Weekly Events October 21 - 27
Written by Jim Ziegler Last week we saw the unprecedented leak of a full terabyte of data from Game Freak, the company behind the Pokemon video games. From these internal documents we were able to reference sheets for both the video games and anime, cut Pokemon designs, playable builds for several games, and details on the development of characters long before their designs were finalized. One of the most interesting things to be leaked was a set of text files containing Pokemon mythology. These stories are designed to mimic real-world mythology, and influence the game designers and writers without ever being explicitly referenced, the same way that myths and legends inspire us today without ever thinking about them. Think about it: minotaurs appear in Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, and Yu-Gi-Oh, among other games, but how often do you stop to think about how the first minotaur came to be? Myths can be problematic, so we have a habit of cleaning them up before we share them with our children. Imagine if Disney’s Hercules was accurate to the myth, and Hercules took on the trials not to impress his father, Zeus, but to do penance for murdering Megara and their children. It would be a much darker story, and in no way appropriate for Disney’s target audience. The leaked Pokemon myths are much darker than anything found in the games, but not as dark as a lot of real-world mythology. In fact, they follow the themes of common Japanese folklore, except that the yōkai from the myths are replaced by Pokémon. These myths aren’t canon to the franchise, and never make it into the games or anime (except for the Sinnoh Folk Stories books and that one episode of the anime), but instead add to the depth of the Pokémon World. This is the type of worldbuilding that leads to a believable world with a robust history and mythology all its own. Gam3Escape’s Monthly TCG Trade Night Tuesday, 6:00 PM Bring your trade binder and find those missing cards you’ve been looking for. Trades only. Entry fee: $5 IN THE WORLD OF POKÉMON Surging Sparks Prerelease Saturday, 6:30, Sunday 3:00 Celebrate the newest Pokémon TCG set with an early look during the Surging Sparks prerelease event! Each player receives a Build & Battle Box from which to build their deck, and then competes for prizes. Entry fee: $30 Pokémon League Casual Play + Pokéween Monday and Saturday at 6:00 PM, Sunday at noon Receive a pack of your choice from any in the store, as well as a promo pack. Participants are entered into the end-of-season prize pool, and also receive a Halloween BOOster pack. Entry fee: $10 Pokémon Scarlet & Violet VGC Casual League Thursday, 6:00 PM Explore the Paldea region in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. Meet new Pokémon, and battle it out with other Trainers at Gam3Escape’s VGC Casual League. Entry fee: $5 Pokémon GO Great League Blind 3 & Trade Night Monday and Wednesday, 6:00 PM Do you play Pokémon GO? Interested in meeting up with other players and playing in sanctioned Pokémon events? Gam3Escape hosts Pokémon GO League events. Stop in from 6pm to 9pm for our Great League blind 3 casual play and trade night. Entry fee: $5.00 Pokémon GO Scavenger Hunt Grab an achievement sheet in-store and GO out to collect them! Complete the scavenger sheet to earn a booster pack and a promo pack, and to be entered into a drawing for an Elite Trainer Box and other prizes. Entry fee: $10 GATHER FOR MAGIC Friday Night Magic: Trick or Treat! Duskmourn 6-Pack Sealed Friday, 6:00 PM Come in for a Trick bag containing 4 Duskmourn: House of Horror packs and 2 random Magic packs, build a 40-card deck from your pulls, and face off against other players. Standard Showdown Saturday, 3:00 PM Adorable bunnies mix with nightmare monsters in the Duskmourn Standard Showdown. Standard constructed format. Entry fee: $10 Casual Commander Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 6:00 PM. The most popular format in Magic, Commander, is back on the table. Bring your favorite deck, or playtest a new one against other magicians. No entry fee: These battles are for honor, not prizes! TIME TO DUEL! Yu-Gi-Oh! Advanced Constructed Tournament Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 7:00 PM Duel for supremacy in the Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game. Earn booster packs and OTS Tournament Packs while demonstrating your skills as a duelist. Entry fee: $10 A WHOLE NEW WORLD Shimmering Skies Lorcana League Monday, & Saturday, 6:30 PM The adventures in the Inklands continue with Locana League. Bring your sealed deck, or join the fun! The initial entry fee