​

Welcome to Artemis Games!

That's right, after over six years of being open for business, we are starting this up. I promise we'll keep these to a minimal amount, for now that'll be a monthly update. (spam drives me absolutely mad too!)

Hi. My name is Alia. I'm the co-owner, manager and creative brain behind Artemis Games.

While our in-person store is a bubbling, awesome little community, we haven't historically put a lot of time or effort into our digital space. This year our goal is to change that. I think we have something great to offer, even if you can't make it in to our brick & mortar store. (Though we definitely think you should visit one day!)

As part of this we have embraced a motto - "Community at Heart. Adventure at the Table."

Stay tuned if you want to hear about new Events we have coming up, cool new products we have in store, pre-orders going live, and general rambling from a chaotic neuro-diverse brain.

I've included a quick survey on at the top of this newsletter, please let me know what you like or don't like! The feedback would be really helpful for us.

News!

Digital Upgrade

We're doing an overhaul of our Digital space right now, part of which is this Newsletter! Our website is also getting a visual & navigation upgrade, and we're working on making sure our Events calendar and Discord server are integrated together and are easier to find online.

Pokemon Cards

We've had so many requests for Pokemon Cards since EB Games closed down. We've been working on getting this product in store, and I can happily say it looks like we'll finally have product for the upcoming Mega Evolution: Pitch Black set due in July.

The plan is to start up a Pokemon League with events for trading & playing. With the amount of demand for this product, we will be primarily selling it in store, though if we have enough we'll put pre-orders up online.

Upcoming Events

We have our first One Piece Pirate Party coming up on Saturday, May the 16th at 12:30pm. We've chosen a Limited deck battle format, which means you're allowed to play anything other than the top 10 meta decks. This is a casual event with participation & promo prizing. Entry is $20.

As a note, from now on we'll be running something One Piece every Saturday at 12:30pm. If we don't have a scheduled tournament, it'll be casual play & trading!

Our very first MTG ANZ Super Series qualifier is being held on Saturday the 23rd of May. We'll be using Lorwyn Eclipsed Sealed format. This is a competitive event with full prize support - placing, partipcation promos and spot prizes. Entry is $65 and includes 6 packs to build with.

On the 29th of May 29th at 6pm we have Flesh & Blood Omens of the Third Age pre-release. This is a Casual event with participation prizing. We run Flesh and Blood every Wednesday evening, it's a challenging game with lots to offer for card-core strategists! While it does have a steep learning curve, new players are always welcome. Entry is $65 and includes 8 packs to build with.

Artemis League is our monthly Dungeons & Dragons session, run by head DM Geordi. This is on May the 30th at 6:30pm this month, and is super beginner friendly. New players are currently starting at level 2, with either the 5e or 2024 rules allowed - though without mixing, you need to pick one or the other to avoid weird shenanigans. If you need help creating a character, let us know in advance, otherwise we can get you a pre-generated one on the night! Sign-ups are required for this event, so we can prepare the right number of Dungeon Masters. $5 Entry.

On Jun the 6th at 12:30pm we have the One Piece OP 16 Release Sealed. This is a casual event with participation & promo prizing. Great for new players getting into the game, or for current players to experience the excitement of the new set!

New Product Spotlight!

We've gotten a few cool new product ranges this year, and this one is my absolutely favourite. CONNETIX - a magnetic tile based toy that really is fun for ALL ages. They're robust, come in beautiful rainbow colours and allow for endless creative play.

My 2 & 15yo both love to play with these, and our demo box is very popular with visiting kids. We don't stock many toys that aren't games or puzzles, but this one is just that good!

We'll be increasing our range of CONNETIX soon, so let us know if there's anything you'd love to see us stock!

Board Game of the Month!

I LOVE board games, which isn't much of a surprise to anyone. I've played some very cool ones this year, and I'd love to share a few of my favourites with you.

This section is reserved for whatever current board game is living rent free in my head non-stop.

If you are a Gisborne Local, or stopping by, join us for a Board Games Night every First & Third Friday of the month and check out this and many other cool offerings in our In-store Board Game Library!

What do I love about this? There are SO many things. For one, it's an incredibly beautiful game. I love the card art - it has a very distinct style, and the animals are absolutely adorable. It's a wonderfully simple game to learn the rules of, but as you dive into it it gets far more complex. You find yourself thinking critically about every move, as it can effect multiple of your animal placements.

There's little luck involved, but enough to keep it interesting when playing against more experienced opponents - and give you a great feeling when that perfect resource stack comes up just in time for your turn! There is no direct interaction between players, it is very Euro style in that regard. The most you can do is spitefully steal the tiles or animal you just -know- would work perfectly for the next player.

It plays in under 45 minutes, and the set-up is very quick. I love it at 2, 3 and 4 player counts, and it even has a solo mode. Harmonies came out in 2024 and has quickly clocked up quite a few awards - as it should. It's a fantastic game. It's replaced Azul in the space that game held in my heart for many years, so if you enjoy Azul you definitely want to check this one out!