Houston game stores

[Jdvn1]

I live in the Woodlands, a suburb of Houston. I am going to be in Denton, this fall as I am going to the University of North Texas.

Oh, the Woodlands. I suppose that's far enough to not know where Nan's is.

Barely!

Still!
http://www.frappr.com/enworld
http://www.frappr.com/enworld



Though, depending on how attached you are to Houston, you may want to claim to be a Dentonite. My brother went to UNT and has stayed in the area, basically, ever since.

 

[d20Dwarf]

Third would be: It's not Dallas.


Sorry, I diss Dallas when I can, eventhough I lived there for a few years and have friends there.

I'm from Dallas, so I dis Houston. We're merely playing out a cycle that's been around since time immemorial.

 

[d20Dwarf]

I live in the Woodlands, a suburb of Houston. I am going to be in Denton, this fall as I am going to the University of North Texas.

I live in Denton now, but I'm probably moving to Arlington in Fall, since that's where I"ll be going to school. I dunno, though, I like Denton, and maybe with the new crop of students a decent D&D game will be had.

 

[Jdvn1]

I'm from Dallas, so I dis Houston. We're merely playing out a cycle that's been around since time immemorial.

But you learned. You left.

 

[d20Dwarf]

But you learned. You left.

No, I just move often enough that I've given up changing my profile every time.

 

[Jdvn1]

No, I just move often enough that I've given up changing my profile every time.

Heh. So, you're just confused? Maybe you like smaller towns better.

I consider Denton separate from Dallas. It's certainly a different feel from the rest of North Dallas, even. Denton is too small to make fun of.

 

[sckeener]

Like others have said (and since you'll be at Rice), Nan's Games and Comics is the place. There really isn't room to 'game' at the store, but the store is packed with goodies.

Third Planet is a good store, but it is mostly for collectibles. Again, no real gaming at the store...

Horizon Games in Clear Lake is good too and there is gaming at the store.

You will need a car to live in Houston....Houston is such a commuter city that driving to Austin or Dallas really isn't a big deal. Austin has a great gaming scene. The best in Texas. (which is probably why I am driving up there to visit my friend, Jade Tinnerman in a week.)

 

[Theron]

I keep hearing mixed reviews of the "new" Horizon Games. From a RPG standpoint, I wasn't too impressed by my last visit there, a few weeks after they re-opened. Their stock looked largely like leftovers from the previous ownership, mixed with a couple of new WoTC releases.

I mainly shop at Nan's because it's the closest to my office. They're pretty good at getting in a range of stuff, but once you get off the D20/White Wolf main thoroughfare, you tend to be at the mercy of whoever did the ordering. If you see something you want that's not from either of those companies, snatch it up. There's no telling when or even if it will ever be restocked. They did a great job of getting the initial WFRP 2e releases, then, when it all sold through, they not only failed to restock the core books, but they seem to have stopped ordering any of the newer releases as well.

One oddity about Nan's is that they never mark down old stock. Which means you can get some stuff there that's long out-of-print and hard to find, if you're willing to do some looking.

Third Planet is really aimed at collectibles. Their gaming stock is small (though not bad and they do actually mark down old stock to move it out). My problem with them is that the place just feels sterile. You get the feeling that the folks who run the place would just as soon be selling...well, anything, really, just as long as they make lots of money off the deal. There's no passion for the merchandise or the cultures that spawned it.

I agree that Midnight Comics is the best shop in town. I just wish they weren't so far out in the boondocks.

Down where I live (Pearland), there's also Montag's, which is a little shop focusing mainly on minis and card games. They have a small RPG section and will special order, but they're not that quick about it. They do host a D&D session or two in the back, but their biggest draw are the nightly CCG and minis events. I buy most of my HeroClix from them, since I play there on Thursdays.

Rice has, as I understand it, a pretty good gaming scene. I went to OwlCon this past year for the first time and was really impressed. It's not huge, but the gaming was good and I was surprised at the turnout. Honestly, I had no idea there were so many gamers in Houston.

 

[Mark Chance]

Nan's is good for games, but lousy for comics. I switched to Bedrock City Comics after one too many of these exchanges:

Me: Ya'll didn't pull [insert title] for me this week. There aren't anymore on the wall back there.

Over-pierced, too-cool employee: *grunt*

Me: So, I was wondering when more of [insert title] is going to be in. It's on my subscription list. It's supposed to be pulled and put into my file.

Over-pierced, too-cool employee (wastes time checking subscription list): *grunt* ...dunno... *grunt*

:\

 

[sckeener]

I keep hearing mixed reviews of the "new" Horizon Games. From a RPG standpoint, I wasn't too impressed by my last visit there, a few weeks after they re-opened. Their stock looked largely like leftovers from the previous ownership, mixed with a couple of new WoTC releases.

One problem I have with Horizon is they are not good to newbies or women. I've known a few women that went in there only to say they'd never return....and they are gamers.

Down where I live (Pearland), there's also Montag's, which is a little shop focusing mainly on minis and card games. They have a small RPG section and will special order, but they're not that quick about it.

Montags has been good to me....
I usually just shoot Guy at montagsgames@sbcglobal.net and he's pretty good at getting what I want. I don't shop there since I moved, but he got my orders in fine.

I use to live in Pearland, but now I'm over near 45s&beltway 8 which leaves me with the Horizon & Nan's.....since I'm between gaming groups this leaves me in a pickle.