includes a starter deck of your choice, a booster pack, and a 200-card deck box to keep your sealed cards from getting mixed up with your collection. Entry fee: $25 (one-time charge) STAR WARS: UNLIMITED Casual Play League Tuesdays, 6:00 PM Whether you’re an aspiring Jedi, a sinister Sith, or a bounty hunter looking for your next score, Star Wars: Unlimited has all the excitement of your favorite space opera in cardboard form. THIS MEANS WAR(HAMMER)! Casual Warhammer Friday & Sunday, 5:00 PM In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. At Gam3Escape, there is only Warhammer! Whether it’s a Tyranid terror or a Blood Angel battalion, stage your army and prepare for battle at the weekly Casual Warhammer event. CARDFIGHT! VANGUARD! Divinez Constructed Tournament Monday, 5:30 PM Bring your cards and get ready to fight! Cardfight! Vanguard is back with weekly tournaments, every Monday night. Entry fee: $6 Pumpkin Painting Contest Halloween Painting Event Saturday, 6pm Pick up an unpainting (artificial) pumpkin from our basket of pumpkins from October 20 to 25. Paint it in store, or at home and bring it back by October 26 at 5pm. Judging October 26 at 6pm. Separate category for youth 17 and under. Entry: $5.00 ($3.00 members) Halloween Costume and Cosplay Contest Halloween Event Saturday, 6pm Come dressed up in your Halloween finery! Categories: Overall, Scariest, Funniest, and youth category (17 and under).Youth under 13 must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Entry: $5.00 ($3.00 for members) Jim writes articles for The Gamer. You can check out his latest articles at: https://www.thegamer.com/author/james-ziegler/ Here is one of his latest articles for the upcoming Pokemon Pocket: https://www.thegamer.com/pokemon-pocket-deck-buikld-guide/
Weekly Events October 14 - 20
Written by Jim Ziegler Haunted houses are a Halloween trope that everyone seems to be able to get behind. The Pokemon anime included a famous episode where Ash died and spent the next several minutes haunting a mansion with Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar, while the games have frequently included abandoned houses with ghostly encounters. Dungeons & Dragons has a classic campaign revolving around vampires, and even Magic now has a plane that’s been absorbed by a house possessed by the demon trapped there. As part of the haunted house theme, Duskmourn: House of Horror introduced a new type of enchantments: Rooms! Rooms are similar to the older split cards, like Research // Development, where you pick a half to play, but since they're permanents, they remain in play. Later you can pay to unlock the other room, gaining both effects. Before the way Rooms work was revealed there was a lot of speculation about their mechanics. Several people even speculated that they would function like the room tiles in the board game Betrayal at House on the Hill. In that game, players start on a central tile and move through closed doors to flip over tiles from a special deck, randomly generating the house as they explore. With the house generating randomly and the second phase occurring based on which room and Omen triggers it, it’s the best example of a roguelike board game! It would be fun to cast Room spells and move a marker into them, similar to Venturing Into The Dungeon, and to have effects to pull your opponents into those rooms but I guess Wizards of the Coast decided that it would be tough on play area management. Except for special occasions. The Commander Party Gam3Escape hosted included dungeon tiles that worked exactly like Betrayal at House on the Hill: For two mana you could open a door to a new room pulled from the room deck, and for one more you could move into that room to gain its effect. Most decks had some room they could benefit from, even if it was just getting a couple of Treasure tokens each turn from the Vault room. If you missed out on the first one, you can catch the next one on Saturday, November 2nd. IN THE WORLD OF POKÉMON Pokémon Day Sunday, 3:00 PM The ever-popular monthly Pokémon Day event is back with all of your favorite activities. See Pokémon Professor Jim to Learn To Play and for help building your new deck at 1:00, then hang around for everyone's favorite activity, Pokémon Bingo. Win packs, promos, and prizes! Remember, all players under 13 must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Entry fee: $10. Pokémon TCG League Challenge Sunday, 3:00 PM Best of 1 format, 30 minute matches, age divisions honored as much as possible based on participation. Deck lists are required, and must be submitted by 2:30 PM. Late and illegible deck lists may not be