The Weekly Grind - January 29th, 2023 Newsletter
This week will be 3 months since Critical Grind opened and I can't believe it. 3 MONTHS! Where did the time go? It feels like it was yesterday, but I also feel like we've been here forever.
I love that new people are finding us every day, and that has so much to do with all of you, our lovely players & customers. Thank you.
Last week was kinda slow, which was sad. I completely blame the snow. But Saturday was awesome! Saturday was our first Company Spotlight Event and we featured Studio Agate. Kevin, one of their American/Midwest employees, came to the cafe for the day. We hosted 2 tables of Fateforge, a 5e-based compendium, and then Kevin ran a one-shot of Studio Agate's original RPG, Shadows of Esteren. A great time was had by all!
One change Shaun and I have decided to make to the schedule is our D&D/RPG nights. As of this week, we are officially declaring Thursdays are D&D nights, and every other Friday is RPG Night (the first one will be on February 17th). We will post on Facebook in the Critical Grind Gaming Meet-Up Group and the RPG Players Group what the specialized RPGs will be. Discussed so far have been Powered by the Apocalypse, Firefly, The One Ring, Pathfinder, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Overisles, Victorious, and Thirsty Sword Lesbians... and probably some others I can't remember right now.
Some changes around the cafe you may not have seen yet... we rearranged the furniture. Put the cozy couch & chairs up front and added a new big table to the back gaming room. I added a couple of signs for our Syrup Flavors and DIY Toasts. And we have a Little Free Library now. A lovely customer dropped off a few mystery books and so I put up a shelf and decided people can take a book; leave a book.
We have some great upcoming events you won't want to miss out on.
Our first Magic the Gathering Draft Tournament is February 10th. It's $15 to participate and the event is from 6pm - 11pm. Only 12 seats are available so we recommend stopping in and paying in advance to secure your spot.
Sunday, February 12th will be our first Terrain Workshop. Learn how to build terrain for your role-playing games, war-gaming, kid's school dioramas, or just to have a cool display for your miniatures. This event is $5 and includes material and instruction.
Sunday, February 19th is our first live music event. Local musician, Demi Clara, will be here performing from 4pm-7pm. This event is free, though we strongly encourage attendees to tip the performer.
Saturday, February 25th is our next Company Spotlight event! Calliope Games will be here to teach you how to play their games. The creator of Roll For It, and the co-creators of Mass Transit, will be here to sign copies of their games. They'll also be bringing a copy of Four Corners, the newest Calliope Game to hit Kickstarter.