night – this time with the aptly themed Ogre Zombie!

“From somewhere in the darkness, a gurgling moan
is heard. A form lurches into view, dragging one foot
as it raises bloated arms and broken hands. The
zombie advances, driven to kill anyone too slow to
escape its grasp.”

-The Monster Manuel, p. 316

Due to current restrictions, instead of a classic paint night in the store we will be livestreaming on our Twitch channel. Starting at 3:30 pm Friday, October 30th, one of our resident painters will be going through and showing everyone how to paint their own ogre. What’s more, you only need to buy the kit to join in! These kits come with everything you need to paint (except for a paper towel and water).

You can get this kits now at Off the Shelf Games from our retail section. If you miss out on the livestream, no problem! The livestream will be up on Twitch and YouTube after the fact, and you can always watch the video WizKids made and follow along with them.

We hope to see you on the 30th for a spooky time painting!

Off the Shelf Games Halloween Special!

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In honor of Halloween, and to maintain our spirit during these hard times, we’re going to have a fun event! If you wear a costume to the store from Friday, October 23 – Sunday, November 1, you’ll get 2 food tokens when you stay and play!

You can exchange these food tokens for snacks at our store (1 food token = $1 of snacks), so you won’t have to worry about a growling stomach while you’re planning your winning move!

And we’ll even post some pictures of our customers in costume to celebrate the Halloween that could have been! So join in with the spirit and fun, and we’ll see you soon for a spook-tacular event!

Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures!

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We love painting minis for our D&D adventures.  Here are some of the Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures (specifically Nolzur’s Marvelous Miniatures) that people have painted at our store! If you have a mini that you’d like to show off, send us some pictures and we’ll post it on our website!

  • Painted by Kittie
  • Painted by Kittie
  • Painted by Kittie

 

And if you would like to paint a mini, come visit us in El Cajon, CA and use our paint station!  Complete with wet palette set up, brushes, magnifying glass, and paint!

Renting Board Games – All the Fun at a Fraction of the Cost!

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Board Game Library Home
Board Game Library A-Z
>>Board Game Rentals
Stay and Play

Did you know you could rent board games? Most of our games in our library of over 700 games are now available for rent! Explore new games at a fraction of the cost. If you want to rent board games, just stop by the store and follow these steps – it’s that easy!

Board Game Rental fees are $8.00 for a Three-day period ($4.00 for Members). First time renters will be asked to sign a rental agreement, and a valid credit card must be placed on file. Late fees will be assessed at $4.00 per day ($2.00 for members) for a maximum of five days, after which you will be charged the MSRP value of the game, in addition to the late fees and rental charge. Two games may be rented at a time. All games will be sanitized and be unavailable for play for three days after return. Reservations for games are available. Games must be returned in the condition received. Games returned damaged or with missing pieces will be charged the MSRP value of the game, in addition to the late fees (if any), and rental charge.

Our library of games is constantly growing, and an updated list can be seen in the Board Game Library A-Z page.

Most popular BoardGames rented

Updated January 2021 – we have been renting out board games for about 6 months now, and were curious what has been the most popular boardgame to rent. Well, here are the top 6 most rented games in 2020, and its no surprise, these are all great games!

Arkham Horror Third Edition (1-6 players) Fantasy Flight Games
New York Zoo (1-5 players) Feuerland Spiele
Quacks of Quedlinburg (2-4 players) Northstar Games
Dungeons & Dragons: The Legend of Drizzt (1-5 players) Wizards of the Coast
Minecraft Builders and Biomes (2-4 players) Ravensburger
Wingspan (1-5 players) Stonemaier Games

Top 10 2-Player Games

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Hi guys, this is Jerry, and with so many of us staying home these days, a lot of us have turned to playing games. So today I thought I would focus on 2-player-only games. Now I don’t personally play a lot of 2-player-only games, because there is usually 4 of us wanting to play games, but I know that there are a lot of couples out there, and these games are great ways to spend time together. I wish that these had been around when my wife and I were younger (prior to children), we basically played a lot of card games back then. (Canasta, Rummy, Cribbage….) Now this list isn’t a comprehensive list, but it’s a list of 2-player-only games I have played and enjoyed (it just so happens to consist of 10 games….. what are the odds?) I hope you enjoy my list of favorite 2 player boardgames!

Check out our video here!

10. Star Wars Destiny – A cool and quick collectible card game with dice set in the Star Wars universe.

9. The Fox in the Forest Duet – A cooperative trick taking card game that is surprisingly strategic.

8. Battle Line Medieval – A great back and forth card playing game where you’re trying to control various points along a line between the players.

7. Jaipur – A great little set collection/hand management game with some press your luck thrown in.

6. The Fox in the Forest – A nice trick taking game, with special abilities. The competitive version of Duet.

5. Patchwork – A Tetris like tile placing game that’s a whole lot of fun!

4. Naga Raja – A different game with some really cool little features, and a cool Indiana Jones feel theme.

3. Arkham Horror the card game – This is much longer game, but worth it! A great story telling game set in the Cthulhu universe.