accepted. Prizes include packs, promos, and other Pokémon merchandise. Entry fee: $7.00 Pokémon League Casual Play + Pokéween Monday and Saturday at 6:00 PM, Sunday at noon Receive a pack of your choice from any in the store, as well as a promo pack. Participants are entered into the end-of-season prize pool, and also receive a Halloween BOOster pack. Entry fee: $10 Pokémon Scarlet & Violet VGC Casual League Thursday, 6:00 PM Explore the Paldea region in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. Meet new Pokémon, and battle it out with other Trainers at Gam3Escape’s VGC Casual League. Entry fee: $5 Pokémon GO Great League Blind 3 & Trade Night Monday and Wednesday, 6:00 PM Do you play Pokémon GO? Interested in meeting up with other players and playing in sanctioned Pokémon events? Gam3Escape hosts Pokémon GO League events. Stop in from 6pm to 9pm for our Great League blind 3 casual play and trade night. Entry fee: $5.00 Pokémon Standard Constructed Tournament Sunday, 3:00pm Show everyone that you’re the best! Like no one ever was! Join the battle at the weekly Standard Constructed Tournament! Regulation F, no deck list required. Entry fee: $7. Pokémon GO Scavenger Hunt Grab an achievement sheet in-store and GO out to collect them! Complete the scavenger sheet to earn a booster pack and a promo pack, and to be entered into a drawing for an Elite Trainer Box and other prizes. Entry fee: $10 GATHER FOR MAGIC Friday Night Magic: Standard Friday, 6:00 PM Bring your best Standard deck, updated with the latest Duskmourn: House of Horror cards. Entry fee: $7 Standard Showdown Saturday, 3:00 PM Adorable bunnies mix with nightmare monsters in the Duskmourn Standard Showdown. Standard constructed format. Entry fee: $10 Casual Commander Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 6:00 PM. The most popular format in Magic, Commander, is back on the table. Bring your favorite deck, or playtest a new one against other magicians. No entry fee: These battles are for honor, not prizes! TIME TO DUEL! Yu-Gi-Oh! Advanced Constructed Tournament Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 7:00 PM Duel for supremacy in the Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game. Earn booster packs and OTS Tournament Packs while demonstrating your skills as a duelist. Entry fee: $10 A WHOLE NEW WORLD Shimmering Skies Lorcana League Monday, & Saturday, 6:30 PM The adventures in the Inklands continue with Locana League. Bring your sealed deck, or join the fun! The initial entry fee includes a starter deck of your choice, a booster pack, and a 200-card deck box to keep your sealed cards from getting mixed up with your collection. Entry fee: $25 (one-time charge) STAR WARS: UNLIMITED Shadows of the Galaxy Store Championship Saturday, 6:00 PM Defend the galaxy or conquer it in the Shadows of the Galaxy Store Championship! Bring you constructed deck and compete for promos and packs in a best-of-three format. Entry fee: $15.00 Casual Play League Tuesdays, 6:00 PM Whether you’re an aspiring Jedi, a sinister Sith, or a bounty hunter looking for your next score, Star Wars: Unlimited has all the excitement of your favorite space opera in cardboard form. THIS MEANS WAR(HAMMER)! Casual Warhammer Friday & Sunday, 5:00 PM In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. At Gam3Escape, there is only Warhammer! Whether it’s a Tyranid terror or a Blood Angel battalion, stage your army and prepare for battle at the weekly Casual Warhammer event. CARDFIGHT! VANGUARD! Divinez Constructed Tournament Monday, 5:30 PM Bring your cards and get ready to fight! Cardfight! Vanguard is back with weekly tournaments, every Monday night. Entry fee: $6 UH Hilo Super Smash Club Super Smash Ultimate Tournament Super Smash Ultimate Saturday, 1:00 PM Double elimination. Casuals between rounds. Bring your own joycon. Entry: $10.00 Jim writes articles for The Gamer. You can check out his latest articles at: https://www.thegamer.com/author/james-ziegler/ Here is one of his latest articles: https://www.thegamer.com/dungeons-dragons-dnd-homebrew.../
Weekly Events October 7 - October 13
