Agreed! RIW is well stocked and Pam is great. CCG's, board games, clix, they've got it or can get it for you.

I like your game choice for Wisconsin!

..but I have to disagree with you. Jadeco in Stevens Point is by far the best (and biggest) game store I have ever visited anywhere in the country. In order to give you a perspective on the size, the store now occupies a large percentage of the space that was formerly occupied by the city's largest supermarket (hope that makes sense). It is really big. They have a large selection of War, Euro, Mini, CCG, and other genres. The staff is very friendly and helpful and best of all they have a large gaming area in the back. If any of you are heading up to Central Wisconsin check it out.

PS I am in no way affiliated with the store or getting paid for this

Milwaukee, WI (Well, Bay View...)
Euros, American BGs, and a select few ccgs, no rpgs.
Board Game Barrister ( http://www.boardgamebarrister.com/)
Rating: 10 in BG, 2 in other, as they intend.
In the Milwaukee area, a place that I think is better than the quazi-famous, now gone Napoleon's in the area of board games. To make a long story short, Gordon Lugar's (BoardGameBarrister on the Geek) goal is to do board games, and to do it right. There isn't a game that he will not take off the shelf and show the contents of that box for you, that is, unless he has it already open in his game room or on display on his counter. Further, he is always willing to give a synopsis of said game, or even play a round or two.

(P.S. I also am not getting paid for this, although I wouldn't mind... j/k)

Oooh! I'll have to check it out next time I'm in Springfield. My rock band has played there twice, and both times I've been blown away by how much fun Springfield is.

Now I know it's even cooler.

Cool, whats your band name? I may have heard of or even seen you.

When I went to State I came to this store all the time. Staff is great. Last thing I bought was Primordial Soup when I was visiting a couple friends for the weekend.

Game Depot is the best! I love the staff and the friendly atmosphere.

No better FLGS out there, and they're just down the street from me!

Gotta love the gift certificates, made to look like medieval decrees or property titles.

I'm going to assume rather than creating Items, we just list stores in the same state as comments under the first Item. So here we go:

Comics MD, Accokeek MD

15901 INDIAN HEAD HIGHWAY ACCOKEEK, MD 20607

PHONE #301-203-8500 FAX #301-203-8815

Great game shop. Carry a lot of dice, miniatures, and CCG's, as well as a good selection of board games. Also sell RPG material and of course, comic books. I get all my games from these guys.

Also in Massachusetts:

Scholars
Bridgewater, MA

Rating: 7

A gaming shop on the campus of Bridgewater State College, Scholars doubles as a textbook store for the school. The store carries a diverse selection of board games, RGP titles, and miniatures games, along with a multitude of CCG titles. This is a particuarly good location to find older CCG boxes and out of print RPG products on hand and be able to haggle for a good deal. The store offers gaming space as available and holds events for a few games. However, given the small overall size of the shop, retail space conflicts with gaming space, and vice versa; many titles and products are stacked in deep piles, minatures reside in their shipping boxes, and generally the location appears to have had a tornado run through recently. But if you have time (and an inhaler or have taken your antihistamines for the day- the one thing that keeps me a non-regular is the dust and odor from older texts on the shelves, so be forewarned) and cash, you may find something of interest.

Cambridge, MA: Pandemonium Books & Games
http://www.pandemoniumbooks.com/

Just reopened in Central Square after a four (!) month hiatus to move to their new location, Pandemonium is a fantasy/SF book and RPG store with a small but growing selection of Euros. The new location has considerable event space in the basement -- in fact, I'm going to the first meeting of a new board game group there tonight. Prices are MSRP but a "store membership" plan offers $25 credit back for each whole $250 in purchases. Can't beat the hours: noon to midnight every day!

Cambridge, MA: The Games People Play
http://www.thegamespeopleplaycambridge.com/ ("coming soon")

Broad selection of Eurogames, American-style family games, playing cards, puzzles of all kinds, chess, go and shogi materials and books, and a few wargames and RPG materials. Located a few blocks down Massachusetts Ave from Harvard Yard. Prices are MSRP, but sometimes it's hard to resist when the store is a five minute walk away on my lunch break.

