Tell me about your favorite game store

[Shemeska]

Two favorites:

Cerebral Hobbies - I bought my first D&D books there (3e PHB and MM) and continued to frequent them through my last three years of undergrad. They were right there on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, adjacent to Cosmic Cantina the greatest burrito place on the planet. ... and then they moved location possibly because the rent was jacked up as Franklin Street increasingly gentrified itself (that same year they added a Martini bar, a Tapas place, and a perfume store...). I have no idea where they moved to, and half of the charm was the location.

Foundations Edge - This one was on Hillsborough Street on NCSU's campus. I never went there, but virtually all my friends and 90% of my gaming group did, so went there quite a bit. Of course they're primarily a comic shop, and honestly while I buy comics there regularly, I haven't purchased an actual RPG book there for years (blame Amazon) except for the occasional thing from their used section which has yielded some gems (Clueless snagged a copy of Hellbound: The Blood War for like $15...).

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

My favorite game store isn't there, anymore. It was "FBN: The Fantasy Shop" (or maybe "Shoppe" -- can't remember), and was in old St. Charles, Missouri, down by the river. It was in an old, old building. The front displays along the sidewalk held a siege diorama with a castle and painted miniatures. Inside, the front room was full of cool stuff. One wall had D&D material, including TSR modules, Judges Guild stuff, Armory material, et cetera. There was a case of minis, and more display cases of painted minis. A rack of periodicals including Strategy & Tactics and other wargaming mags, Heavy Metal, Dragon, White Dwarf, indie/underground comics, and such. Racks of new SF and Fantasy paperbacks. Shelves of used paperbacks. Shelves and displays with all sorts of wargames (Longest Day, Anzio, Blitzkrieg, Titan, Wooden Ships & Iron Men, Dune, Squad Leader, etc). A front-room game table with a nice chessboard and pente board set up and ready to go. All sorts of role playing games from a variety of publishers.

In the back were numerous tables for gaming, and also a private gaming room. Farther back was a locked storage room, the water closet, et cetera. On many weekends, some of those gaming tables were covered with terrain for micro armor battles, or with homemade chainmail, armor and weaponry owned by the local SCA guys. There was a big mural on one wall showing a dragon, and captioned "Fly By Night" (obviously what the "FBN" in the name stood for). We spent quite a few weekends hanging out, playing games, and browsing the front room thinking about all the stuff we'd like to buy (if only we had money).

Down the street was an old record store with lots of cool vinyl, including rare imports. We'd go in there to check things out, look at the cover art, and think about stuff we'd like to buy (if only we had money). There was also a hamburger joint nearby that made awesome "greasy spoon" type burgers. We'd get those to go in foam boxes (with fries) and take them back to the Fantasy Shop to eat while we gamed. Down the street the other direction was an office supply store and newstand where you could by graph paper, mechanical pencils, and browse the "men's magazines" until you were chased off. Of course, none of this last part is about the game store, itself, but because of its location all that kind of went along with it as part of the "weekend game store experience" for me.

Nostaligic haze of youthful weekends aside, I've never been to another game store that was quite like that one (or lived up to it) with the products they carried and the gaming space available. It was a cool place.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

My favorite game store I can still go to is Nan's, in Houston. They have a great selection of stuff, including board games, and a pretty complete RPG section. They even carry OSRIC stuff right there on the shelf. And they have an out-of-print section, too (sadly, it seems to be much picked over, lately). Lastly, they're just a couple minutes from the Hobbit Cafe, where I can get a "Shire" sandwich and Franziskaner Dunkelweissen on tap while listening to old Yes tunes and looking through my purchases.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Yay! I get to be the first to put forth Games Plus, in Mt. Prospect, IL. Clean store with a deep and wide stock of games of every persuasion; plenty of gaming space; knowledgable staff who participate in the community, both in person and online.

No other store I've been in is in its league. I've lived in the NYC area, Buffalo, Chicagoland, central Illinois, and the SF Bay Area and have shopped in some nice stores (and some not-so-nice ones), and they are the best.

Seconded.

No question, the best game store I have ever had the pleasure to patronize.

 

[Agamon]

The largest gaming store in Canada is in Calgary. The Sentry Box pretty much rules. Incredible selection of RPGs, board games, miniature games, card games, anime and books. An upper tier with a bunch of tables for gaming. Great store, though a few hours away. My local store is pretty good, too. Comic Readers is obviously a comic shop, with a good selection of the more popular stuff and he can get pretty much anything in quickly, and actually often more cheaply than Sentry Box.

