Silent Auction Rules & Another Preview

The silent auction this year will have a lot of games and other goodies. The way it works is simple. There will be a display of auction items and each item or lot will have an auction slip. Just place your bid and if on Saturday at 8:00 pm you have the highest bid, you are the winner. We will be accepting cash or check (made out the the Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry). You do not need to be present to win, but please make arrangements if it looks like you won't be there and might win.

Das Buch

The preview for today is The Settlers of Catan: The Book. If that title doesn't sound familiar, it is because this game was only published in the German language as Das Buch. This version comes with an English translation of the rules included. The game comes unpunched and according to the prices I see on eBay, it looks to be quite valuable. So, what is this game? It is actually a book with 15 expansions for Settlers of Catan!! Those expansions are:

1. The Atoll
2. The Bermuda Triangle
3. Catan Express
4. El Dorado
5. The Explorers
6. The Fleets
7. The Colonies
8. The Great Race
9. The Treasure Hunters
10. The Specialists
11. The Storm Tides
12. Transport Settlers
13. The World of Catan
14. Westward
15. The Desert Riders

Auction Preview: Western Lot

The next item in the auction preview is actually a group of items - the Western Lot. This includes very popular Homesteaders (donated Dragon's Lair), The Good The Bad and the Munchkin (donated by Will Schoonover), Six Gun, and a Texas dice bag. Winner takes all! We decided to do some lots this year because of feedback from past attendees. A lot of people were interested in items they couldn't get elsewhere, or non-game items that were game related. So look for more of these this year. Some of these items are stand alone (like the dice tray), the others will be included in lots.

Western Lot

Auction Preview: Canal Mania

Did you know that we have a small sampling of games that you can bid on right now? Over on boardgamegeek.com, our good friend Christiopher Fritel has set up an online auction for some great boardgames. Just like the other Give to Game events, all of the money raised from the online auction will benefit the Bastrop County Emergency Food Bank. The online auction closes this Sunday night, so now's your chance to help out even if you can't make it to the event. If you can make it, you'll pay no shipping cost and be able to pick up the game (and play it) at the event!

Online Auction - Canal Mania - Donated by Great Hall Games

Auction Preview: Talisman

Next up in the auction preview is Talisman: Fourth Edition! Grant Johnson has not only donated a brand new copy of the game, but he has also painted all of the figures. Thank you Grant! If you have ever painted minis, you know it is time consuming but well worth the effort. Now is your chance to to have a full color Wizard, Warrior, and all the rest without having to pick up a paint brush. Just remember to bring a bag of gold coins to the event so you can bid (though we prefer cash or checks).

Painted Talisman Figures

More Donations!

Marc Majcher has donated several copies of his game Fluffy Bunny Tea Party to Give to Game! The game is all about being ridiculously polite to the very players who are serving you game-losing desserts. Try to maintain your composure while doing this and maintaining your role as a bunny at a tea party!

Additionally, I just picked up a big game donation from Betty Dingus. Betty has donated to the past three Give to Games and has helped make the door prize table as awesome as it is. With this donation, I'm pretty confident that everyone will get to take home a game from the door prize table just for attending. Thank you Betty!

Give to Game 2010 Library

I have created a list of games that I will be bringing to Give to Game for the library. I tried to pick a good variety from my collection. Last year, a lot of people brought their own games, so between the library and those games, there will be definitely not be a shortage of things to play. Get ready to play!

Only Four More Days!

Time is flying. I have been very busy this week. I got the key for the building - always a good thing. I printed off the tags for the auction items as well as the rules. Last night I was preparing the raffle items and their ticket boxes. There are eight lots of games that you can enter to win (one of them is a mystery box). I'll be heading over to CAFB to pick up the food boxes to we have a place to store our grocery bags. Still lots to do!

One thing you can do is make sure to let everyone know that it is this Saturday! Clear your schedules and get ready to play some games.

Last Days of Thought Hammer Deal

I just wanted to remind everyone that the deadline for ordering games with the special deal from Thought Hammer is this Monday (the 5th). Here's why you should order:

• You will get free shipping to Give to Game no matter how few games you purchase.
  
