Local gameshops are a big part of the gaming hobby. As I get back into the hobby, I keep thinking about gameshops or hobby stores I hung out at back in my formative years.
Not only do they give us access to a lot of tips & advice, places to buy new games and supplies, but they also are a key place to meet other gamers and just make new friends.
The first place I found was a hobby store called Centennial. This was a funky place in Russelleville, Arkansas, where I was first exposed to The Fantasy Trip (and all of Metagaming’s Microgames), AD&D and miniatures. My first gaming group played there, and we were allowed to just be goofy teenagers, hanging with the older folks and having fun playing games.
After Centennial closed, a shop opened up when I was in college called The Remote Outpost. It was smaller, but I could appreciate the gaming aspects more because I was approaching the hobby as an older person. That was where I really started playing wargames, from old-school Napoleonics to Car Wars. I was seriously bummed when they closed down, too.
(By the way, they got their name from the fact that it was the only real gameshop between Little Rock and Fort Smith. I always thought that was just one of the coolest names, for that reason).
After I got out of college and moved to OKC, I found Planet Comics. It helped that I worked with the owner in my day job. Or maybe not–he was always bringing products or books in "just to see if I was interested," knowing I would always buy the damn things.
I didn’t play at Planet Comics, but I did buy a lot of GURPS stuff there, which really helped fire my imagination. And that is one of the reasons I really like gameshops. If they are worth their salt, they help all of us have fun using our imagination.
That’s what I love about gaming–what about you? What old gameshops do you have good memories of?
Marko ∞
(Originally published on inthelabyrinth.org, on 3/6/2015.)