 

[Glyfair]

I have two, both run by friends.

The first was Between Books. They have been around since the late 70s. It is primarily a bookstore (with a very large fantasy/science fiction section...almost half of the stock). It also is a comic book store, game store and a bit of a "new age" store.

The gaming area is somewhat small. I used to run WizKids games in the back and we were at capacity a few nights with as many as 14 players (which consisted of 2 battles of 2 players sitting on the floor in the corners). The gaming is haphazard because the gaming area is in the store, and we are somewhat restricted to store hours.

Greg, the owner (well, one of several) is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. If a comic book soars in value, he will refuse to sell it for higher than cover price. The RPG and game stock has many old hard to find gems buried. While you won't see a sale very often, you will never see the price above cover price, either.

He has survived one major move (away from an area that went downhill very fast), the opening of a Border's and Barnes & Noble not too far away (in fact, I believe he is the only independent bookseller in the area to survive their opening) and a game store opening right across the street by "friends."

I, personally, am most impressed by his weathering the game store opening across the street. The store was HUGE. The store was recently remodeled into a strip mall, without adding any space. There was a cafe, costume store, and huge gaming area (about the size of a high school gymnasium), etc. They failed for a number of reasons, and a number of us were worried about Between Books.

The second is the The Days of Knights. I have been going there since before they opened in 1981. They are something of an institution in Newark, DE.

They have a much larger amount of gaming stock than Between Books. They also dabble in gift items with a fantasy theme. If you can't find something on the shelves, they might have it in the storage areas.

They have always had a regular gaming "club" that is separated from the store. Typically you can go in just about any time before midnight and find something going on there (and often after midnight). I personally have gamed there and come out to see the dawn.

With Newark being a college town, every year there is a fresh influx of new faces, so you can usually find someone willing to try an RPG or other game you might be interested in. Plus, events are going pretty constantly (Friday Night Magic usually fills the place up, I understand).

 

[Scott_Rouse]

Two stores in my area that I like a lot are: Genesis Games & Gizmos and Uncle's Games.

Both stores are very well run, with friendly & knowledgeable staff, good layout with plenty of play space, offering a great selection of games (RPGs, TCGs, Minis, Board Games, and Game Accessories).

 

[Mark]

Yay! I get to be the first to put forth Games Plus, in Mt. Prospect, IL. Clean store with a deep and wide stock of games of every persuasion; plenty of gaming space; knowledgable staff who participate in the community, both in person and online.

Yupper! Great store!

 

[freyar]

Game Empire - Pasadena, CA
Game Empire Pasadena - A great place, meet people, hangout, play games, and make new friends.

Big store (two stores wide) with a wide selection of games ranging from chess to Warhammer to D&D and everything inbetween. The owner is very supportive of all games and gamers, dedicating half the store to nothing but game tables. It's always busy with something going on every day of the week. They offer introduction sessions for various games and have a stable of boardgames you can go in and try before you buy.

The employees are all very knowledgable about what they sell, are courteous and clean.

There is a HUGE used book section, where I often find myself digging out some nugget of yesteryear. A friend f mine snagged Gamma World 2e last month as I recall, for $10 and it included a couple adventures too.

I think I used to go there in its previous incarnation, before it remodeled (and before I moved), assuming I'm getting the store right. It was ok before the remodel, too.

Now, I'm quite happy with Le Valet d'Coeur. Pretty broad selection of RPGs (in French and English), board games (ditto), minis, other toys, and RPG fiction. There are several tables set up for gaming, often in use, and the store itself is usually busy (though I can't speak to sales numbers). Since our chain stores don't carry any 3rd party stuff, it's my browsing spot for that. And the staff is fairly knowledgeable, friendly, and very helpful. Last fall, I scored a new copy of the Book of Fiends that they found in the back store room, which they then marked down to 25CAD.

 

[On Puget Sound]

Above Board Games just south of Charlotte has friendly owners, good selection, space to play, a good selection of fairly priced snacks and drinks, and they run lots of fun events. They've clearly been feeling the pinch, though, as their once free game library now costs $1/ player to pull a game out, and beginning next month they will be charging a seat fee for groups who don't buy anything.