PLAAY CONNECT 12.13.23

We're posting the CONNECT a little earlier than usual, let the "Christmas-ing" begin! (It's probably already begun for you--we've been a LITTLE busy!...)

TOMORROW NIGHT: Online Christmas Party!

Join us tomorrow night (12.14.23, 6pm MT, 8pm ET) on the PLAAY Games YouTube Channel for our annual Online Christmas Party! We'll reveal the correct questions/answers to "Let's PLAAY Jeopardy, and award a $50 PLAAY Games Gift Card to the grand champion (runners-up gets gifts from under the Christmas tree). THEN, it's our annual White Elephant Gift Exchange, with LOTS of fun and surprises. We'll wrap up the party with a few quick reflections on the year and some hints about 2024...

Order of gift-picking!…

As mentioned previously, a number of participants in the White Elephant Gift Exchange sent in multiple gifts, so we'll be able to start the exchange by choosing a few viewers at random. We'll also award gifts to the "Jeopardy" runners-up. Then we'll do the gift exchange in REVERSE order of our receipt of the gift--that is to say, the earlier you sent in your gift, the later you'll get to choose. Here's the order...

1 through 6, Jeopardy runners-up, YouTube viewers; 7, Colin G. ; 8, Dan G. ; 9, Roger R.; 10, Al W.; 11, Ethan M.; 12, Greg M.; 13, James C. ; 14, Jeff J.; 15, Brian H.; 16, Charlie S.; 17, Harris J.; 18, Mike C.; 19, Laurence D.; 20, Ray P.; 21, Kevin B.; 22, Roger C.; 23, Tim M.; 24, Kevin G.; 25, John W.; 26, Steven R.; 27, Carl S.; 28, Dave J.; 29, Grant F.; 30, Derek J.; 31, Brian B.; 32, Matt D.; 33, Kyle C.; 34, David C.; 35, Mike F.; 36, Caleb W.; 37, Blake W.; 38, Pete A.

..we're posting this so that, if you've sent a gift, you'll know roughly when it'll be your turn to choose. Remember, you'll have the choice of taking a wrapped gift from under the tree OR "stealing" an already-unwrapped gift from someone else! We'll check the YouTube chat room for your preference, if we don't hear from you we'll choose a gift from under the tree!

You do NOT need to be present to win--we'll mail your gift to you whether you're watching or not!

PLAAY-Dot-CON is ON!

We're excited to announce our annual sports-and-board-gamer get-together, PLAAY-Dot-CON 2024, is officially ON! We're holding it at the same hotel as the last two conventions--the Hilton Garden Inn Highlands Ranch--but moving it to be about a month earlier than previous conventions, June 20th through the 22nd. In the past, we've heard from folks for whom a late July time frame just doesn't work, so we're excited that a late June arrangement might create a whole new group of convention "first-timers!"

The sooner we know you're coming, the better we can plan, so we're offering a special "Early Bird" PLAAY Pass price of $79, which gets you admission to ALL events, activities and convention freebies. After January 1, the cost will increase to $99, and it'll be $129 after March 1...so the earlier you sign up, the more you'll save!

We're pretty early in the planning stages, but we'll certainly stick with what's been most popular at past conventions. The PLAAY Gamer Open History Maker Golf Tournament and History Maker Baseball Time Machine Tournament will be featured events, and we'll create plenty of space between organized activities for open play opportunities. Outside the convention, the Rockies will be in town with games every day that week and weekend, vs. the Dodgers and Nationals. We're also looking into featuring a new special keynote speaker for this year's convention--stay tuned!

Last Call for Draft Duel, Expansion Pack, Compleat How-To Guide

Since a number of folks weren't able to get these items before they sold out during the Christmas sale, we brought them back for an encore--but only through tomorrow! Once the Online Christmas Party begins, the encore offering ENDS. Don't miss out!

See you in 2024!

After tonight's Online Christmas Party, we--like you!--will be sneaking in some "down time" for the holidays. We'll still be answering e-mail and processing orders, but at a more relaxed pace. We'll officially crank things back up starting January 11th with our New Year's "Look Ahead" YouTube stream, where we'll talk about the plans we've made for the year ahead, some of the new products we'll be introducing, events we'll be either producing ourselves or participating in with others, and so on. That'll be Thursday night 01.11.24, 6pm MT (8pm ET) on the PLAAY Games YouTube Channel.

FREE Stuff!

• 2023 Army/Navy for SECOND SEASON: PLAAY gamer John Bowen created these teams, in anticipation of this year's game which for the first time was played at Gillette Stadium. "This is my first ever team production," writes John, "so I know it is not perfect, but a lot of time, thought, and number crunching went in to it and I think it will capture the feel of this great rivalry quite nicely."

• 1983 Nebraska/Miami for SECOND SEASON: It's the 40th Anniversary of this classic Orange Bowl matchup, which saw Miami benefit from a series of helpful results in earlier bowl games and snatch an unlikely National Championship with a 31-30 upset win. Will they do it again on your tabletop?

• 1983 Tennis Association Global Women's Card Sampler: John Kirk has been enjoying tinkering around with card-making for "Let's PLAAY Tennis," discovering some of the nuances of the ratings and ranges. He shared a sampling of a card set he's working on, a "retro" women's season for our fictional tennis franchise Tennis Association Global. This mini-set includes 25 cards of varying levels of tennis skill, you'll note the interesting ratings twists he's incorporated, such as Hannah Patrick's return range(s)! Hoping that John will complete this set at some point; if so we'll update it here!

• Christmas Fury Bowl teams, North Pole vs. South Pole: We've posted these before (read the show notes from the inaugural “Snow Bowl” in 2018), but it's always fun to get them out again during the holiday season. Will the Grinch steal away a Christmas win from Jolly Old Saint Nick? We shall see...

Photo Finish

John Wise sent along this photo of his "man cave," complete with football mini-helmet standings board, Red White & Blue Racin' "in progress" and--super hero sketches? Cooooool!

Thank you for all the participation, support and encouragement you filled the year 2023 with. It's been an amazing year, and we're so proud of our wonderful community of gamers. Hope to connect with you (again?) in 2024! Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the PLAAY Games crew to YOU!