This profile on the Tyson Wells Game Store is part of an ongoing series about Friendly Local Game Stores I’ve visited. Read other profiles here. 

In the Arizona desert, just before the California border, sits the town of Quartzsite, which has a population of nearly 3,700. Folks driving into California often make a pit stop there as it’s about 2 hours west of the Phoenix area.

Quartzsite is mostly known as a snowbird destination, as the town’s small population swells to about 250,000 during the winter seasons.

Snowbirds — people who move to warm weather locales during the winter — set up camp in their RVs and enjoy the town’s famous rock and gem shows, and vendor fairs. Most surprising, visitors can also purchase their favorite board games at the Tyson Wells Game Store.

The Tyson Wells Game Store stocks over 2,500 games, and the selection is vast and top-notch — everything from new and Kickstarter releases, as well as old favorites and classics. The 2,000-square-foot store also sells miniatures, paint and supplies, and gaming accessories. It’s a board-gaming oasis in the Arizona desert. 

The store has two rooms full of games, and it’s something you’d expect in the middle of a large-sized city, not one you’d find on a dusty road surrounded by RV parks.

In addition to the snacks and knick-knacks it also sells, the space is the home base for owner Kym Scott’s many businesses. 

“I do rock-gem-mineral shows, arts and crafts shows, RV park and self storage,” he said. 

Scott was born and raised in Quartzsite. He grew up playing games such as Risk and Axis & Allies, and now plays Arcadia Quest, Star Realms, euros and worker placements. “Back when I was growing up here, it was about 400 people,” Scott said.

The game store started small about seven years ago when Scott had extra office space. “Then four years ago, I connected with bigger distributors and game publishers and started carrying a full line of games,” he said.

The business is named after Charles Tyson who owned a well nearby during the 1800s called Tyson’s Well. When Scott’s stepfather started the business, he changed it to Tyson Wells. The Sell-A-Rama, Scott’s event where vendors sell their gems, art and jewelry, just wrapped up its 42nd show in January. 

Scott is active in the gaming community on both sides of the Arizona-California border, attending meetups in Blythe, California, and Lake Havasu, Arizona. Scott also attends local conventions like Dice Tower West and Arizona Game Fair.

Scott said the gaming community in Quartzsite consists of snowbirds from across the U.S. and Canada, and people in RVs. “Because they’re so limited by space and the size of the games,” Scott says his best seller is the card game Five Crowns. Ticket to Ride and Catan are also popular.

Lastly, the best part of owning a game store is “Every time I get a delivery, it’s kind of like Christmas. I get to see all the new games,” Scott said.

Information and photos

Tyson Wells Game Store is located at 121 Kuehn St, Quartzsite, AZ 85346. It’s open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can find more information on its Facebook page and website.

This profile on Isle of Games is part of an ongoing series about Friendly Local Game Stores I’ve visited. Read other profiles here. 

I have some friends originally from Tucson who now live in Phoenix, and they’re always talking about a great store down in Tucson. Last year, while I was in Tucson for RinCon, (which I’ll be attending again this year!), my buddy drove me to check out Isle of Games. I also recently had a chance to stop by again during a trip down south.

Isle of Games is a Tucson game store that opened in July 2014. It’s owned by Gordon Holton, who decided to open the store after two other Tucson-area game stores shut down earlier that year.

Having been a frequent customer of the now-shuttered Game Daze stores, Holton asked the managers who had been working there if they were up for running a game store.

“Those guys needed a job, Tucson needed a game store, and I wanted a place to play,” Holton said. “My day job allowed me to invest some money in order to make this work.”

And that it has. Isle of Games sells a large selection of board games, miniatures, puzzles and brain teasers, and painting and hobby supplies. The store is about 2,700 square feet, and includes space in the back for people to play games. Every time I’ve visited the store, the workers are always very friendly.

What sets this FLGS apart is its large collection of used board games for sale, which, Holton said, brings in a lot of traffic to the store. People can sell their games back for store credit.

Holton grew up as a gamer kid playing Dungeons and Dragons, chess and Monopoly. He discovered hobby games a little bit later in high school. After getting into video games after that, he rediscovered hobby games again back in 2007.

Holton is a big fan of train games, such as Railways of the World, and Power Grid. He said his third favorite game moves around a bit depending on what he’s playing. But owning a game store, of course, takes up some of that gaming time.

“If you want to play more games, you might want to avoid opening a game store,” Holton jokes.

In spite of having less time to play games, “when a family or gamer comes up and thanks you for being open and having the ability to play games and meet with their gamers,” Holton said, “things like that are the most rewarding about owning a store.”

Information and photos

Isle of Games is located at 7747 E Broadway Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85710. It’s open seven days a week. You can find more information on its Facebook page.

This profile on Dice House Games is part of an ongoing series about Friendly Local Game Stores I’ve visited. Read other profiles here. 

I’m originally from Los Angeles, so I visit Southern California often to visit family. Whenever I’m driving back to Phoenix, I love to stop by Dice House Games in Fullerton. I’ve purchased games there before because the selection is huge, with floor-to-ceiling shelves of games. I think I may have even bought the store’s second-the-the-last copy of Battlestar Galactica a while back.

Dice House Games is owned by Tuan Le, and he opened it over 10 years ago. It was almost by accident that he ended up in the board game business. In 1995, an ex-girlfriend of his suggested that he get a job at the now-closed Game Castle because, at the time, he was an artist and she thought the game store had artwork similar to his style and that he’d enjoy working there.

Le got a job at Game Castle, and, while working at there, he learned the ins and outs of operating a game store, eventually moving up to become general manager. When Game Castle closed down in 2008, Le figured he had the knowledge and wherewithal to open up a board game shop himself — directly across the street from where Game Castle had originally operated. (Game Castle moved to another location prior to its closing.)

Dice House Games has over 2,000 board games for sale in a space that’s about 1,000 square feet. Le said that gamers tell him that the store has the best selection of board games in Southern California. The store also sells Magic the Gathering cards, X-Wing miniatures, gaming supplies and, of course, lots of dice.

The store’s location is also a major perk. It’s located just a few miles from the busy campus of Cal State Fullerton, which means that there’s a new batch of customers every year to keep the board game community thriving. And those customers who shopped at Game Castle also ended up shopping at Dice House Games as well.

“I love talking to people,” he said. “I treat my store like a bar. People come in, and we talk about family, life and the job. I love having that face-to-face interaction with people.”

Different nights of the week have different scheduled events for X-Wing play, Magic the Gathering or RPGs, with Sundays reserved for open board gaming. Gamers can bring a game to play or borrow one from the gaming library.

Le doesn’t game as much as he’d like to because he’s busy running the store. His favorite games are co-ops, and he loves Pandemic, Last Night on Earth and pretty much anything zombie related.

“I don’t like arguing,” Le said. “I don’t get much out of winning, personally. The social aspect of board gaming is really the most appealing thing to me.”

“It’s all about building the community and the gaming experience,” he said.

Information and photos

Dice House Games is at 2493 E Chapman Ave., Fullerton, CA 92831. It’s open seven days a week. You can find more information on its website and Facebook page.

Correction: The story has been modified to correct the year and location Game Castle closed.