Tell me about the RPG section of your local game store

[definiteFreakyFishGuy]

A few days ago, I visited my local game store. The last time I walked into the store, I believe was near the end of 2024—I think I was buying Hanukkah presents or something. The store's RPG section, which was all the way in the back, had been growing, dominated by Warhammer and DND, with some smattering of other games. Back then, the RPG section took up about 2 back-to-back shelves, with one sparsely populated shelf dedicated to small zine-like rules lite games.

Fast forward to a few days ago. I walked into the store, and the first thing that caught me was Roots RPG box set (maybe it was the deluxe edition?), prominently displayed by the entrance. There was also a one of the tall rotating shelf filled with 5e compatible adventures and some other books. The main RPG section was still near the back, but the size had nearly doubled. Warhammer had its own wall shelf now. I found multiple Vaesen books, Daggerheart, Cosmere RPG, and Tales of the Valiant (I was surprised to find TotV, honestly). Five Hundred Year Old Vampire was there (though I didn't see Thousand Year Old Vampire). There were 4 physical copies of Wanderhome (2 hard cover, 2 softcover)—which was what I was at the store for. Fatal Girl had its own half-shelf. There were some games I had never heard of before, like Jiangshi RPG. I was really tempted to grab Jianshi, Heroes of Border Lands—holy crap that starter set is HEAVY—, and many solo journaling RPGs. There were many other cool things, but I resisted the temptation and only walked out with over a hundred dollars worth of merch.

I was also a bit surprised to not find some titles. I feel like people talk about Shadowdark & Draw Steel at a lot, but I didn't see either of them there. Even though there were a decent number of solo RPGs, the Ironsworn games were missing.

All in all, I was happy to see that RPGs are becoming more popular.

What does the RPG section in your local game store look like? Is it also growing? Anything surprising about the collection they have? And what's up with Fatal Girl—I feel like I see it in every game store—has anyone tried it?

 

[aco175]

My FLGS doers a good job with gaming. It is a comic book store, but has a lot of things like collectables, including old items like GI Joe and Star Wars figures from the past. Magic TG is still big. DnD has a good selection of the official books and several other 3PP on the shelves. They did expand into the record store next door and now have more playing tables. I never played there though.

The old part is typical, slatwall-crowded, but cozy and the new section is more spread out and accessible.

 

[jdrakeh]

At my local game store of choice (The Yellow King Games & Hobbies), the owner stocks a wide selection of new games from many different publishers and genres (everything from OSE and DCC to Altered Carbon and Blade Runner), as well as a number of used RPGs from yesteryear (he buys large collections a few times a year).

 

[jolt]

In my area, board games and miniature games take up most of the space in stores. RPG material is vastly smaller by comparison. Half to three quarters of any rpg area will be 5E. You can usually find Pathfinder/Starfinder at most stores and maybe Shadowrun. Anything else is a crapshoot. There's always "other rpg stuff", but it's rare for there to be more than a copy or two of anything else, and when that goes, you might never see it again. Daggerheart got a larger release, maybe ten copies at the big store I go to. Sometimes a certain game will get a big push with a lot of copies, but that never gets sustained.

 

[Morrus]

D&D and some Pathfinder. That’s it. Can’t even get my own company’s books in there!

 

[zarionofarabel]

A decent boardgame section with an fair selection of different games. A huge used novel section. A huge Warhammer minis section. A small used Videogame section. A small TTRPG section with pretty much just D&D and Star Wars. A few gaming tables. And a massive counter full of MtG cards run by a grumpy dude that rolls his eyes at anyone that shops for anything except MtG cards.

 

[Parmandur]

D&D and some Pathfinder. That’s it. Can’t even get my own company’s books in there!

That's wild, ENpublishing books are actually pretty well stocked at my FLGS.

 

[MGibster]

At my local game store, it will come to no surprise to anyone that D&D dominates. When I say D&D, I am referring to the ones published by WotC rather than and third party. It's a tolls up between Call of Chtulhu and Pathfinder for the next most numerous books on the shelves. There are a good number of third party reprints of old AD&D adventures adapted for 5th edition. There is actually a good mix of other RPG books including Cyberpunk 2020 (for some reason), Cyberpunk Red, Everyday Heroes, Aliens, Blade Runner, and a few other odds and ends games.

It's a far cry from what I used to see at my local game store circa 1991. :-( But I understand why they don't devote as much space to RPGs these days.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

According to their website, the only games that exist are the dragon game and that one card game.

I have never felt the inclination to go there.

 

[djotaku]

The one by me, Games and Stuff, is MASSIVE. The floor is about the size of best buy. The whole of one wall is TTRPGs. Of course, like any FLGS, the selection is random. They had the monster book for Draw Steel, but not the heroes book. They had ONE copy of Nimble 5e. They had a bunch of Tales of the Valiant - some regular and some special edition. MOST of the floor is boardgames (which probably make them way more money) and the back of the store is for CCGs. They have a HUGE second room that has long rows of long tables for stuff like Pathfinder Society and whatever things they're running (the calendar is packed!) There are also 2 rooms that can be rented at very decent prices. They also have some Beadle and Grimms items like their special dice (but only 2 classes) and their class-based dry-erase board.

Also 4 tables set up in the middle of the floor to demo various games.

All in all, it's how I used to feel going into Toys R Us as a kid - AWESOME and full of stuff to discover! But if you want something specific, I would check their website first and maybe even order it to pick up there. (Then do some extra browsing while you're there)

Also, tangentially on topic, am I the only one who feels conflicted between buying directly from the publisher (WotC, Paizo, Kobold Press, etc) and the FLGS? FLGS needs purchases to stay in business and provide space for the D&D Adventurers Guild and Pathfinder Society, but buying directly from Publisher (the people ACTUALLY making the content for the games we love) should leave more money in their pockets, right?