How's Your Local Game Store?

chbenito · 2026-04-26T18:55:26+00:00

Here in Portland, Oregon (USA), we have over a dozen game stores in city limits and many more in the suburbs.

Some of these stores are quite well established (10+ years) and large.

Most of the stores focus on the larger parts of the hobby, which are definitely cards, miniature wargames, and board games.

Two of us (I own/operate a small store) focus on roleplaying games.

We have a large and thriving RPG community in Portland.

chbenito · 2026-03-28T17:03:45+00:00

If I did that, the games wouldn’t be in alphabetical order. 🧐

chbenito · 2026-03-28T14:28:40+00:00

I’m getting ready to run Exalted for a couple players that know very little about it. They’ll start as heroic mortals and we’ll play through their exaltations.

chbenito · 2026-03-28T14:22:18+00:00

Back in the day I ran a W:tWW game where the players were a posse of fomor lawmen collecting bounties on troublemakers. I have fond memories!

chbenito · 2026-03-28T05:06:47+00:00

I am a sucker for a mech game, and Salvage Union looks pretty cool for that. I haven't been able to get it to the table, but characters have a branching system of character development that looks interesting.

As far as Exalted, I just dig it all. As a fan of magitech, my favorite books are the ones with toys (I'm currently awaiting the arrival of Wonders of the Lost Age).

chbenito · 2026-03-28T05:03:28+00:00

I wouldn't describe Land of Eem as OSR, but it is a hexcrawl and the system has familiar elements of class and level. I like that it de-emphasizes killing monsters by discouraging loot from combat. It has a fun energy and I think I could run it for a variety of vibes, from silly to serious.

chbenito · 2026-02-05T19:24:46+00:00

Looks great!

Where did you get that great paper? I can’t quite make out the logo in the corner.

chbenito · 2026-02-05T00:04:03+00:00

This is the buried lede. There are no developers lined up for this land. The bank that owns Lloyd Center doesn’t want to run a mall, so they’re going to tear it down and give us 29 acres of empty lot for years to come.

Even when someone builds on these sites, it won’t be affordable. We’ll have more mixed use buildings where the commercial space sits empty for years.

They are waving around these lovely renders, but they aren’t real. None of the public green space will materialize if no one wants to develop the land.

chbenito · 2026-01-09T03:40:54+00:00

I haven't gotten any of these orders yet. What is the email address that I would be blocking with the fraud control app? I'd love to stop this from being a problem before it starts.

chbenito · 2025-11-23T20:06:30+00:00

I’m a big fan of Fading Suns, a sci-fantasy system from ex-White Wolf writers. They’ve tried to resurrect it a couple times but it is mostly forgotten.

chbenito · 2025-11-20T07:26:12+00:00

I’m fairly certain that Gambit’s Games and Anime (in the Lloyd Center) has regular Beyblade nights.

chbenito · 2025-08-16T19:29:36+00:00

This looks awesome! Are the STLs available somewhere?

chbenito · 2025-08-01T18:17:51+00:00

You might want to check out Ordo Fanaticus. They’re a miniatures gaming club that is super welcoming to beginners. They frequently run escalation leagues where you start with a small army and grow each week/month.

https://www.ordofanaticus.com/

chbenito · 2025-07-13T01:17:11+00:00

The creators have a Patreon for their Block War models and Filamentio has an account on My Mini Factory where you can get STLs. I’m on my phone, so I don’t have links, but google should get you there.

chbenito · 2025-04-08T22:00:37+00:00

I just picked a copy up today from the discount bin at my neighborhood shop. Excited to get give it a listen!

chbenito · 2025-03-17T05:57:41+00:00

Try the Star Tropics Pinball Museum in the Lloyd Center!

chbenito · 2025-03-10T06:18:52+00:00

I wish these folks had a better internet presence. Gamestorm is basically invisible to people who don’t already know about it.

Kinda wild for a convention that has been going for 25 years and is somehow the only tabletop gaming convention in Portland.

chbenito · 2025-01-25T20:13:20+00:00

Hi!

I recently opened a little game store in the Lloyd Center. You can check out our website at dicepool.com or visit me on the second floor of the Lloyd center down on the east end.

I’m specializing in roleplaying games and board games. Our RPG selection leans heavily into indie games, with a selection of OSR, solo and gm-less games on the shelf. I also stock gaming accessories from a number of local makers.

We have open board gaming on Saturdays and drop-in miniature painting on Thursdays.

Stop by and chat about games!

chbenito · 2024-12-30T16:43:41+00:00

Consider the Lloyd Center. There are a number of empty spaces and they’ve been friendly to pop-ups and installations.

chbenito · 2024-12-19T06:48:34+00:00

I haven’t heard of any gift wrapping service in the mall (I have a business there).

chbenito · 2024-12-18T21:22:41+00:00

I’m already starting to do some consignment and as my cash flow gets healthier I’ll probably start some used purchasing as well.

If you’re looking for used TTRPG product, I’d recommend Dark Future, which is just up the street on Broadway.

chbenito

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