The February earthquake has affected so many lives in so many ways, prompting numerous fundraisers, including our board game auction which raised $2,598.74.

One of the most memorable images was of Christchurch Cathedral, its spire having collapsed.  The building will, sadly, be deconsecrated.

Christchurch Cathedral in the wake of the 2011 earthquake.

In 1962, Robert Moore, then a pilot with the RNZAF, marvelled at how Christchurch Cathedral stood out from the rest of the city, and used it as a landmark against which to gauge his location.

He later went on to design the classic Kiwi board game Cathedral.

The New Year will mark half a century since that flight, and now Brightway Products - the first company to produce the game back in 1979 – is at the helm again with a fantastic wooden version.

The wooden box to Cathedral.

Featuring a fantastic wooden box, Cathedral is made from 100% New Zealand materials, so it should come as no surprise that we at SeriouslyBoard were the first retailer to place an order.

The medieval city depicted in Cathedral.

So in one sense, Christchurch has its Cathedral back.

And besides, who could resist a game with an advertising campaign like this:

Last weekend, many of you will have contributed towards New Zealand’s future, with the help of this funky guy…

The orange election guy!

…but now you can have an impact on the future of Vietnamese street children with Venture Vietnam, a homegrown board game designed by Celia Caughey, former New Zealand Trade Commissioner to Vietnam!

The box of Venture Vietnam.

Venture Vietnam is an educational game about the Southeast Asian country as players race around Vietnam, answering trivia questions as they go, all the while balancing their ever dwindling finances.

The Venture Vietnam game board.

The game costs only $30 and half the profits go towards funding the Ba Chieu Home for street girls, which is run by the Women’s Charity Association of Ho Chi Minh City.

If you’d like to purchase a copy, contact Celia Caughey directly at: celia@primenz.com.

Come on, Kiwis – dig deep and help out the street kids of Vietnam!

Santa relaxing on the beach!

SeriouslyBoard‘s inaugural Secret Santa has had applicants from all over New Zealand, and this month they’ll be buying something for another keen gamer to add to the festive season!

If you signed up, hang tight – we’ll get your target’s details, along with their wishlist, sent to you at some point today!

November is almost at an end, so you don’t have long to sign up with our affordably flexible opportunity to add a bit of Christmas cheer to your board gaming table.

Secret Santa is a simple and fun way to buy a gift for another board gamer, while Santa takes care of you and delivers one to you at the same time!

You can either have us at SeriouslyBoard send an appropriate game to your target, or we can send it to you so that you can customise it, by adding some home baking or anything else that you think might be appreciated.

And it doesn’t even have to stretch your budget far, with the option to spend as little as $20 to make a special addition to someone’s festive season!

So don’t be a grinch!  Make this December a more board gaming Christmas for another Kiwi gamer!

Go on – sign up today.

When we were somewhere between celebrating a 100th birthday and restocking the best selling Forbidden Island, Pixelpark was working hard to enable us to expand our range with a new agreement for Wizards Of The Coast products!

This means that we can now access roleplaying games and board games under the Dungeons And Dragons brand…

Equip yourself with D4 through D20 for anything in the D&D range!

…as well as Avalon Hill titles, such as the much sought after RoboRally.

So if you’re after something for your next dungeon crawl, or you want one of the games that continue to make Avalon Hill great, make sure you get in touch!

With Christmas less than two months away, it’s time to start thinking about gifts – not just what you want to get for others, but also what you’d like others to get for you.

So a national Secret Santa might appeal, where you get to purchase something for an another gamer, and Santa arranges for a gift to find its way to your place.

We obviously don’t want to ask people to pay more than they feel they can afford, but we also don’t want folk to receive something of lesser value than they’re prepared to pay.

The simplest solution to this seems to be to let you select your own price range!

So here’s how it works:

1. To sign up, simply go here.
2. During the sign up process, select which price range you’re comfortable with.  This will be the same price range for the product you’ll receive from Santa.
3. List no less than three games in your price range that are on your “wishlist” – these can be standard SeriouslyBoard stock items, or they can be other modern board games that we may be able to source.  (You can include a group of cheaper games for Santa to combine into one package if you prefer.)
4. We’ll contact Santa with your wishlist, and he’ll arrange a present for you.  In the meantime, he’ll ask you to organise a gift for someone else in your price range.
5. Secret Santa will last for the season of winter, so Santa will be in touch at the beginning of July, and he’ll be auditing you at the end of August to make sure you’ve bought a gift for someone else.
6. If you’d like to send a personal message with the gift your purchase, just mention that with your purchase.  And if you’d like to add something additional, such as home made baking, we can send the package to your home and leave it up to you to forward it on.

So what are you waiting for?  Sign up today!

We found ourselves back at the venue nice and early for gamers to join us for another fun day.

Niki, one of the BGBTB crew, looks after registrations.

Just as Saturday had a Settlers Of Catan event, Sunday brought with it a free entry giant game of Wings Of War, and a keen gamer from Otago had generously donated a couple of prizes.

Two mugs, one for first ace and one for overall champion.

