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Amoena aka a girl likes games
Finland
Espoo
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My boyfriend's birthday was yesterday. I started to plan his birthday gift well in advance because he surely is not the easiest person to give gifts to. He needs nothing and wants nothing! However, I wanted to give him something awesome as he is my awesome boyfriend... The only problem was that I got no ideas. Nada. So eventually I had to make a desperate visit to our local board game store Lautapelit.fi (it's their domain name too, and in English it's as simple as "boardgames.fi".
I have had very mixed experiences with Lautapelit.fi. Last Christmas I visited the store to find a present, again, for my boyfriend. A shop assistant asked me if I needed help. And I did because I had no clue what to give him and most of the games were unfamiliar to me.
So I said to him that I would like to find a game that works very well with two players, since I was going to play it with my boyfriend. I also said that it should be on the heavier side rather than the light side.
And the first game he showed to me was Zooloretto. Luckily it didn't wake my interest... because I read afterwards from here that the game is not even recommended for to players! Uh-oh. He showed me couple games more, but after he found out that I'm really not into war games, he gave up with helping me.
And then the hobbit boy came. I always call him hobbit boy because he kinda looks like one and he's not taller than me. Anyway. He showed me more than one game that actually sounded promising, and he introduced them to me really well too. He always told me what they're about and how to play them and also his personal opinions and experiences. And with him I quite quickly found what I was looking for.
That was the Christmas shopping experience.
After Christmas I visited the store again, this time with my boyfriend. I had told him earlier how good their service was when I was shopping the gift for him, how they helped me to find the kind of game I was looking for. But this time... no one even asked us if we need help, even though there were couple of shop assistants around. It was not a pleasant surprise after I had praised their service to my boyfriend. I even asked my boyfriend to hold the most expensive game they have in his hands and look interested but also a little bit puzzled. I thought that might spark some action but no.
That was the very disappointing experience.
The next time I visited the shop alone. I wanted to buy Alvin & Dexter expansion for Ticket to Ride. I was in a hurry, but still I had time to fall in love with their girl assistant; She was so adorable and sparkly, and she seemed to know about games too! I smiled all the way home just because she was so nice.
That was the "I fell in love with a girl but I'm not a lesbian" experience.
Recently we visited the store together again. There was only one person working at the time and he was too busy watching some geeks play that he didn't seem to acknowledge us at all. I thought he was way too busy minding his own business than doing his work well, really.
That was the "why not move your lazy ass to make some sale happening" experience.
And now to my latest experience: shopping a birthday gift to my boyfriend! I went to the store and the hobbit boy was working and he offered me help almost immediately. I had already spotted Loyang so I asked him some questions about it and then we discussed a little about the harvest trilogy. He said he would have recommended me Agricola, but I don't really need a recommendations for that; I know it's highly ranked and we will get it eventually. I wasn't there to pick up the best game ever, I was picking up a game my boyfriend would find at least a little bit surprising. Anyway. I was once again very pleased with the level of service he provided to me. He was nice, knowing, and he seemed to listen to me too.
The verdict:
I want to shop at Lautapelit.fi when the hobbit boy or the sparkly girl are working. They're awesome, the rest of them are... well, they just haven't really impressed me yet. It's a specialty shop, so I expect a certain level of service: I expect someone to offer me help and I expect that someone to know what he/she is talking about. I think it's not too much to ask for really. If I don't want service, I can just order online where the games are cheaper. When I'm shopping local, I am willing to pay for the service too... but only when I actually receive some!
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supposed to be? It says "oil" but it looks like an used condom?
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, and 
. They are the icons used on the power plant cards, though differently colored:
