A Visit to Draxtar Games, a New Game Store in Chicago's Western Suburbs

I stopped by Draxtar Games in Batavia (a suburb about 40 miles west of Chicago) last Thursday. The far western suburbs aren't my normal territory, but I've got family nearby and am not one to miss a chance to visit a new game store (Draxtar Games has been open 5 months).

I didn't have a good camera with me, so I've borrowed a few representative shots from their Facebook page for this report. Two things jump out at you when you first walk into Draxtar. The first is a 6-foot tall, 8-foot wide glass case filled with beautiful painted miniatures. And it's not only the usual Warhammer 40,000 stuff either -- they've got 28mm figures from Bolt Action, 15mm Flames of War units, Warmachine groups and others.

Once you peel your eyes away from the cabinet of wonders, you realize just how large the place is. The overall floor space is impressive, certainly bigger than the floor space of any just-opened game store I've ever seen. This is a game store made for playing, as the actual shopping area is only about 1/4 of the total space. The shot below shows most of the store. The low glass cabinets to the right contain Magic cards and the register and staff area. Not visible is the retail area, the tall miniatures display cabinets and entrance, which are on the opposite side of the glass cabinets.

And this shot shows the rest of the central staff/display area, the entrance and the retail area.

About half the gaming area consists of tables for collectible card games. The rest is filled with nicely done standard-sized gaming tables (waist high, recessed edges, sturdy construction, etc) of the sort you might see at a Games Workshop store.

Perusing their terrain I saw the usual batch of 40k ruined cityscapes, but also some crisp futuristic terrain that would fit in well with Infinity or Warpath, as well as some Wild West buldings, small-scale European terrain, buildings for Flames of War and custom space gaming mats that were being used for X-Wing while I was there.

The terrain was all to a good standard as well. Except for a table which was being used to prep terrain, I didn't see any flimsy, half-finished items that often appear in gaming shops. Obviously, they've put quite an effort into their terrain selection and construction.

The service was good. The manager greeted me after I'd been in the store for a minute, asked a few things and left me to my own devices. Whether this was the usual service or just because only one person was on duty (it was a slow night) I appreciated that he didn't hover in the manner of some GW redshirts.

Like most game stores (especially new shops), this one has a huge selection of Magic cards and a good selection of Games Workshop and Privateer Press games. However, it's clear that they are already trying to branch out into other miniatures games. X-Wing, Flames of War and a few other major players shared space with small selections of lesser known games like Warpath, Dystopian Legions and Dreadball. Even a few items from smaller peripheral companies like Dreamforge and Secret Weapon Miniatures were present. 

Outside of CCGs and miniatures, there is a small selection of board games and an impressive selection of "Munchkin" products. Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder comprised most of their RPG section, but their were quite a lot of vintage D&D and Shadowrun products as well. The D&D items were in such good shape that I wondered (I know little about RPGs) if they might be reissues. Definitely worth a trip for any old school RPG fans out there!

In the end, I was quite impressed with Draxtar. They're obviously going all-in trying to create a full gaming experience from the very start, and that's quite an undertaking for a new game shop. With my eclectic taste in miniatures and penchant for "indie" games, there wasn't much in their selection to tempt me. However, I won't hold that against them, as Games Plus is the only store in Illinois that carries items I'm interested in, and comparing a 20-year-old establishment to a 5-month-old startup is not a fair match.

As to Draxtar there isn't a comparable shop in the area offering the selection and gaming space that they do. I think folks in the Batavia area and other western suburbs up and down the Fox River will find Draxtar to be an excellent gaming destination and retail location, and I wish them all the best. Support your local game store!

-- Karl, Chicago Skirmish Wargames club member

A Visit to the Gaming Goat in Oak Park

Rejoice, gamers! A new shop has opened up in Oak Park, a suburb just west of Chicago. It is The Gaming Goat, part of a group of game stores that already operate in a few other Chicago suburbs.

I went out to their grand opening yesterday to scope out the scene. I'm particularly excited for the Goat because I work a mere four (4!!) blocks away from the shop in Oak Park. For the last year I've been making a pretty epic trek to the Dice Dojo to play Magic, so it would be just fantastic to have a shop that supports Magic located nearby. I live just a short 15-minute drive from this Goat location, so it's a win-win all around for me.

I can report that the Goat is deeeeep into Magic, both selling and buying. They've got plans to support draft, Standard and EDH/Commander (my format of choice).

But you didn't come here to read about Magic! Let's get to the action! The other reason for my visit was to scope out the minis gaming potential at the Goat. As you can see in the background of these photos, the store is planning to support Warmachine in a big way. Staff mentioned that they were stocking the entire line of both Warmachine and Hordes. That's a big investment, so it makes sense that they'll be looking to attract a regular group of players for these games each week.

They had a Privateer Press Ganger running Warmachine demos at their grand opening event.

The Goat also seems keen on Heroclix, a game I played many years ago but don't currently play (except for once or twice a year, as a beer-and-pretzels game, with my high school buddies).

And there's a decent stock of popular board games on their shelves, as well as a small area with opened games that you can pull off the shelf and play. Game space is divided among three distinct areas. The first, located near the big windows overlooking Ridgeland Avenue in Oak Park, has one table and seems ideal for "premier" games that might attract passers-by. Another area is just past the main retail room and has room for 4-6 tables.

Quick sidenote: One of the highlights of the day for me was a visit by Jim Pavelec, a fantasy illustrator who has done work for a bunch of Magic cards! I picked up a few artist proofs (preview cards provided to Jim before a Magic card is sent to the printer) which are super cool and very collectible. Here he is working on a sketch.

The third and perhaps most exciting gaming area is located in the basement. Yes, I said basement! Every gamer probably has memories of gaming in someone's basement. Now you can recreate those memories at the Goat! First, light a torch and venture down these steps....

Then you'll find yourself in the Temple of Elemental Evil -- er, I mean, the basement. When I visited the basement was clean, but fairly spartan...just a bunch of tables, chairs and some overhead lighting. Get some posters on those walls, gents! Here's a peek at the main room -- BEFORE it filled up with gamers.

I didn't see a whole lot of available terrain for wargaming, so I'm betting game groups will need to bring their own terrain and table coverings, at least initially. And while the Privateer Press games don't hold a ton of appeal for CSW members (except Josh, the newest Cygnar recruit), I got the distinct feeling that we'd have a warm welcome if we wanted to play some of our non-commercial, PDF-rules-only games.

When I left Saturday afternoon, after hanging out, gaming and shopping for a couple hours, the basement had filled up with gamers of all varieties. One group had a game of EDH going...another group was puzzling through a board game...and another group of younger kids were having a fun-filled game of multiplayer Magic. Overall it seems like the Goat seemed poised to attract a diverse group of clientele: younger kids from Oak Park's neighborhoods (did I mention there is a middle school located one block away?), casual gamers who might dabble in board games like Settlers of Catan, and adult gamers (like me) who appreciate a clean, friendly game store setting to shop and play.

It was great to meet co-franchisers Ross and Charlie. They have a nice location and seem very dedicated to gaming in general. By the time I left, they knew me by name -- that's the sign of a superb game shop! And Jeff, the company owner, also plans to play an active role in developing the gaming community in Oak Park. Jeff's done great things out in Elgin and Schaumburg, so I'm looking forward to watching the Oak Park Goat grow and prosper.

-- Patrick, Chicago Skirmish Wargames club member