The opportunity to shoot at each other seemed to appeal, and soon a crowd had formed.

The gamers - some completely new to Wings Of War - undergo basic flight training.

So with many gamers completely new to the game, we had some local, (and some not so local), assistance with running the game, relying on their experience as we set a New Zealand record of 16 pilots in one match.

Jody (blue cap) and Ian were invaluable when it came to guiding everyone through the basics.

Before long, the two teams were flying headfirst at each other…

The battle lines are drawn as the planes prepare for impact.

As one flank on the Allies moved to engage the enemy…

Combat ensues on the right flank.

…a couple of Allies on the opposite flank got some pre-battle nerves and changed their minds.

Run away! Run away! Tactical retreat!

The fighting was soon upon us as the Central Powers took an early lead.

The Central Powers quickly find themselves with a numerical advantage.

But the Allies somehow managed to turn the tables, eventually outnumbering and defeating their opponents.

The writing is on the wall for the last Central Powers pilot.

And the mugs were handed out to the deserving winners.

Andrew (left) won the overall award for the Allies, while Ian (Central Powers) claimed the first ace mug.

But of course, it wasn’t all Wings Of War. We also had a bit of a clean up…(cough)…

A game of Endeavor having its pieces collected.

…and actual gaming!

A bit of Alhambra fun!

It was a fantastic day to round off a fantastic weekend – and it all finished in time for us to get home and witness this:

We’d like to thank everyone who turned up, but especially the likes of Niki, Russell, Jody, and Ian, who went the extra mile to help make Board Games By The Bay Tauranga the fantastic event that it was.

We’ll be putting on more Board Games By The Bay events in the coming months, so be sure to keep an eye on the BGBTB website, this blog, or our Facebook page to keep up with developments!

We were really excited by the turn out at Board Games By The Bay today, with the gaming space getting filled out pretty quickly.

Gamers gamin' at Board Games By The Bay Tauranga.

One of the great things about events like Board Games By The Bay is that people can just wander in, grab a game, and start playing.

Another view of gamers early on Saturday.

We were ably helped by a fantastic and expansive gaming library, with our own collection boosted by those of others.

Setting up the library on Saturday morning.

Outside of copious amounts of casual gaming and spot prizes donated by PixelPark, Dr. Wood, and us at SeriouslyBoard, the big focus of Saturday was the inaugural New Zealand Settlers Of Catan tournament.

The contestants started off as a rather jovial bunch, so we stood them all up against a wall and shot them…with a camera.

The tournament entrants in an upbeat mood prior to the gaming.

…but it was all game faces when things got underway.

Our Catan tourney entrants get down to business.

The prize on offer was a 15th Anniversary edition of Settlers Of Catan, complete with lots of wooden goodness!

The board layout for the tournament final, using the prize itself.

And by the end of the day, we had our four finalists.

The four finalists battle it out for victory.

As the final drew to a climax, the spectators couldn’t help themselves.

A small crowd gathers as the game promises a close finish.

But there can be only one, with James Walden (playing brown) taking out the tournament by snatching the Longest Road to claim victory.

The board layout at the conclusion of the final.

So we stood him up against the wall and shot him. Again.

There can be only one. James Walden with the spoils of victory.

Saturday was such an enjoyable day and we received plenty of great feedback. We had folk join us who are new to the hobby and keen to see what it’s all about. Across the day, more than 50 people joined us and got involved with gaming.

But Sunday is another day, with a free-for-all game of Wings Of War that is free to enter, but which has a couple of great prizes on offer.

Prizes kindly donated by a keen Wings Of War gamer for our giant sortie.

We’re really excited to see what’s in store for us on day two!

With Board Games By The Bay – two full days of gaming goodness – kicking off in Tauranga this weekend, the SeriouslyBoard crew are going to be somewhat occupied.  (If you’re in the area, we’d love to see you!)

This means that if you’re trying to make contact with us, it may take a little longer than usual to respond.  But fret not, because we will respond.

Our temporary distraction will also mean that some games may now appear out of stock as they’ll be at our stall at the event.  But again, fret not.  Just drop us a line, and if we have a copy at the stall, we’ll let you know and we can pull it aside for you so that nobody else can claim it as theirs.

And by Sunday night, the pain will be over because we’ll be back on board, (as will our stock), and hopefully witnessing something like this:

And that means you don’t have to wait long to get to our extensive games library, spot prizes, Settlers Of Catan tournament, or our Wings Of War record attempt!

Board Games By The Bay is a great excuse to play board games for an entire weekend, and it’s hitting Tauranga in one week’s time on October 22nd and 23rd!

There will be prizes, games for sale, an officially sanctioned Settlers Of Catan tournament for those who register no later than October 20th, and we’re also going to attempt the biggest Wings Of War game in New Zealand!

Add to that the chance to meet other gamers and play heaps of titles, Board Games By The Bay is set to be a cracker!

Saturday runs from 10am until 10pm, and Sunday runs from 10am until 6pm – leaving you enough time to find a television for the Rugby World Cup final!

Tickets are just $10 for the day or $15 for the weekend, or get a discount by registering by October 20th.

Go on – register today!