Written by Jim Ziegler October is the month to get spooky. It’s the time when we dress up as ghouls and celebrate monsters, ghosts, and goblins and are surrounded by pumpkins and tombstones… at least for a couple weeks, until the stores start putting out Christmas decorations. One Halloween tradition is watching scary movies or series, and Over the Garden Wall is a modern classic. It’s readily available on Hulu, but one of the spookiest things is how easily a series can vanish on a streaming series. Warner Bros. has been on a spree over the last couple of years, canceling finished movies and scrubbing their streaming platforms of content without notice. The most recent victims are a collection of Cartoon Network shows, including the fan-favorite Steven Universe and The Amazing World of Gumball. Several series under the Warner umbrella are no longer available anywhere (unless your Halloween costume involves an eyepatch and a hook), and there’s no indication when more will get the ax. This shines a spotlight on a big problem with streaming services: they can delete your favorite shows at the drop of a dime. Perhaps even worse, they can change your favorite shows. Recently fans have noticed that Disney changed a scene in Lilo and Stitch to show Lilo hiding in an oddly-placed cupboard instead of a dryer, and later removed the scene entirely. Electronic media is as ethereal as a ghost, and can vanish in an instant. There are probably songs on your Spotify playlist that are no longer available on that service, or a favorite series that you can no longer watch on Netflix. If you’re buying packs on MTG Arena or Pokémon TCG Live (or the upcoming Pokémon TCG Pocket), be aware that sooner or later they’ll disappear, along with your money. Now more than ever it’s important to buy physical media. Cherish your pre-revision edition of Volo’s Guide to Monsters, your functional Deadpool PS3 disk, and your rare out-of-print copy of Weird Al’s Peter & the Wolf. And if you want to show your kids your favorite movies or TV shows someday, buy a physical copy before they disappear. IN THE WORLD OF POKÉMON Pokémon League Casual Play + Pokéween Monday and Saturday at 6:00 PM, Sunday at noon Receive a pack of your choice from any in the store, as well as a promo pack. Participants are entered into the end-of-season prize pool, and also receive a Halloween BOOster pack. Entry fee: $10 Pokémon Scarlet & Violet VGC Casual League Thursday, 6:00 PM Explore the Paldea region in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. Meet new Pokémon, and battle it out with other Trainers at Gam3Escape’s VGC Casual League. Entry fee: $5 Pokémon GO Great League Blind 3 & Trade Night Monday and Wednesday, 6:00 PM Do you play Pokémon GO? Interested in meeting up with other players and playing in sanctioned Pokémon events? Gam3Escape hosts Pokémon GO League events. Stop in from 6pm to 9pm for our Great League blind 3 casual play and trade night. Entry fee: $5.00 Pokémon Standard Constructed Tournament Sunday, 3:00pm Show everyone that you’re the best! Like no one ever was! Join the battle at the weekly Standard Constructed Tournament! Regulation F, no deck list required. Entry fee: $7. Pokémon GO Scavenger Hunt Grab an achievement sheet in-store and GO out to collect them! Complete the scavenger sheet to earn a booster pack and a promo pack, and to be entered into a drawing for an Elite Trainer Box and other prizes. Entry fee: $10 GATHER FOR MAGIC Friday Night Magic: War of the Spark Draft Friday, 6:00 PM Relive the War of the Spark this Friday at Gam3Escape. Will Nicol Bolas conquer the multiverse this time? Or will good once again triumph over evil? Entry fee: $22 Standard Showdown Saturday, 3:00 PM Adorable bunnies mix with nightmare monsters in the Duskmourn Standard Showdown. Standard constructed format. Entry fee: $10 Casual Commander Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 6:00 PM. The most popular format in Magic, Commander, is back on the table. Bring your favorite deck, or playtest a new one against other magicians. No entry fee: These battles are for honor, not prizes! TIME TO DUEL! Yu-Gi-Oh! Advanced Constructed Tournament Wednesday, 7:00 PM Duel for supremacy in the Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game. Earn booster packs and OTS Tournament Packs while demonstrating your skills as a duelist. Entry fee: $10 Grand Prix Series Advanced Constructed Tournament Friday, 7:00 PM Entry fee: $10 A WHOLE NEW WORLD Shimmering Skies Set Championship Saturday, 3:00 PM Take to the skies in the Shimmering Skies Set Championship! This core constructed tournament will be played in 50-minute rounds, best of three. Deck lists are required by 2:30 PM and are available online or in-store. Full rules are available online. Entry fee: $35/$25 Shimmering Skies Lorcana League Monday, & Saturday, 6:30 PM The adventures in the Inklands continue with Locana League. Bring your sealed deck, or join the fun! The initial entry fee includes a starter deck of your choice, a booster pack, and a 200-card deck box to keep your sealed cards from getting mixed up with your collection. Entry fee: $25 (one-time charge) THIS MEANS WAR(HAMMER)! Casual Warhammer