2. 7 Wonders Duel – Set Collection and drafting civilization game, with multiple paths to victory. So Much Fun!

1. Blitzkrieg! – This is a great tug of war/ Back and forth type game with a WWII theme! It’s a bag pulling game and is quick and so much fun!

So there’s my list. Hope you enjoyed reading it, and if you have a chance, check out these games. Also, did I leave off your favorite game? Let me know, there is a chance I haven’t played it, and I am always looking to play new games. Thanks!

Top 10 Family Games

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Hi guys, this is Jerry again, with Off The Shelf Games, and I’m back with another top 10 list. This week I am doing the top 10 family board games. All these games are great for families with children as young as 6 being able to play and have fun along with the older siblings and parents. This is also a good list for people new to the gaming hobby, and work well as beginner games too. These are all games that I have played and enjoyed, and If you’re looking for games to play with your family, I highly recommend these!

10. Azul – This is a gorgeous tile drafting and pattern matching game where everyone is trying to fill their board with beautiful tiles to score points!

9. New York Slice – is a quirky game where players take turns slicing pizzas into different groups and then claiming those groups. A set collection type game that will leave you hungry for more.

8. Qwirkle – an abstract tile laying game, where you either match the color, or the shape of previously placed tiles!

7. Tsuro – another abstract style, tile laying game where you are trying to be last dragon standing on the board. This one is fun and easy, where you lay a tile and follow the connecting line!

6. Love Letter – a cool little card game, with a little deduction thrown in. You have a hand of one card, and on your turn, you will draw a card and play a card. Quick, simple, and always fun!

5. Carcassonne – a tile playing, city building game. This game is so much fun, and the little world you collectively built is always cool to look at!

4. Ticket to Ride – I would say this may be the granddaddy of family games. You are competing with the other players to build the best Railways across the US. (there are so many versions and expansions now, you can play almost anywhere in the world) Simple rules make it easy to play, and it’s a lot of fun, and looks cool at the end.

3. Sushi Go! – a sushi themed card drafting, set collection game. This one is always a blast to play, and the artwork is really cute!

2. King of Tokyo – a dice rolling, monster game. It is Yahtzee with a theme, but so much better. This is one of those games where you can play it over and over again, and then play it some more!

1. Dixit – a beautiful game that really gets you thinking! This game has you looking at various card, each one unique with great artwork, picking an aspect of that card, and then trying to get another player to pick that card. I love this game, and always enjoy playing it!

Well, there you go. These are all great family games and are worth checking out. Hope you enjoyed this list, and I’ll have another top ten for you next week. Thanks!

Top 10 Upcoming Games!

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As of April 3rd, 2020

Hi guys, this is Jerry again, with Off The Shelf Games. Even though we are on a lock down, there was and is a whole slew of games getting ready to be released. And when this is all over, these will be the ones I’m looking forward to playing the most. I haven’t played any of these games; this is based just on what information has been released for them. So, without any further ado, here is my top 10 upcoming games, not in any order. Enjoy!

10. Kitara by Iello Games – This looks like a cool Area Control type game, with some card drafting. Plus, it has the same name as my Daughter!

9. Santa Monica by AEG – A card drafting, set collection city building game based in Southern California. Looks to be a lot of fun.

8. Mariposas by AEG – Designed by Elizabeth Hargrave, the same designer of Wingspan, but this time it Butterflies not birds. It looks to be a set collection game based on migration. If its anything like Wingspan, it’s going to be great!

7. Tang Garden by Thundergryph Games – A beautiful looking tile placement game where you are building a Chinese garden. With simple turns and lots of ways to score, I’m excited to get this one to the table.

6. Iwari by Thundergryph Games – A Euro type game with some cool looking components.

5. Forgotten Waters by Plaid Hat Games – The newest Crossroads game. It’s a Pirate themed Cooperative storytelling game, that is App supported. I Love Story games, and this one looks Great. I’m really excited for this one!

4. Betrayal at Mystery Mansion by Avalon Hill – A Scooby-Doo Themed Betrayal at House on the Hill….. What more need I say!

3. Far Away by Cherry Picked Games – A 2-player cooperative exploration game with a Sci-Fi theme. Looks to be a heavier 2-player experience than most 2-player only games.

2. Traintopia by Board & Dice – A tile drafting and laying game about trains. What is it that trains have that make them such fun board games?

1. Black Rose Wars by Ludos Magnus Studios – A heavy miniature game with lots of cool mechanics thrown in, this game looks gorgeous and seems like it will be a blast to play!

So, there you have it. We have all these games pre-ordered, so be on the lookout for them once we re-open. And if you are interested in them, give us a call and we will pre-order one for you too! Let me know if there are any games to you are looking forward to and why. Thanks!

Curios

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Quick Overview

Traverse the world as an archeologist as you collect artifacts from one of the four grand locations in this game. You won’t know for sure what each artifact is worth until the end of this 15 minute game, but you’ll have clues given to you along the way, whether it’s the information you were given or the information other players reveal throughout the game. Curios is a super short and super fun game to play with your friends and family, and it’s a great game to play of you don’t have much time!

How To Play