Word of warning: This post is about some unfortunate news.

First up came the news on Monday that Haunted Castle Gaming was stopping operations. It was the company behind Genesis: Battle of Champions, a Canadian TCG I’ve mentioned before. Perhaps the most surprising is the timing as the game seemed to finally really be catching on, with a number of LGS’s getting behind the game with the latest being none other than Face to Face Games, my own local haunt (they had just started selling cards online).

I have no doubt that launching a new TCG is a daunting endeavour at the best of time. The fact that Haunted Castle Gaming wrestled against a pandemic on top of everything else (like many others) certainly did not help. Anyone who’s met Assad Quraishi, not only the CEO of Haunted Castle Gaming Inc but more importantly the Genesis: Battle of Champions’ creator, knows that he poured his soul into this game. And did so with an energy and a dedication to the game’s fans that was nothing short of inspiring.

We discovered Genesis during the early days of the pandemic (Thanks, Jason over at North of Exile). The boys and I played at home a few times, learning the rules much as we went along much as we did years back with Magic.

And much like Magic, we realized that the only way to really and truly learn would be to play against others. Rulebooks, especially in their first iterations, can only go so far. Without the community and with Magic still a larger part of our lives, that early interest waned. I met Assad a few times, each interaction reaffirming that he wanted to build a game that was first and foremost for players. I was always surprised at how far he would go to make sure that players had nothing but the best experience. How often does a game designer make personal deliveries to your door (it does help that we live in the same city)?

I don’t know all the details behind this sudden end but I do know that I wish I had taken part in a few tournaments, gotten more involved in the game and gotten to know Assad better. It would not have changed any of this but it would have been a few more memories of this game. Fortunately, the boys and I still have all our cards, including some very cool promos. It’s time to dust them off and play a few rounds to celebrate what Assad and Haunted Castle Gaming accomplished.

The Genesis community has expressed interest in keeping the game going and I know that North of Exile is still planning to hold its Wednesday night Genesis games – I’ll need figure out how to get up there to play sometime soon.

And then later in the week came the news that Atomic Age, a small comic book store not far from my house is closing. Along with the weekly posting of new comics was this little blurb on Facebook:

Last new comic week for us.

Thanks to all who have come in over the years.

Atomic Age was a local store that the boys and I would drop into every once in a while over the years. More importantly, it was the place where we went for Magic events when we first got into the game (aside from the very first pre-release that Christian and I attended). It was a tiny place (that also did pet grooming!) and the events were more for a group of friends getting together than formal ones, Gene and Alan welcomed us and most importantly for me, Christian and Noah never felt uncomfortable there. It was where Christian won his very first event! By the time the group sadly folded, the boys (and I) were ready to play at larger venues.

We returned to Atomic Age every so often after that but when they stopped carrying new Magic sets, the visits got rarer as the boys never got into serious comic collecting (likely to their mother’s relief as I have enough boxes for all of us). We’ll definitely need to swing by to say goodbye.

The lesson here is the same as it always is: Take advantage of the opportunities to play new games and meet new players. Something I need to take to heart more.

Thank you Assad, Alan & Gene. The boys and I will have the cards and the memories for a long time!