Friday & Sunday, 5:00 PM In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. At Gam3Escape, there is only Warhammer! Whether it’s a Tyranid terror or a Blood Angel battalion, stage your army and prepare for battle at the weekly Casual Warhammer event. CARDFIGHT! VANGUARD! Divinez Constructed Tournament Monday, 5:30 PM Bring your cards and get ready to fight! Cardfight! Vanguard is back with weekly tournaments, every Monday night. Entry fee: $6 STAR WARS: UNLIMITED Casual Play League Tuesdays, 6:00 PM Whether you’re an aspiring Jedi, a sinister Sith, or a bounty hunter looking for your next score, Star Wars: Unlimited has all the excitement of your favorite space opera in cardboard form. Also check out Jim's latest article in The Gamer: https://www.thegamer.com/dungeons-dragons-dnd-sorcerer-build-guide/
Weekly Events September 30 - October 6
Written by Jim Ziegler The newest edition of Dungeons and Dragons is hitting the shelves, with one core rulebook being released each quarter. The Player’s Handbook hit the shelves two weeks ago, and Gam3Escape hosted a Play Series release event with the first official “5.5e” adventure module. Players were provided with premade character sheets to choose from, and led on a mission to retrieve a unicorn’s missing horn. It’s a simple adventure, made even simpler by the unique, incredibly powerful magic items wielded by each of the level-four characters. Players may be taken aback a bit when they choose a character with names like Bobby, Hank, and Presto, which are a far cry from the more fantastic names thay may come up with themselves like Uthor Stormhooven, Grimaxe the Brave, or Alandrel Valaren. But long-time fans will recognize these characters as important parts of D&D history. All the way back in 1983, Dungeons & Dragons broadcast a Saturday morning cartoon about six friends who were magically transported into “The Realm” after riding the Dungeons & Dragons rollercoaster. It’s a classic isekai story about a bunch of teenagers pulled into a fantastic world struggling to find their way back to the real world, just like The Chronicles of Narnia, Alice in Wonderland, and Sword Art Online. The kids never found their way home, and this adventure finds them aged up significantly, with Bobby, the eight-year-old Barbarian now a muscular seasoned warrior and Uni, the baby unicorn, fully grown and using a Warhorse stat block. Their old antagonist, Venger, is still around, which means that the unfinished final episode of the season where he would have been redeemed is not canon to this adventure. After the players retrieved the missing horn we were left with a happy ending, but also with the knowledge that Venger is still out there causing trouble. And we’ll certainly see him again: Venger appears on the cover of the upcoming Dungeon Master’s Guide, and there are two more Play Series events scheduled for the remaining core rulebooks. Will we finally see how the adventure ends? First Friday Market at Gam3Escape Friday, 5:00 PM Stop by Gam3Escape and check out the First Friday Market vendors! TCG Vendors include @tcg808marketplace, @shakacardz, @tcghawaii, @tcg808rips, & @porygontrainer. @shaylax.ink will be there with her games and kawaii stickers. @daanimehub will be there with their awesome anime and collectibles. @filedabahiadohavai will be there with Brazilian plates! Super excited to try them out. @kamakanassweettreats will have some awesome desserts. Stop by, support local, check them out! There will be Pokemon, Lorcana, and other cards, including slabs, stickers, anime items, and collectibles, ono Brazilian plates and delicious desserts! Keiki Swap Meet at Gam3Escape Sunday, 11:00 AM Gam3Escape is excited to host a very special event for the keiki entrepreneurs in our community. We will have various keiki vendors selling their own special products. Come by and support our future! IN THE WORLD OF POKÉMON Pokémon GO Scavenger Hunt Grab an achievement sheet in-store and GO out to collect them! Complete the scavenger sheet to earn a booster pack and a promo pack, and to be entered into a drawing for an Elite Trainer Box and other prizes. Entry: $10 Pokémon Scarlet & Violet VGC Casual League Thursday, 6:00 PM Explore the Paldea region in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. Meet new Pokémon, and battle it out with other Trainers at Gam3Escape’s VGC Casual League. Pokémon GO Great League Blind 3 & Trade Night Monday, 6:00 PM Do you play Pokémon GO? Interested in meeting up with other players and playing in sanctioned Pokémon events? Gam3Escape hosts Pokémon GO League events. Stop in from 6pm to 9pm for our Great League blind 3 casual