Store Assistant (Weekends)

Ritchie McAlley

The Basics

We are looking for someone to join our small team of four as we continue our push to be the best games store around! We are hiring a flexible part-time staff member, to work between 10am-10pm Saturdays and 10am-8pm on Sundays. This role is to cover busy periods, holidays, and sickness, and does not have guaranteed hours. There will also be potential for ad-hoc hours during the week if you want them, but the primary focus will be weekends.

The Role

Your primary responsibilities will be taking care of store front operations; making our customers feel welcome, helping them with gaming or non-gaming queries, arranging tables, manning the till, running events, keeping the shop clean and tidy, helping maintain stock, and anything else that needs to be done. JustPlay is a busy store where everyone pitches in to do what's needed.
We'd like you to have the following skills:
  • Gaming - Great knowledge of some or all of: card games, miniatures games, board games, trending games, general gaming knowledge
  • People Skills - Be friendly, approachable, accommodating, and always happy to help
  • Reliability - Punctuality and ability to "just get stuff done"
  • Flexibility - JustPlay is a small business, and as such, we have to turn our hand to whatever needs doing
  • Basic Computer Skills
  • Excellent Written English
Skills that are a nice to have, but not a deal breaker:
  • Retail Experience - stocktaking, stock-keeping, inventory management
  • Events - experience of organising and running events online or offline
  • Microsoft Excel

What We're Offering

  • A great role with a small, tight-knit team
  • Massive staff discount on all products

How to Apply

Send an email to hello(at)justplaygames.uk, attaching your CV and giving us as brief or in-depth an introduction to yourself as you'd like to write. Please use the title "Job Application - Store Assistant (Weekends)" - this is important, as our mail filter won't catch your application otherwise.
To be honest, we really only want to see your CV to get an idea of what you've done before, so the main thing we're looking for is for you to write us a sweet email that makes us want to interview you!
Applications close 30th November. We're looking to recruit someone as soon as possible for this role, so expect things to move quickly. We won't be able to respond to all applicants, so thank you in advance for applying!

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Gaming & Events until July 18th

Ritchie McAlley

With the extension to the current roadmap helping to stop the spread of Covid-19 some changes have been made to the events coming up in the next month. Also how this effects our own roadmap bringing gaming back to store in full.

  • Events will all remain in pods of 4/6 players to follow government guidelines
  • Space have been reduced at all events in this period (ticket holders effected will be contacted)
  • Some weekly events we hoped to return will be delayed
  • Tickets for weekly events remain with strict caps (book early)
  • Our Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Prerelease remains with pod play however.

We have however moved forward with the following additions to weekly CCG play

  • TNM (Tuesday Night Modern) is back! A long standing favourite on our calendar returns
  • Commander Wednesday tickets increased
  • Modern & Standard every Friday Night !

And from July 2nd we can start to run sanctioned events again with WOTC Prize support!

  • Cardfight Vanguard Friday Night Tournaments and Sneak Previews return

We are next looking to add events next for the following

  • Pokemon League Play (Saturdays)
  • Flesh and Blood weekly events
  • Sunday Cardfight Vanguard Events
  • Weekly Drafts for MTG

Thanks for everyone's understanding and any questions please get in touch.

 

Ritchie and Team JustPlay

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Kaldheim Shipping Update

Ritchie McAlley

Hi Magic Players,

***UPDATE*** OUR STOCK IS DUE FOR DELIVERY WEDNESDAY 3RD FEBRUARY.

Taking in to account delivery time and cut off for shipping we will endeavour to have as many orders fullfilled tomorrow as we can via Royal Mail or Local delivery. All will be completed by end of day Thursday. 

We've just been informed that our Kaldheim Prerelease stock will not arrive in time for release on 29th January as expected.

You are probably aware that stores have to order prerelease stock months in advance, and we're no different; our order was placed much earlier in 2020. We've been in close communication with our distributor since the problems that Brexit has caused became apparent, and though we were assured that there would be no issues with the delivery of our Kaldheim stock, that unfortunately hasn't been the case.

We're sorry for the late notice - even today, the staff were in store ready to prep and pack hundreds of orders ready for shipping and the Ritchie express!

