Games Galore

By Lisa Arnett
May 2026 View more Discover

These shops offer wide selections and places to play

The Wandering Dragon Game Shoppe

15032 S. Des Plaines St., Plainfield

This sprawling game emporium might seem intimidating at first, what with its multiple event rooms and inventory stacked nearly to the ceiling in spots. However, owners Kevin and Laura Martin want customers to know that beginners are welcome. “We want to make sure that when folks walk through our door, whether they’ve been gaming for a day or two or 10 years, come on in, learn the game, you don’t need to know everything,” Kevin says. No matter what your interest, they’re confident you’ll find a game that suits your style. “There’s literally something for everyone,” Laura says. “Party games, role-playing games, card games, board games, escape room games.”

The store offers organized gameplay events as well as room and table rentals for gamers who want to gather on their own. Pricing for events range from $20 for a tournament room table up to $200 for a private Dungeons & Dragons session with a professional Dungeon Master. “Right now thanks to Stranger Things, D&D I think is more popular than it’s ever been.” Kevin says. “People are here playing almost every single night.” Interested players can fill out a registration form, and staff will match them with an existing group or facilitate starting a new one. For an especially immersive experience, you can book the Outsider Inn, an old-timey tavern-themed room complete with candles, tapestries, and antique relics.

Good to know: Above all, the Martins love watching their customers make connections through gaming. “Folks come out who maybe usually aren’t outgoing, and before they know it, they’re laughing and gaming together with strangers,” Kevin says. “It’s so awesome for folks to get together and become friends playing games. That’s why we fell in love with it.”

Fair Game

1015 Curtiss St., Downers Grove; 214 W. State St., Geneva; 19 S. La Grange Road, La Grange

Nine years ago, Downers Grove resident Rita Brezina’s oldest son was crushed when he found out his favorite local game store, Fair Game, was closing. “It was a safe place for him to hang out and pursue his hobby, and I remember saying to my husband, Eric, ‘This is a real shame. I wish there was something we could do,’ ” she says. One thing led to another, and the Brezinas decided to step in and purchase the store. “We weren’t small business owners and we didn’t know anything about retail, but we had a conviction that we wanted to provide an inclusive place for the community, and it would be fun to learn along the way,” she says.

They added a second location in La Grange in 2019 and another in Geneva in 2023. “We were at capacity for events every night of the week and we knew there were more people in a fairly local area that would love to spend time together in these meaningful, nondigital interactions,” Brezina says. The stores carry board games, puzzles, and card games as well as role-playing games (think Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder) and miniatures games such as Warhammer. “We always have Pokémon in stock, and we work hard to make sure there are lots of options for both young and seasoned collectors,” Brezina says.

Good to know: The stores host events every night of the week, from Saturday morning Pokémon meet-ups to Magic the Gathering Casual Commander Nights on Fridays. “For kids, so many game mechanics are just good lessons for life that we’re teaching them without harping on it,” Brezina says. “Whenever I host a game event for kids, I always tell them that I’m a big fan of winning with grace and losing with grace. They’re both equally important skills to be practiced.”

Grognard Games

839 N. Roselle Road, Roselle; 1375 Wind Energy Pass, Batavia; 2040 E. Algonquin Road, Algonquin

“I’ve been a gamer my whole life, since I was a young boy, starting with Dungeons & Dragons and board games,” says Todd Warren, owner and business manager of Grognard Games. “Selfishly, the hard part about any game is finding other people to play with. We want to provide a place where people can find their tribe.”

Warren actually owned a game store in the early 2000s in Schaumburg but left retail for a steadier gig while raising his family. “It was a lot of fun, and I got the bug about 15 years later to get back into it,” he says. “My kids had grown up a little bit, and my friends and I wanted to create a comfortable space to play games and that just didn’t exist at the time.” Together with a few business partners, he opened the store’s first location in Roselle in 2016. In 2022, they opened a Batavia location, and more recently added an Algonquin store with storage space to expand online sales.

The stores sell board games, card games, role-playing games, and model kits. Magic The Gathering and Warhammer currently draw the biggest following. “We are extremely family-friendly, and there’s no age limit in either direction. We have young kids with their parents come play a Disney-themed card game, and there are old fogies like me that play all the old-school games,” Warren says. “The point is not to just sell games but provide the service of giving them the space to play games with other like-minded people. We are constantly running leagues and tournaments and play days. Everybody is welcome at our tables, and we are a safe space for folks of all kinds.”

So, what does grognard mean, anyway? “In common parlance, a grognard is a person who, though there are better or more modern versions of something available, they still prefer an older version,” Warren says. “So I’m a grognard because I still prefer the first edition of D&D even though they’re on the fifth edition. The idea is that everybody eventually becomes a grognard because you always remember something fondly from when you first got into it.”

Good to know: One of Grognard Games’s signature events is called the Bizarre Bazaar. “People can bring in their hobby stuff or books or games they aren’t going to use anymore, and they can sell them directly to other customers,” Warren says. “It’s a great way to look for deals and bargains and build our community. We try to do one in the spring and one in the fall, and there’s always a line out the door.”

Treasures

121 S. Washington St., Naperville

Though you’ll find toys, stuffies, and crafty goodies at Michael Kristula’s downtown Naperville shop, about 70 percent of his inventory is games. “Our game nights have been going crazy. Every Thursday, we have upwards of 30 people in our game room,” says Kristula, who opened the store in 2020 and often recruits his 11-year-old twins to help vet games. “I just love it because everyone is so excited to teach you their latest favorite game because they want to be able to play it regularly.”

One of Kristula’s latest favorites is Bomb Busters, a cooperative board game in which players work together on a bomb-disarming mission. His current top seller is Flip 7, a press-your-luck card game that is “taking the world by storm,” he says. “It is so much fun to play, and it’s as easy as blackjack. There are people who don’t like card games, and the minute you show them this, they’re like, ‘I like this.’ ”

Kristula also recently started hosting Marvel Dice Throne tournaments. “It’s sort of like Yahtzee, but you fight each other in tournaments,” he says. With a two-character starter set costing $35, “it’s a lot cheaper to start than say, Magic The Gathering or Pokémon.”

Good to know: Kristula hosts a popular Friday night drop-off event for kids. “For $35 a person, it comes with pizza and pop and three hours of gaming, and the kids get to learn how to play new board and card games while the parents enjoy a night out,” he says.

Also, you can’t miss the classic Zoltar animatronic fortune-telling machine (think Big) stationed right by the front door, in case you’re feeling nostalgic.

Photos: The Wandering Dragon; Fair Game; Grognard Games