• %5 of the total sales will be donated to the Capital Area Food Bank.
  

For more details, see our Thought Hammer Special Deal page.

The Game Auction

We will be having a game auction this year again at Give to Game. Last year we had a lot of fun with it, and we hope to have even more this year since it will be a regular auction (instead of a silent one). You won't have to feel bad if you overbid because all money collected from the auction will go directly to the Capital Area Food Bank. I have just finished making a list of auction items. You can browse this list here:

Give to Game 2010 Auction Preview

The auction will start at 7:00pm and should last about an hour. Depending on how fast it goes and how many people are clamoring to bid, we may add more.

During the day of the event, up until the auction starts, each of the items will be available to examine and purchase. There will be a "Buy it now" listed on all of the auction games. This is for people who can't stay for the auction, or people who just want to make sure nobody else steals it from them at the auction.

Hope to see you there! And make sure to bring some cash!

What Did Dingus Bring Us?

So Betty Dingus did it again! She donated around 60 more games!!! I had to cram it all in my car just to get it home. I just got through sorting them out last night, and still can't believe it. It went across the spectrum from Fortress America to Dungeon Twister. There are a lot of out-of-print games that I know a lot of people would love to get their hands on. I still need to sort out which will go in the auction and which will go in raffles. I'll post more info soon.

I can't stress enough that you need to remember to bring some cash to the event! There will be plenty of opportunities to get some great games!

One Month Countdown

Only one more month until Give to Game! (Actually, it was one month yesterday)

We're slowly getting things ready. I picked up some games from Great Hall on Friday. It was a very generous donation! Thanks again Great Hall! After sorting things out, we have a good number of door prizes, raffles items, and auction items.

Speaking of auctions, this year we're going to have an old-fashioned auction. Last year's silent auction was fun, but I think it would be better for the cause to have a called out one. I asked Jonathan Grabert if he would help out this year and call the auction. I've only experienced his auction abilities in board game situations, but he gets my seal of approval. As we get closer to the event, I'll be posting a list of auction items.

Picking Up a Donation

I took a trip to Dragon's Lair last night and picked up their donations to Give to Game. They donated a $20 gift certificate to their store and some games. Initially, I was only expecting to get one game, but I was surprised to receive two!

The first game donated is Change Horses. I haven't played this one, but it looks interesting. Its a a horse racing game where you secretly own a horse. At the end of the game, the the player that bet on the last place horse wins.

The second game donated is Age of Gods. This is a game where you are playing as ancient gods who are helping their chosen tribes conquer the land. Sounds like fun!

Thanks Dragon's Lair! Look for a chance to win these at Give to Game!

Thought Hammer's Helping Out Again!

We asked Thought Hammer, the Austin-based online board game store, if they'd like to help out again this year, and they emphatically said yes! This year they're going to be doing something a bit different and very awesome! Here's the deal...

Thought Hammer "Give to Game" Special

If you place an order with Thought Hammer by April 5th, 2010 and use a special coupon code, you can get free shipping to the Give to Game event. On top of that, a donation of 5% of the total sales from this deal will be donated to the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas.

Here are the Details:

• The order cutoff date is the end of the day on Monday, April 5th, 2010.
• In the shipping section, just put your normal address and check "Add to existing order" if the order is less than $100, and in the comments section, put "This is for Give to Game".
  
• Use the coupon code TH_GTG_10 in the discount coupon section.
• The shipping will be free, but all games will be delivered to the event. Again, you won't receive your games until they are handed out on Saturday, April 10th, at Give to Game. Do not use this deal if you don't plan on attending.
  
• If you order anything that is backordered or pre-ordered, and
  it does not show up by Monday April 5th, then it won't ship with the other
  games, and they will cancel it and refund you the money.
• If you have any questions, contact us or Thought Hammer and we'll get it sorted out.

[EDIT: You need to check "Add to existing order" if the order is less than $100]

Game Library

I have posted a list of games on boardgamegeek.com that I will be including in the game library.

You can add to the list any game you plan on bringing. You can also use it to let people know what you might be interested in playing.