 

What we're doing next

Our order is currently expected to arrive some time next week. We'll be shipping postal orders within 24 hours of the stock arriving.

Store Pickup items will be available as soon as the stock arrives.

Deliveries via the Ritchie express will happen the day after they arrive.

We will post further updates, including when the stock arrives, as soon as we have them. Please keep an eye on our social media for these updates. We'll let you know any more info as soon as we know!

Once we have the stock, we will communicate the new local delivery dates. If the situation has changed for you regarding local delivery or store pickup in the meantime, please do contact us once we have posted that we have the stock and we will get your Kaldheim to you however suits you best!

For any other questions please don't hesitate to contact us.

 

Apologies once again and we'll speak to you soon!

Ritchie, Ian, and Team JustPlay

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Local Delivery Changes

Ritchie McAlley

The Ritchie Express will be making some temporary changes to its delivery days.

Next week deliveries will take place

Wednesday 27th January

Friday 29th January includes CH post codes (excludes CH3, CH6, CH7, CH8 )

Commencing Monday February 1st for around 4 weeks deliveries will be every Wednesday and Saturday.

Perfect for anyone getting Games Workshop new releases delivered to their door on release. If you are working Monday to Friday you can now take advantage of £1 local deliveries!

Don't forget we still have collections and Royal Mail shipping available full details below

Contactless Pickup Services

See here for information on contactless pickup at JustPlay

The store will be available for contactless pickup during our opening times.

Postal Delivery Services

It will also be business as usual for ordering from our website, with our usual fantastic turnaround time and speedy delivery!

  • Next-day Delivery via Royal Mail 24 on all orders placed before 2pm on weekdays
  • Free Shipping on all orders over £75

Other Information

We'd like to thank you again for all of your support through these difficult times. Please do continue to use us for your regular hobby fix, your continued custom helps us keep the lights on and our staff employed through these lockdowns.

For any questions or feedback please get in touch on Facebook or Twitter, or join us on our Discord Server.

And above all, stay safe and look after yourselves - we'll hopefully see you all sooner rather than later!

 

 

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Covid Update 06/01/2021

Ritchie McAlley

We're in lockdown, but we're still here to serve our customers! Here's everything that you need to know about our services:

  • Store OPEN for click and collect orders only
  • Online Shipping OPEN
  • Local Delivery OPEN
  • In-store Gaming is SUSPENDED

Contactless Pickup Services

See here for information on contactless pickup at JustPlay

The store will be available for contactless pickup during our opening times.

Postal Delivery Services

It will also be business as usual for ordering from our website, with our usual fantastic turnaround time and speedy delivery!

  • Next-day Delivery via Royal Mail 24 on all orders placed before 2pm on weekdays
  • Free Shipping on all orders over £75

Local Delivery Services aka The Ritchie Express

Local Delivery will still be running. You guys have been loving this service, and as long as we have demand we will keep it running!

We will be delivering to all Liverpool postcode areas excluding L37, L39 and L40 every Tuesday and Friday between 1pm-6pm. 

Other Information

We'd like to thank you again for all of your support through these difficult times. Please do continue to use us for your regular hobby fix, your continued custom helps us keep the lights on and our staff employed through these lockdowns.

For any questions or feedback please get in touch on Facebook or Twitter, or join us on our Discord Server.

And above all, stay safe and look after yourselves - we'll hopefully see you all sooner rather than later!

 

Regards,

Ian, Ritchie and Team JustPlay

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Corona Virus Update - Tier 3

Ritchie McAlley

From 00.01 on Thursday 31/12/20 Liverpool moves into Tier 3.

  • The Store Remains OPEN for browsing and collections
  • Online Shipping Continues 
  • Local Delivery Continues 
  • Instore Gaming is SUSPENDED till further notice

Read on for full details of all our services

Contactless Pickup Services

See here for information on contactless pickup at JustPlay

The store will be available for contactless pickup during our opening times.

Postal Delivery Services

It will also be business as usual for ordering from our website, with our usual fantastic turnaround time and speedy delivery!

  • Next-day Delivery via Royal Mail 24 on all orders placed before 2pm on weekdays
  • Free Shipping on all orders over £75

Local Delivery Services aka The Ritchie Express

Local Delivery will still be running. You guys have been loving this service, and as long as we have demand we will keep it running!