play and trade night. Entry: $5.00 Pokémon League Casual Play Monday and Saturday at 6:30 PM, Sunday at noon The $10 entry fee comes with a pack of your choice from any in the store, as well as a promo pack. Pokémon Standard Constructed Tournament Sunday, 3:00pm Show everyone that you’re the best! Like no one ever was! Join the battle at the weekly Standard Constructed Tournament! Regulation F, no deck list required. Entry fee: $7. GATHER FOR MAGIC Friday Night Magic: Droofus’ Cube of Wonder Friday, 6:00 PM Cubemaster Drew has built a one-of-a-kind CUBE, to play Magic in a whole new way. Come check it out! Entry fee: $7 Standard Showdown Saturday, 3:00 PM Adorable bunnies mix with nightmare monsters in the Duskmourn Standard Showdown. Standard constructed format. Entry fee: $10 Duskmourn Commander Party PLUS Monthly Commander Bingo Saturday, 6:00 Gam3Escape's Monthly Commander BINGO Event, plus Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander Party. Receive an extra ticket for playing a Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander. Entry fee: $10 Casual Commander Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 6:00 PM. The most popular format in Magic, Commander, is back on the table. Bring your favorite deck, or playtest a new one against other magicians. No entry fee: These battles are for honor, not prizes! TIME TO DUEL! Yu-Gi-Oh! Advanced Constructed Tournament Wednesday, 7:00 PM Duel for supremacy in the Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game. Earn booster packs and OTS Tournament Packs while demonstrating your skills as a duelist. Entry fee: $10 Rage of the Abyss Premier Advanced Constructed Tournament Friday, 7:00 PM & Saturday, 2:00 PM Celebrate the newest Yu-Gi-Oh! Set, Rage of the Abyss, at Gam3Escape's Premiere Events!. Earn booster packs while demonstrating your skills as a duelist Winner and a random other player receives a RotA playmat and promo card. Entry fee: $22.50 A WHOLE NEW WORLD Shimmering Skies Lorcana League Monday, & Saturday, 6:30 PM The adventures in the Inklands continue with Locana League. Bring your sealed deck, or join the fun! The initial entry fee includes a starter deck of your choice, a booster pack, and a 200-card deck box to keep your sealed cards from getting mixed up with your collection. Entry fee: $25 (one-time charge) THIS MEANS WAR(HAMMER)! Casual Warhammer Friday & Sunday, 5:00 PM In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. At Gam3Escape, there is only Warhammer! Whether it’s a Tyranid terror or a Blood Angel battalion, stage your army and prepare for battle at the weekly Casual Warhammer event. Cardfight! Vanguard Divinez Constructed Tournament Monday, 5:30 PM Bring your cards and get ready to fight! Cardfight! Vanguard is back with weekly tournaments, every Monday night. Entry fee: $6 STAR WARS: UNLIMITED Casual Play League Tuesdays, 6:00 PM Whether you’re an aspiring Jedi, a sinister Sith, or a bounty hunter looking for your next score, Star Wars: Unlimited has all the excitement of your favorite space opera in cardboard form.
Weekly Events September 23 - 29
Written by Jim Ziegler Deep in the house of horror, the elder demon Valgavoth plots to expand his reach beyond the plane of Duskmourn and consume the multiverse. Meanwhile, in Valley, a small mouse named Mabel celebrates her birthday with a strawberry cake. Bloomburrow was by far the cutest set in Magic’s history, and was praised for how welcoming it was for new players. A set based on 1980s horror tropes and packed to the brim with terrifying monsters is about as far from Bloomburrow’s cozy aesthetic as you can get. And while Duskmourn is perfect for the Halloween season, the sudden tonal shift is enough to give players whiplash. New players who started during Bloomburrow are confronted in the very next set with clowns blowing up human heads like balloons, men being turned inside out, and monstrous eyes with teeth in their irises. Veteran Magic players are used to horror elements, from the zombies and vampires dating back to the earliest days to the vampires and werewolves of Innistrad. But Duskmourn is, somehow, a little more horrific. Maybe it’s the alien nature of the horrors that roam the halls, or maybe it;s the more modern aesthetic of 1980s suburbia that serves as the backdrop, but something about it is just SCARY. The next set after Duskmourn will be Foundations, which is specifically targeted towards new players. This makes Duskmourn the filling of a new-player sandwich, crammed as it is between two sets designed to attract new players. IN THE WORLD OF POKÉMON Pokémon Day Sunday, 3:00 PM The ever-popular monthly Pokémon