Boston, MA: The Compleat Strategist
http://www.thecompleatstrategist.com/

A tiny store, across Massachusetts Ave from the First Church of Christ, Scientist. Crammed ten feet up the walls with wargames, RPG books, miniatures, and now a selection of Euros rivaling Games People Play. There is a small gaming area in the back, and sometimes demos in the main store area (which can make it very difficult to browse the shelves). The best selection of wargames I know about in the Boston area, but prices are at least MSRP, and unfortunately sometimes higher (like $130 for the mounted-maps edition of Armies of Oblivion - ouch). A few years ago membership in the MIT Science Fiction Society (which is open to all for a $12 annual fee) conferred a 5 or 10 percent discount here; I do not know whether it still does.

Boardwalk & Park Place - Greenville

Warning - Heroes & Dragons is rather weak on board games; less so on miniatures and role-playing.

There's a small shop in Columbia Place Mall on Two Notch Road called "Toys & Games Etc." which is a much better source of board games, especially Euros. And the folks who run it are great.

In Cincinnati, there's the Boardwalk Hobby Shop in Mt. Lookout. A vast selection of models, but good Euro and above average card stocks.

2 more stores in Cincinnati:

ACME Games and Comics http://www.acmegames.com/

7121 Salem Road
Cincinnati, OH 45230

Euros, GW minis, games, the focus on the latest hot collectable games. Room to game. Often hold CCG tourneys.

Yottaquest http://yottaquest.com/

7607 Hamilton Ave
Cincinnati, OH
45231

Euros, FFG, carries Star Wars pewter minis. They have a copy of Here I Stand. A wider selection than ACME. Places to play. They hold various events

Two in Columbus:

The Guardtower
3100 Trabue Road
http://members.aol.com/gtower5886/

Ravenstone Games
1667 Karl Court
www.ravenstovegames.com
(Link isn't working at this moment.)

Kenneth, I haven't been to Kenmore Komics in a while, but I used to go all the time. For a while they had cleaned out that little back room and made it available as a gaming space. Is that no longer an option?

Three of the best places to buy games in the Cleveland area--I'm Game, Gamers Haven, and Warzone Matrix--also host monthly Euro game nights via meetup.com.

http://boardgames.meetup.com/38/?gj=sj8

I knew I forgot something! Game HQ carries a full range of hobby games. RPGs, Miniatures, CCG's, Wargames, and Boardgames.

Big thumbs up from me for this store. I was in Oklahoma when Ron opened Game HQ, and was active in the MTG world when it first got going.

When I got out of magic, I ended up trading many of my cards for boardgames there!

Ron (the owner) is a great guy and I always make a point of stopping in there whenever I go.

Rainy Day Games is a great game store. I just wish that I was as into games when I drove right past Rainy Day Games EVERY STINKING DAY before moving to Idaho. Since I've left Oregon Rainy Day Games has also started a Bi-Annual used game auction.

BTW, Bridgetown Hobbies on Sandy Blvd. in Portland is also an excellent game store. They've got that cool used game/consignment table that I cannot resist to browse through whenever I'm in the Portland area.

The good thing is that I travel to Portland at least 4 times a year and I almost always drop into these two stores.

The Game Keeper's current selection is rather sparse. There's almost as many used titles in the half off boxes as there are new on the shelves, and that's not saying much. At the same time, the shop has had trouble dedicating space to a half sized GAGA event (which normally boasts 15-30 people), so saying it can be a venue for 100 isn't rightly proper.

I was going by the info from the Unity Games Yahoo Group. It had them listed as being able to handle 100+.

All About Games and Hobbytown USA in Boise are some really good game stores. Just yesterday I dropped in the new store, Empyre Games and that store has a lot of promise.

Also recently opened in Nampa is Team Dewey Toys and Hobbies also has a lot of promise. If you drop by Team Dewey every other Friday, there's a good group of us that play Warmachine/Hordes there.

This is the best game store I've ever been in. If you're looking for OOP games, wargames or even older party games, it's hard to beat Games+. (Not to say they don't have newer Eurogames, just that any store can have Catan...)
Fantastic, fantastic store.

I started going here in while in high school to pick up hard to find AD&D items. 8 years later I make the occassional stopover there with my wife to add to our growing eurogame collection when we go to the suburbs to visit my parents. GamesPlus is a good store.

It sure would be nice if a good gaming store opened around the loop (and perhaps a coupld of gaming groups, to boot!). Gamer's Paradise at Watertower just doesn't cut it for me. Oh well, a rabbit can dream...

