Tell me about the RPG section of your local game store

[Thondor]

I forgot I wanted to add that another thing that causes issues for me - the medium to larger publishers - eg WotC and Kobold Press give me a discount if I buy the book and PDF (or dndbeyond access) at the same time from them. This disincentivizes me from buying from my FLGS if I want the best bang for $. Only the smaller ones - like the publisher that made the Chew TTRPG - allow you to get the PDF free with proof of purchase. I have 2 real life examples - one a KP book and one Daggerheart - where I didn't buy the book at my FLGS because I wanted to have the PDF at a discount. And before the new Paizo store, for Paizo if you were going to get the game on Foundry, it was better to buy directly from them than from the new Foundry Marketplace because the PDFs was discounted (or free? I can't remember. I have only bought Paizo from humble bundle so far, but I hurried to get the corresponding Foundry modules before they switched to the new Paizo store)

The big thing to remember is MANY publishers are on Bits-n-mortar. If you buy from a FLGS you have the promise of a PDF - here's the publisher list: Publishers | Bits and Mortar
Either the FLGS can supply, or you can reach out to the publisher.

Everyone we distribute has a PDF guarantee through us. So even if they aren't on Bits, just contact Compose Dream Games if you got it from a FLGS in Canada or the UK. We've sold to some Australian stores too, and a few in Europe, so those as well. But any retailer in Canada and UK is valid, whether they got it from us or not.

I should update our retailer map again, but here it is: Retailers
@FitzTheRuke 's store is one there

And here's our list of publishers: Publishers

 

[kronovan]

The big thing to remember is MANY publishers are on Bits-n-mortar. If you buy from a FLGS you have the promise of a PDF - here's the publisher list: Publishers | Bits and Mortar
Either the FLGS can supply, or you can reach out to the publisher...

This is a deal-breaker for me when buying any core rulebook in print. I need the PDF to make homebrewing easy and to read it on my tablet. The print edition is mostly for players at my table and the summer months when I want to read outside and it's too bright for tablet reading. The PDF is important enough to me, that I won't buy any print book if I also don't get the PDF. So yes, my Bits & Mortar library is a good size these days and growing.

As to the closest games store to me. It's wall to wall board games. It has some shelves along a small section of one wall for RPGs. And on those shelves...lots & LOTS of D&D books! So not running D&D these days, I don't buy many RPG books from them. They do have a section on those RPG shelves for "marganalized voices", which I haven't bought anything from, but enjoy browsing. I'd say they're fairly typical for a store in my Canadian city these days. When the CDN $ started to fall against the USD and BP last decade, in the years that followed I noticed RPG books becoming more scarce.

The store owners are fans of Battletech miniatures, which I also play. And because they have a decent amount of shelf space dedicated to them, that gets me through their doors every month or so and usually buying something.

 

[Velderan]

Minnesota has more game stores per capita than maybe any other state in the U.S. Most are small strip mall locations with modest 1-2 book shelf offerings with D&D, PF, and a few others. 1 Store is a true FLGS thats been around for decades selling collectables, comics, anime, boardgames, wargames, etc.. It has a massive wall of 12-16 book shelves with a wide selection of RPGs.

@Velderan what do you think?

The other thing I'm seeing more of is game stores with more open space to play games and a small cafe to sell coffee, sandwiches, and other snacks. Fox Den Games in Burnsville immediately comes to mind as having probably 2/3 their floor space dedicated to tables for play. There's a place in Hastings I went to last weekend too that was a bit smaller, but same concept.

But yeah, the local market is definitely led by the Source and then there's the Dreamer's Vault chain of stores that seems to be doing quite well. There's a brand new store that opened 1/2 mile from me that is 1/2 comics and the usual MTG, but also has 4 or 5 TTRPG shelves with games other than D&D and PF2e. I forget what all I saw, but they had a pretty good Call of Cthulhu section and DCC had an entire shelf to itself. They opened back in March, so hopefully they stick around.

 

[djotaku]

The other thing I'm seeing more of is game stores with more open space to play games and a small cafe to sell coffee, sandwiches, and other snacks. Fox Den Games in Burnsville immediately comes to mind as having probably 2/3 their floor space dedicated to tables for play. There's a place in Hastings I went to last weekend too that was a bit smaller, but same concept.

But yeah, the local market is definitely led by the Source and then there's the Dreamer's Vault chain of stores that seems to be doing quite well. There's a brand new store that opened 1/2 mile from me that is 1/2 comics and the usual MTG, but also has 4 or 5 TTRPG shelves with games other than D&D and PF2e. I forget what all I saw, but they had a pretty good Call of Cthulhu section and DCC had an entire shelf to itself. They opened back in March, so hopefully they stick around.

When I went to a VERY nice FLGS / Comic Shop in Lexington, Massachusetts they had a cafe there as well as a cyber cafe upstairs.

 

[Scribe]

One of the local book shops had 4 copies of Daggerheart actually.

The main FLGS only has a small D&D selection however.

 

[aco175]

When I went to a VERY nice FLGS / Comic Shop in Lexington, Massachusetts they had a cafe there as well as a cyber cafe upstairs.

I have never been to that one, I tend to just go the one in Worcester (Massachusetts USA). I'm thinking road trip.

 

[kronovan]

Buying directly from the publisher usually comes at a huge cost when you are in Australia.

I bought physical copies of 3 Sly Flourish books and paid the same again in postage. They weren't available in distribution locally or I would have bought them through my FLGS...

This is typically the case in my Canadian city. I recently went shopping for a core rulebook, but it was sold out. The book was at the Publishers webstore, but the shipping would have been the cost of the book - after exchange, book was already more than it had beenb at better priced LGS or online stores. I tried CDN online game stores, but also sold out and was told none of the distributor have it. I no longer buy from USA online stores, because shipping has become too expensive and too unreliable if you're using the lower cost USPS-CanPost.

So yeah, I've become an accomplished tablet reader, despite my aging eyes.