Day event is back with all of your favorite activities. See Pokémon Professor Jim to Learn To Play and for help building your new deck at 1:00, then hang around for everyone's favorite activity, Pokémon Bingo. Win packs, promos, and prizes! Remember, all players under 13 must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Entry fee: $10. Pokémon GO Scavenger Hunt Grab an achievement sheet in-store and GO out to collect them! Complete the scavenger sheet to earn a booster pack and a promo pack, and to be entered into a drawing for an Elite Trainer Box and other prizes. Entry: $10 Pokemon GO League Challenge Sunday, 12:30 PM Join us for Gam3Escape’s Pokémon GO League Challenge! Set up your Great League team and register them with the Gam3Escape tag, and be ready with a team sheet, available online or in-store. Full rules and restrictions here. Entry fee: $7.00 Pokemon GO League Cup Sunday, 2:30 PM Compete in Gam3Escape’s first Pokémon GO League Cup! Set up your Great League team and register them with the Gam3Escape tag, and be ready with a team sheet, available online or in-store. Full rules and restrictions here. Entry fee: $7.00 Pokémon Scarlet & Violet VGC Casual League Thursday, 6:00 PM Explore the Paldea region in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. Meet new Pokémon, and battle it out with other Trainers at Gam3Escape’s VGC Casual League. Pokémon GO Great League Blind 3 & Trade Night Monday, 6:00 PM Do you play Pokémon GO? Interested in meeting up with other players and playing in sanctioned Pokémon events? Gam3Escape hosts Pokémon GO League events. Stop in from 6pm to 9pm for our Great League blind 3 casual play and trade night. Entry: $5.00 Pokémon League Casual Play Monday and Saturday at 6:30 PM, Sunday at noon The $10 entry fee comes with a pack of your choice from any in the store, as well as a promo pack. Pokémon Standard Constructed Tournament Sunday, 3:00pm Show everyone that you’re the best! Like no one ever was! Join the battle at the weekly Standard Constructed Tournament! Regulation F, no deck list required. Entry fee: $7. GATHER FOR MAGIC Duskmourn: House of Horrors Release Draft Friday & Saturday, 6:00 PM Explore the house of horrors at the Duskmourn Release event. Draft your best deck from three packs and vie for dominance in the House of Horrors. Check out the archetype guide before playing in order to have a leg up on the competition. Entry fee: $20 Standard Showdown Saturday, 3:00 PM Adorable bunnies mix with nightmare monsters in the Duskmourn Standard Showdown. Standard constructed format, Casual Commander Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 6:00 PM. The most popular format in Magic, Commander, is back on the table. Bring your favorite deck, or playtest a new one against other magicians. No entry fee: These battles are for honor, not prizes! TIME TO DUEL! Yu-Gi-Oh! Advanced Constructed Tournament Wednesday, 7:00 PM Duel for supremacy in the Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game. Earn booster packs and OTS Tournament Packs while demonstrating your skills as a duelist. Entry fee: $10 Advanced Constructed Tournament Saturday, 2:00 PM Duel for supremacy in the Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game. Earn booster packs and OTS Tournament Packs while demonstrating your skills as a duelist. Entry fee: $5 A WHOLE NEW WORLD Shimmering Skies Lorcana League Monday, & Saturday, 6:30 PM The adventures in the Inklands continue with Locana League. Bring your sealed deck, or join the fun! The initial entry fee includes a starter deck of your choice, a booster pack, and a 200-card deck box to keep your sealed cards from getting mixed up with your collection. Entry fee: $25 (one-time charge) Shimmering Skies Core Constructed Tournament Saturday, 6:30 PM Bring your sealed deck, minimum deck size 60, maximum of any card 4. Prizes include booster packs and other items. Entry: $11.00 THIS MEANS WAR(HAMMER)! Casual Warhammer Friday & Sunday, 5:00 PM In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. At Gam3Escape, there is only Warhammer! Whether it’s a Tyranid terror or a Blood Angel battalion, stage your army and prepare for battle at the weekly Casual Warhammer event. Cardfight! Vanguard Divinez Constructed Tournament Monday, 5:30 PM Bring your cards and get ready to fight! Cardfight! Vanguard is back with weekly tournaments, every Monday night. Entry fee: $6 STAR WARS: UNLIMITED Casual Play League Tuesdays, 6:00 PM Whether you’re an aspiring Jedi, a sinister Sith, or a bounty hunter looking for your next score, Star Wars: Unlimited has all the excitement of your favorite space opera in cardboard form.
