Houston game stores

[jeffh]

I imagine there must be a fair number of people from Houston, Texas or the surrounding area who post here, it being one of the biggest cities in the US. Well, soon I'll be one of them; I've been accepted (back in April, actually) into a Ph.D. program at Rice University and will be moving sometime in August.

I'm just wondering what there is by way of good gaming stores in the area. This is not a major consideration in anything, but it is nevertheless a good thing to know when moving into a strange city. I started a thread on this when I found out there was a good chance I'd be accepted at Rice, but I don't remember much except there not being anything really spectacular (as in, comparable to the Source, in the Twin Cities area). And of course, that thread was a casualty of the database failure a few weeks back.

So, current or recently lapsed Houstonians - what's the city like in terms of gaming stores? Especially the southwestern part near the Medical Center area.

 

[Jdvn1]

Congrats!

I thought you were looking into another school... but welcome to Houston (in advance)!

There are two popular gaming stores in Houston very close to Rice (a third closed down a few months ago, sadly). Will you have a car? The best gaming store I know of isn't too close by.

By the way, surprisingly, there aren't a lot of Houstonian EN Worlders. A lot of the players I see play White Wolf or various pulp or superhero games. There are a few of us around, though, and Rice is the location of a really good con.

Also, I asked in the previous thread and didn't get an answer--what's the Source? What is it like? I can't say if anything's comparable because I know nothing about it.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

There is a place called Nan's, but I do not know where it is even though I have been there.

 

[d20Dwarf]

I imagine there must be a fair number of people from Houston, Texas or the surrounding area who post here, it being one of the biggest cities in the US. Well, soon I'll be one of them; I've been accepted (back in April, actually) into a Ph.D. program at Rice University and will be moving sometime in August.

I'm just wondering what there is by way of good gaming stores in the area. This is not a major consideration in anything, but it is nevertheless a good thing to know when moving into a strange city. I started a thread on this when I found out there was a good chance I'd be accepted at Rice, but I don't remember much except there not being anything really spectacular (as in, comparable to the Source, in the Twin Cities area). And of course, that thread was a casualty of the database failure a few weeks back.

So, current or recently lapsed Houstonians - what's the city like in terms of gaming stores? Especially the southwestern part near the Medical Center area.

Despite not have a Source-level shop (how many cities do?), you're in luck when it comes to comic and game shops in Houston. Here's a great Website with links to the best stores and conventions in the area.

http://littleboxofbones.com/conventions/

I personally recommend Midnight Comics and Nan's. Nan's is probably the closest to you (Third Planet's just down 59 as well). It's definitely an old-school game store experience...I'll leave it at that (I actually have a fondness for Nan's for nostalgia reasons). Midnight is awesome because, well, it's open until midnight, and they have plenty of gaming space, and the owner is quite cool. It'll be a bit of a drive for you, though.

You might also want to check out http://www.houstongamers.org/index.php

 

[Jdvn1]

The two places right by Rice are Nan's and Third Comics.

Nan's is run by a really cool dude. Unfortunately, there's one or two employees that give the place a bad rap. Though, when there are three employees, that's kind of significant.

It's a good place to go if you're looking for anything semi-common. They carry a variety of books and sell for cover price. They also have a lot of comic books (half the store I think), if that's your thing. No gaming space. This is the closest place to Rice and could be considered walking distance.

Third Planet, from what I've seen, is run by nicer people on average. At least, I haven't had any bad customer service experiences with them. They do have a smaller variety of books, but more third party material, I think. Most of their store has a variety of other things from books, to shirts, to swords, to comic books and books. Very wide variety in not a much larger space than Nan's. Also no gaming space. If this is walking distance, it's pushing it. I wouldn't recommend walking there. Though, there's a Freebird's on the way if you want to have a meal on the way.

The third place was a tiny hole-in-the-wall place run by super nice people and did have gaming space. It was called Dragon's Breath, and I miss it. I'm not sure if they actually closed down or just change business focus to an internet store. Either, it's not a place you can go in anymore.

For a fun geeky experience, try going to the Hobbit Cafe. Great food, slightly pricey (though, maybe cheaper than most places in Canada from what I've seen), and filled with LotR memorabilia. I'm not a particularly big LotR fan, but it's kind of a fun place nonetheless.

 

[Jdvn1]

There is a place called Nan's, but I do not know where it is even though I have been there.

Do you even live in Houston? (if so--http://www.frappr.com/enworld--tell us! )

NE corner of 59 and Shepherd.

Eventhough I don't like it that much, it's the biggest gaming store in Houston (from what I understand, profit-margin-wise and name-wise).

 

[Jdvn1]

I personally recommend Midnight Comics and Nan's. ... Midnight is awesome because, well, it's open until midnight, and they have plenty of gaming space, and the owner is quite cool. It'll be a bit of a drive for you, though.

Midnight Comics is, in my opinion, the best gaming store in Houston. Just my luck, it's also the closest to me. They really do have a lot of gaming space, and they have probably the biggest variety of third-party and out-of-print material. And, they're more than happy to order just about anything you can think of, if they can find it.

The owners are cool, though one of them can come off as a jerk--he means well, though. Just has crude jokes. They also have a lot of comic books (no surprise) and board games. You can buy a large variety of mini's there as singles, and many organizations (particularly school oriented organizations) can get discounts there (often 10%) if they work it out ahead of time.

You might also want to check out http://www.houstongamers.org/index.php

Living in Houston, I feel like I should at least register to that, though I haven't been able to bring myself to leaving EN World. And, there's not enough D&D there to satisfy me.

 

[d20Dwarf]

Hmmm, I usually dis Houston at every chance, but it really does have a good gaming community and lots of good stores. Ok, now there are two things on my list of Good Things About Houston.

The second thing will also be close to you, btw, the Mucky Duck Irish pub.

 

[Jdvn1]

Hmmm, I usually dis Houston at every chance, but it really does have a good gaming community and lots of good stores. Ok, now there are two things on my list of Good Things About Houston.

The second thing will also be close to you, btw, the Mucky Duck Irish pub.

Third would be: It's not Dallas.


Sorry, I diss Dallas when I can, eventhough I lived there for a few years and have friends there.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Do you even live in Houston? (if so--http://www.frappr.com/enworld--tell us! )

NE corner of 59 and Shepherd.

Eventhough I don't like it that much, it's the biggest gaming store in Houston (from what I understand, profit-margin-wise and name-wise).

I live in the Woodlands, a suburb of Houston. I am going to be in Denton, this fall as I am going to the University of North Texas.