We will be delivering to all Liverpool postcode areas excluding L37, L39 and L40 every Tuesday and Friday between 1pm-6pm. 

Other Information

We'd like to thank you again for all of your support through these difficult times. Please do continue to use us for your regular hobby fix, your continued custom helps us keep the lights on and our staff employed through these lockdowns.

For any questions or feedback please get in touch on Facebook or Twitter, or join us on our Discord Server.

And above all, stay safe and look after yourselves - we'll hopefully see you all sooner rather than later!

 

Regards,

Ian, Ritchie and Team JustPlay

 

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Christmas Deliveries

Ritchie McAlley

Want to make sure that you get your stuff by Christmas? Read on for our handy guide as to what we can do to help!

Royal Mail 

Royal Mail say "Allow plenty of time for posting. Ongoing Covid restrictions, reduced air and freight capacity, high volumes and winter weather conditions are all impacting transportation and local delivery across the globe"

All of JustPlay's parcels are sent Royal Mail Tracked 24 - the last day for arrival by Christmas using this service is 22nd December.

We will still be shipping all orders placed before 2pm on the same day!

Local Delivery Options

If you live local, we have some fantastic delivery options available to you which we will be expanding as we approach Christmas to cover even more areas than usual!

We are now taking orders for CH and WA postcodes (excludes CH3, CH6, CH7, CH8 and WA14, WA15, WA16 - sorry!) in the run up to Christmas. We'll be doing a special delivery run to these postcodes on Tuesday 22nd December to make sure that you have presents and/or Christmas supplies guaranteed for the holidays!

For normal local deliveries, here is a list of our remaining local delivery days, and the cutoff dates to make sure you receive your order on that day.

 

Opening Hours

Don't forget thatwe are still open! You can use our contactless click and collect service or pop into store to browse - check out our Christmas opening hours below.

If you have any questions about any of this please don't hesitate to contact us!

Thanks for all of your support during this difficult year, and we hope you all have a great time with your family and friends this festive season!

 

Ritchie, Ian and Team JustPlay

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December Reopening

Ritchie McAlley

Hi Everybody,

JustPlay will be OPEN for in-store shopping from Wednesday 2nd December. Gaming will also be OPEN; full details in this article!

We will still be open for contactless collection, and we'll still be shipping postal orders as usual, so you can continue to shop with us from home.

Contactless Pickup Services

See here for information on contactless pickup at JustPlay

The store will be available for contactless pickup during our opening times.

Postal Delivery Services

It will also be business as usual for ordering from our website, with our usual fantastic turnaround time and speedy delivery!

  • Next-day Delivery via Royal Mail 24 on all orders placed before 2pm on weekdays
  • Free Shipping on all orders over £75

Local Delivery Services aka The Ritchie Express

Local Delivery will still be running. You guys have been loving this service, and as long as we have demand we will keep it running!

We will be delivering to all Liverpool postcode areas excluding L37, L39 and L40 every Tuesday and Friday between 1pm-6pm. 

Gaming Reopening

Our tables are available to book once again. We ask you that you follow all current government guidelines when arranging your games.

Please read about our current Covid-secure practices here before booking.

Bookings are open now reserve your table here

Other Information

We'd like to thank you again for all of your support through these difficult times and what are sure to be further difficulties as we head towards Christmas. Please do continue to use us for your regular hobby fix, and remember us for your Christmas present ordering (and tell your friends and family where to get your pressies too - we even have gift cards if they don't know an Ork from an Orc). Your continued custom helps us keep the lights on and our staff employed through these lockdowns.

For any questions or feedback please get in touch on Facebook or Twitter, or join us on our Discord Server.

And above all, stay safe and look after yourselves - we'll hopefully see you all sooner rather than later!

 

Regards,

Ian, Ritchie and Team JustPlay

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Spelltable - Getting Started

Sam Milner

Introduction

Magic Players! (been a while since I’ve been able to say that!)

Last Thursday we launched our community focused ‘JustPlay Magic the Gathering Show’ and with it announced that the fan favourite commander league is starting again next Wednesday! 