Weekly Events September 16 - 22
Written by Jim Ziegler Halloween is just around the corner, and no Halloween season would be complete without a visit to a haunted house. Duskmourn: House of Horrors arrives in stores on September 27th, but Gam3Escape will be providing a special sneak peek this weekend with two Duskmourn sealed prerelease events! Duskmourn is both a house and a plane, stretching toward infinity as an ever-shifting house full of impossible geometry and nightmares come to life. Originally an unobtrusive house on a cul-de-sac in a world similar to Earth in the 1980s, the house was as normal as you could ever want, until the Vendrell family moved in. Teased at school and unhappy in her new home, young Marina Vendrell took to exploring the house. In the basement she found the elder demon Valgavoth, bound to the foundations of the house, desperate to be free. The clever demon quickly befriended the lonely young girl, and introduced her to the grimoires with the rituals that would set him free. Marina was certain that if she freed the demon he would leave, and she would once again be alone. So she hesitated, until her bullies at school grew particularly fierce, and Valgavoth offered to teach them a lesson. Valgavoth fed on Marina’s classmates, but found himself unable to leave the house. But he soon found that the power from the ritual and the lives that he consumed was enough to grow the house. As the old house creeped across the plane, Valgavoth fed and grew even stronger, until he had consumed the entire plane. Duskmourn is his body, and with the help of Tamiyo’s journal, he’s begun to reach out into other planes, ready to feed again. GAM3ESCAPE’S WIN-A-BOX MINIATURE GOLF TOURNAMENT Sunday, 4:00 PM Gam3Escape and Black Light Mini Golf Hilo are hosting a very special miniature golf tournament! Compete against a pod of four to move up the bracket. The champion will receive $175 worth of boosters, accessories, and merchandise! Entry fee: $30 DUNGEONS & DRAGONS D&D 50th Anniversary Play Series—2024 Player's Handbook Sunday, 1:00 PM Uni the unicorn's horn has been magically stolen, and it's up to you to find it! Who could be behind this nefarious deed? An adventure featuring beloved characters from the classic Dungeons & Dragons cartoon series using the new 2024 Player's Handbook rules! Join the adventure and receive a free D&D D20. Entry: $10 ($5 for monthly members or with purchase of the 2024 Player’s Handbook) IN THE WORLD OF POKÉMON Pokémon GO Scavenger Hunt Grab an achievement sheet in-store and GO out to collect them! Complete the scavenger sheet to earn a booster pack and a promo pack, and to be entered into a drawing for an Elite Trainer Box and other prizes. Entry: $10 Pokémon Scarlet & Violet VGC Casual League Thursday, 6:00 PM Explore the Paldea region in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. Meet new Pokémon, and battle it out with other Trainers at Gam3Escape’s VGC Casual League. Pokémon GO Great League Blind 3 & Trade Night Monday, 6:00 PM Do you play Pokémon GO? Interested in meeting up with other players and playing in sanctioned Pokémon events? Gam3Escape hosts Pokémon GO League events. Stop in from 6pm to 9pm for our Great League blind 3 casual play and trade night. Entry: $5.00 Pokémon League Casual Play Monday and Saturday at 6:30 PM, Sunday at noon The $10 entry fee comes with a pack of your choice from any in the store, as well as a promo pack. Pokémon Standard Constructed Tournament Sunday, 3:00pm Show everyone that you’re the best! Like no one ever was! Join the battle at the weekly Standard Constructed Tournament! Regulation F, no deck list required. Entry fee: $7. GATHER FOR MAGIC Duskmourn: House of Horrors Prerelease Friday & Saturday, 6:00 PM Explore the house of horrors at the Duskmourn Prerelease event. Build a deck from six sealed packs and try to survive the horrors within… or add your own brand of terror. Check out the archetype guide before playing in order to have a leg up on the competition. Entry fee: $35 Casual Commander Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 6:00 PM. The most popular format in Magic, Commander, is back on the table. Bring your favorite deck, or playtest a new one against other magicians. No entry fee: These battles are for honor, not prizes! TIME TO DUEL! Yu-Gi-Oh! Advanced Constructed Tournament Wednesday, 7:00 PM Duel for supremacy in the Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game. Earn booster packs and OTS Tournament Packs while demonstrating your skills as a duelist. Entry fee: $10 Advanced Constructed Tournament Saturday, 2:00 PM Duel for supremacy in the Yu-Gi-Oh Trading Card Game. Earn booster packs and OTS Tournament Packs while demonstrating your skills as a duelist. Entry fee: $5 A WHOLE NEW WORLD Shimmering Skies Lorcana League Monday, & Saturday, 6:30 PM The adventures in the Inklands continue with Locana League. Bring your sealed deck, or join the fun! The initial entry fee includes a starter deck of your choice, a booster pack, and a 200-card deck box to keep your sealed cards from getting mixed up with your collection. Entry fee: $25 (one-time charge) THIS MEANS WAR(HAMMER)! Casual Warhammer Friday & Sunday, 5:00 PM In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. At Gam3Escape, there is only Warhammer! Whether it’s a Tyranid terror or a Blood Angel battalion, stage your army and prepare for battle at the weekly Casual Warhammer event. Cardfight! Vanguard Divinez Constructed Tournament Monday, 5:30 PM Bring your cards and get ready to fight! Cardfight! Vanguard is back with weekly tournaments, every Monday night. Entry fee: $6 STAR WARS: UNLIMITED Casual Play League Tuesdays, 6:00 PM Whether you’re an aspiring Jedi, a sinister Sith, or a bounty hunter looking for your next score, Star Wars: Unlimited has all the excitement of your favorite space opera in cardboard form.
