Link to their official home page, on FaceBook.
Rochester, a city of 100+k, finally has a first-class gaming store: well lit, open, friendly staff, and open tables where any type of game, and gamer, is welcome! They have open tables, and all types of games and gamers are welcome to walk in and set up a game at their open tables. They host board games, RPG's, miniature games, card games, etc.
They opened their doors two months ago, and now they are about to expand their store space by more than 1,500 square feet! They have had explosive growth in just their first two months. Currently, the store is all but taken over, and filled, by RPG gamers on Wednesday nights, each week. Their store hours are Sunday – Saturday, 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM.
Not only can you bring your own games into the store, but they also have a library of store games, which you can pull out and play, free of charge. The staff is open, friendly, and willing to entertain ideas about setting up gaming events, and even leagues!
I approached the owner last week about setting up a racing league, using the popular Formula D board game. We met last night to discuss some house rules for an ongoing league, with a wall plaque for the names of drivers (names made up by players for their fantasy car drivers), along with the players who take the checkered flags.
Other friends of mine approached them about starting up a Flames of War regular playing session, and the owners agreed. The store now stocks FoW product which they did not stock before being approached. There are players who drive more than an hour to participate in these FoW games, on a regular basis.
In our discussion last night, we even touched on the topic of setting up, and running, a game convention in Rochester -- something which was done before, for a few years, before it disappeared. A city this size (100+k), is big enough to support a gaming convention (Austin, 40 miles away, with 21k people, is running its 2nd annual game convention, this weekend!).
What really sets D6 Games apart, is that it is clean, well lit, well organized, and with friendly, open to suggestions, staff. The owner shared with me that some parents brought their pre-teen, and early teen, children into his store, looked around, watched for a while, then left. They are now comfortable dropping their children off for games, unsupervised.
Thus far, D6 Games is unique from what I've seen elsewhere (Minneapolis/St. Paul, in particular). They are a business to watch, and perhaps take notes on. They are doing a fantastic job, and the community is taking notice. They have many plans to attract more gamers, including people who have never gamed before (my interest in the board game, Formula D, has led to some interesting ideas on how to promote both the game, and the store, to the general public).
The future for gaming in Rochester, MN, is looking very bright, no matter your gaming interests. Check out D6 Games, and prove me wrong… Cheers!