If you tuned in you would have seen me and Ritchie singing the tunes of Spelltable and announce that this stay at home league will be run via the website, so let's take a look and delve into the realms of the spelltable.

What is Spelltable and why Spelltable is amazing?

Spelltable boasts that it is ‘remote magic made easy’ and they aren’t wrong! Spelltable is the first app designed by magic players that’s sole use is for Magic the Gathering to be played remotely. So let's take a look at what all the hype is about.


1.This is the main play area, as you can see each players, name, commander and life total are always visible. You can only ever change your own life total and if you forget what a player’s commander does you can hover over the name and the commander will pop up!

2. A great feature in Spelltable is the inbuilt card checker. If you are a little unsure of a particular card just click on it while it’s on the battlefield and Spelltable will show you what the card does! Not only is this practical it keeps the flow of the game going as it removes the need for any interruption. It also keeps a history of cards checked if you ever need to double check something yourself.

3. These are all of Spelltables options, while not necessary to fiddle with they include things like changing the layout of the play area or changing something in the settings so you can suit it to your playing style!


How to create and play in a game using Spelltable

Now that we’ve taken a look at the basics and how a game will look let's have a look at how you would make or join a game using Spelltable.

1. Each game has a ‘pod manager’. This player will need an account, once they have one and log in they should see the following.


2. All this manager needs to do is click ‘Create game’ and give it a name. 

3. This will then create a link which should be shared with the other 3 players that want to take part in the game. 

4. The other players follow the link, choose what webcam they want to use and they're ready to go. It couldn't be simpler! 


The technological side.

Spelltable is amazing because it’s simple and easy to use but you might be wondering how you would be able to get that perfect birds eye view position for your game with an ordinary webcam? Here are some tips. 

1. If you are able to position you webcam in a way where all players can see your game board then that's perfect and super simple!

2. Many players (myself included) use a phone arm, the one I would personally recommend can be found here as it's perfect for that clear birds eye view. 

3. There are a number of apps that will allow you to use your phone as a webcam for your laptop or desktop, depending on what phone you have I would recommend. 

Android - Droidcam  

Apple - EpocCam

To use these apps make sure they are downloaded on both your phone and your desktop, use the phone app to connect it and you are good to go!

Conclusion 

I hope this guide has been helpful and I'm excited to see you all next Wednesday for some commander action. Book your tickets here


Stay awesome, stay safe, 

Sam.

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November Lockdown Update

Ritchie McAlley

Hi Everybody,

Per new Government guidelines, as a non essential retail store JustPlay will be CLOSED for instore shopping from Thursday 5th November. The store will still be OPEN for collection though, and we'll still be shipping postal orders as usual, so you can continue to shop with us as you normally would!

 

Contactless Pickup Services

See here for information on contactless pickup at JustPlay

Our opening times will reflect when the store will be available for collections. You can also get in touch with us via our usual customer service channels during these hours.

 

Postal Delivery Services

It will also be business as usual for ordering from our website, with our usual fantastic turnaround time and speedy delivery!

  • Next-day Delivery via Royal Mail 24 on all orders placed before 2pm on weekdays
  • Free Shipping on all orders over £75

 

Local Delivery Services aka The Ritchie Express

We will also be bringing back our Local Delivery Service just £1!

We will be delivering to all Liverpool postcode areas excluding L37, L39 and L40 every Monday and Friday between 1pm-6pm. 

Existing Orders

If you have any store pickup orders currently open with us that you would like to have shipped instead, please contact us.

 

Other Information

No delays are expected on any upcoming releases, with all major distributors still trading as usual. 

We'd like to thank you again for all of your support through these difficult times and what are sure to be further difficulties as we head towards Christmas. Please do continue to use us for your regular hobby fix, and remember us for your Christmas present ordering (and tell your friends and family where to get your pressies too - we even have gift cards if they don't know an Ork from an Orc). Your continued custom helps us keep the lights on and our staff employed through these lockdowns.

For any questions or feedback please get in touch on Facebook or Twitter, or join us on our Discord Server.

And above all, stay safe and look after yourselves - we'll hopefully see you all sooner rather than later!

 

Regards,

Ian, Ritchie and Team JustPlay

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