I concur: best game store I've been in. They also run some kind of frequent buyer program where I think the deal is you get $10 for every $100 you spend? (but it doesn't have to be on one trip). Please correct me if I'm wrong.

While, Game Depot (AZ) will always be my favorite, I have been to Games Plus a few times and have to say their inventory is impressive. The staff could have been more helpful, but that could easily be chalked up to a bad day/busy day. That might not be the usual sitation at the Plus.

Games plus does run a frequent buyer plan as mentioned above.

P.S. for an example of the abovementioned retail problem, check out Boggle, on sale now at All Ways Gaming for the spectacular price of 24.95!

Three good stores in San Diego County - Game Towne in Old Towne, Game Empire in Clairemont Mesa, and Pair-A-Dice Games in Vista. All three are well-managed and stocked with games.

Well, the San Francisco Bay Area is doing just fine with Games of Berkeley & Eudemonia in Berkeley, Endgame in Oakland, Gamescape in San Francisco and San Rafael, Black Diamond Games in Walnut Creek, GameKastle in Santa Clara, Hobby Town in Fremont, and many more.

Yeah, I figured the Bay area was doing fine. On Rio Grande's website, half their CA distributors are in SF/Oakland. I wonder why the LA gaming scene sucks so much...

No. The problem is you have a profound lack of understanding of how retailing actually works. A game retailer orders from a distributor at a discount rate somewhere between 43-47% off the MSRP. An online retailer is his own distributor and can get between 53-60% off MSRP from the manufacturer. This is why an online retailer can sell games for 35% off and still stay in business (well, that and much lower overhead).

A game retailer usually cannot be a distributor either because he cannot afford to buy in such large bulk or he simply doesn't have the shelf space to put all the games. Plus, once he becomes a distributor, other distributors will not sell to him and the retailer must do all his ordering through dozens of game companies - while trying to provide good customer service to his customers. Either way, to expect a small independent game retailer to compete with an online retailer, given the difference in discount rates, is both unfair and unrealistic.

Although I would say the SF Bay area is doing okay, it has taken a few hits. Scenario Games in Fremont closed, as did Paradox Playground in Campbell. Although not simply a game store, San Antonio Hobbies in Mountain View closed also.

Gator Games in San Mateo is still alive and kicking. There is also Game Gallery (is that the name?) in Cupertino and San Jose (Blossom Valley).

In southern California, Brookhurst Hobbies is in Garden Grove. Is All Star Games still there in Diamond Bar? I haven't been there in years.

I second the recommendation for The Source:

http://www.sourcecandg.com

Also, don't forget Phoenix Games in Uptown: Lake St. and Bryant Ave., Minneapolis

I heartily recommend both stores. Both have knowledgeable staff, excellent selection and space to play games.

I started my gaming hobby with Pheonix games when I was 10 years old (at that time it was called the Tin Soldier 25 years ago...)(...)(Wow, that long ago) buying D&D books. When I got older and found a gaming group, my friend and I bought many older game classics there such as Magic Realm, Civilization (Regular, Advanced and the Expansion), and Republic of Rome.

When I got into my Magic and VtES card buying phase I frequented the Source fairly regularly and met some other people that got added to our gaming group. Also, I have purchased many a eurogame from their shelves.

Now, I try and alternate between the two and try and support both.

I agree, what a great place for not only games but other dealy-bobbers as well!

there's a great store in Aurora called Attactix although I haven't been there in a while as I live in Colorado Springs

The best store in Colorado Springs is called Compleat Games and Hobbies.

On the northern side of the state, try:
Stonebridge Games
449 Main St., Longmont, CO 80501
(303) 776-3796
stonebridgegames.com

They carry a selection of Euros, American board games, CCGs and CMGs, along with some Warmachine, d20, abstracts and so on. They also have drinks and snacks, and have a menu from the pizza place next door: they'll deliver food to your gaming table . I give it a 9 out of 10.

Two more additions:

In Broomfield there is Timewellspent which is a warehouse so you pay internet prices but can avoid shipping costs by picking them up in person. It also seems to have every game you'd need.
www.timewellspent.org

Also in Boulder is Karliquin's Game Knight which focuses on miniatures but keeps a solid supply of card games and other quality strategy games.

I agree Compleat is an excellent store.