In Store Play Roll Out

In Store Play Roll Out

It's time. After nearly a year of lockdowns and phased reopenings, and with the continuing rollout of the various forms of vaccine, it's time to reopen our gaming space! It's a big step towards a resumption of normal store activities. But with case counts still higher than we would like, it's a step that comes with a number of precautions. So if you're interested in getting out of the house and enjoying our space for a while, read on to learn about when it's happening, how we're doing it, and what you can expect for safety precautions.

In-Store Play: The When

This part's the easy part. Beginning Tuesday, June 1st, we will be reconfiguring our tables to allow for 25% capacity in our gaming area (that's 16 people instead of our previous max capacity of 64). We will also adjust our hours as follows:

  • Monday - Friday: 11 AM - 10 PM
  • Saturday - Sunday: 10 AM - 9 PM 

This is almost normal for us! We'll adjust our hours and capacities further as our team and our customers get more comfortable with gaming in this 'adjusted normal.' 

In-Store Play: The How

Our rollout will begin pretty slowly. For the month of June, our tables will only be open for in-store gaming beginning at 6 PM through to close. We'll also be limiting ourselves to only a few in-person store-sponsored events each week. For example: there will be an in-person prerelease for Modern Horizons 2, but that will be it for that week as far as other in-person events go. This leaves the tables on the rest of the nights free for folks to come in and grab a table and do some out-of-the-house gaming.

Over July and August, we plan to roll out a few other weekly and monthly events into our calendar lineup (more on all of that in a separate post). For the immediate future, we will be keeping our digital Magic events going too! These events have been a lot of fun over the past year, and as long as there's interest, we'll still endeavor to support them. So if you're not able to make it out to the shop in person, we understand and we want to make sure you're supported.

These plans, of course, are all dependent on the continued uptick in vaccination rates and falling case counts for the pandemic. We've purposefully built in a buffer should King county revert back to Phase 2 (this is why our gaming space is starting at 25% capacity). This is also why we'll be asking you to abide by our safety guidelines below when you use our tables.

In-Store Play: The Safety Requirements

When you come in to use one of our tables or play in one of our events, we're going to check in and ask you to agree to our safety requirements before you take a seat at the tables (or if you just jump right in and grab a seat, we'll come over and make sure you understand what we're asking): 

  • We ask that you remain masked (covering nose and mouth) at all times.
  • When you check in with our team, we will ask you to show us a completed vaccination card with a final appointment dated 2 weeks ago or more (a photo on your phone is fine, but we need to be able to see the card and the data on it clearly).
  • When you finish gaming at the table, we ask that you take a few minutes to sanitize your table. We'll have a sanitizing station present in the gaming area that we expect you to make use of.
  • Food at the tables will be prohibited for the time being. Drinks are allowed, but please bear in mind that we expect you to still keep your mask on while at the tables. Consider bringing a straw for your drinks or water bottle if you get thirsty.

While we are happy to answer clarifying questions about them, none of the above requirements is up for debate. For the health and safety of both our team members and the rest of the community we ask that those who cannot comply with the above requirements not attempt to attend our in-person events. We would ask you instead to enjoy our digital events for the time being.

And with that, welcome back! We hope to see you in-store again soon! It's been way too long, and we can't wait to have you all back. Take it at your own pace - it might not feel comfortable for you to immediately jump back in. But when you're ready, we'll be here.