Upon walking into Adventure Games, customers are quickly greeted by large statues of goblins and dragons, walls of Magic the Gathering cards and board game players donned in their finest graphic T-shirts and jeans.

Located on 408 N. Main St. since 2019, Adventure Games is home to all the board games, dice sets and miniature figures a hobbyist could want.

Gamers can further immerse themselves at the many gaming tables they provide in the store, where they host various events throughout the week such as board game nights and card game nights. Outside of these events, they have free-to-use tables available in house.

“We’re definitely in a renaissance of board games,” Adventure Games employee Naomi Dorow said. “There’s new stuff coming out every week.”

Dorow said when the coronavirus pandemic happened, everyone was stuck at home and bored so many turned to board games to pass the time.

“We were selling games left, right and center,” Dorow said. “We have a very active community here and a store Discord as well for customers, factoring into different realms of interest. We also have a huge Star Wars crowd that shows up on Thursdays which turn into very busy days.”

Dorow said they often hold game nights and events at the store, including Star Wars Unlimited, Lorcana, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Magic the Gathering, which are currently some of the popular card games, as well as miniature events like Dungeons and Dragons campaigns.

“Critical Role did bring some interest into Dungeons and Dragons and then when the D&D movie came out there was another spike, though it has kept a general interest for years,” Dorow said.

Dorow said the store has maintained an active community of regulars and newcomers through these events and the staff’s hospitality.

Long-time customer Tom Vandervelden has been coming to Adventure Games for over five years for the staff’s welcoming nature towards customers. He also likes that Adventure Games is a great spot to play with friends, not just buy things.

“They always have a good crowd of people to play with,” Vandervelden said. “10 after nine on a Wednesday and there are people here playing; it is a really good crowd.”

Vandervelden said it is hard finding people to play with who are genuinely interested and the fact that there are always people here that want to play means a lot.

Dorow said that being right across the street from comic store House of Heroes Comics and movie and video game store Mojos has certainly helped build and foster a similar community.