Getting your games at your doorstep!

Well for a change, I thought I would not review a game, but give some details on how to get your games. Well, it is one thing to read a review and feel good about a game, but what's the point if you can't get it :-)

Here are some ways that can help you get your games:

The best method is to ask anyone who is traveling to the USA or Europe to get it for you- it is by far the cheapest way.
Even when you want someone to get it for you, there are various places you can order your games from- The cheapest is finding a dealer on Boardgamegeek and ordering it through them. These guys are very reliable and provide very good service. One such dealer that I have done business with (I think I got some 10-12 games from him) is CLS games. Robert who is the owner of this shop is very helpful and follows up with utmost care. Last time around he called up my sister-in-law who had been to SFO to confirm if she got the games etc. His address is

• Robert S. Solow, Ph.D.
  CLS Games
  "Atlanta's Board Game Warehouse"
  www.CLSGAMES.com
  CLSGames@Comcast.Net
  (770) 310-2498
• Just mail him your requirements and he'll tell you the rest, by far the most reasonable dealer that I've come across. You can use your Paypal account an pay.

The other alternative is of course Amazon.com, which I would say is the 2nd best option. Up until recently they were delivering games to India, but now you have to check with individual sellers if they do international shipping, else you can order a game and get it delivered to an address who would then get it for you ;-)

There are lots of good game dealers like funagain.com, bouldergames.com and plenty more. So a price comparison before you order your games though.

Nearer to home you have Singapore as a destination for picking up boardgames. Paradigm Infitum is one that I have used before to get games. They deliver games to any address in Singapore or mail it to India as well. But be prepared to pay more for your games if you buy it from Singapore (http://www.pi.com.sg/). Recently I also contacted another seller called Boardgame Life Style who are based out of Singapore as well (http://www.boardgamelifestyle.com/).

One thing that I have to mention is that when games arrive, for reasons unknown to me the post ofice asks a bribe to release them, it could range depending on your box size. I have paid them somewhere between Rs. 400- Rs 1500 (It was a big box with 5 games), which is rather annoying.

Recently I got to know of a very good way of getting games- Ebay.in- They have started a new service whereby you can order any product directly from the US and pay in INR (click on the tab, buy directly from USA) and type in the game name. Most of the popular names are available and again you might end up paying a premium due to the shipping costs, but ehy your game gets delivered to an Indian reseller who then ships it to you, so no hassle of post ofiice bribes :-)

One thing that I learnt is the exorbitant cost of shipping games to India, which sometimes is more than the game itself. Hence the most ideal way is to request someone to get it from you. Even if people visit the local boardgame shop (which btw is expensive compared to the options I gave like amazon or CLS games) It works out cheaper than getting it shipped to India.

Last but not the least, some of th basic games like Clue, Scotland Yard, Monopoly, Mastermind, Taboo, 10 Days series, Blokus, Scattergories, Cranium etc. are available across many major book stores like Landmark, Crossword and toys stores like Sapphire (Bangalore)

But due to non-avaialbility of people I think I'll continue exploring more options to get the games, in spite of paying the premium. At the end of the day GAMES are my passion- a few extra bucks- I don't really mind!