Game Empire – Pasadena

Game Empire on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena

Name:
Game Empire

Address:
2302 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91107

Phone Number:
(626) 304-9333

Websites:
Game Empire Website
Yelp
Facebook

Hours of Operation:
Monday – Wednesday
10:00 AM to 10:00 PM
Thursday – Saturday
10:00 AM to 11:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM to 9:00 PM

When I first started staying in Pasadena, I was walking down Colorado Blvd. looking for work and noticed this store on the opposite side of the street from me. My feet were sore, my soul was crushed by the amount of rejections I was getting, but my eyes lit up when I saw it. Now, unlike most people out here, I didn’t go running across the street, instead I waited until a crosswalk before doubling back to check it out. I walked in those doors and I was in heaven.

I’ve been a gamer off and on for almost 20 years. Pencil and paper, dice, players handbooks, miniature pewter/lead figures, all of those and more have been in my arsenal. I’ve done tabletop RPG’s, MUD’s, MUSH’s, Miniature Battles, CCG’s, even been known to LARP once or twice. I’ve been the player and I’ve been the GM. I’ve been the tourney loser, the tourney leader, and the tourney ref. I love it, and I hope one day my life will settle down to the point where I can dust off my Dwarven Stones and roll up a new character. And when this happens, I hope I have access to a store like Game Empire.

When I strolled in, it was a weekday morning and they were understandably empty. At that time of day, gamers with jobs are at work, and gamers without jobs are sleeping off the previous nights battle with cave trolls, or doing what this gamer without a job was doing, out looking for work. The shopkeep was kicked back, relaxing behind the counter when I walked in, and gave me a wave when I walked up and dropped my satchel by the counter. Loss Prevention officer in me, don’t like carrying a bag around a store that carries small items that can be shoved into said bag.

This store was wonderful. It had less of a Barnes & Noble clean, sterile feel to it, more of a comfortable used book store feel. Slightly worn but still nice, slightly cluttered without being overwhelmingly so, and well lit without being blindingly bright. Digging around was both a delight and showed me exactly how out of the loop I was on this geeky aspect of myself. First, I discovered that there is yet ANOTHER version of Dungeons & Dragons out there. Wow. Oh, but good news: Knights of the Dinner Table is still going strong, so that makes me happy. Oh, is that Zombie! and Munchkin side by side over there? There’s a Battlestar Galactica board game?

Trust me, I could go on for pages like that, but I will digress. Let me just state that I was very pleased with their selection. However, that’s only half the store.

The OTHER half, which was like a second storefront, is dedicated to gaming. They have flat tables for standard games. They have terrain tables for mini gaming. They have blue tables for sea-faring gaming. And it’s all the size of their standard retail store, which is not tiny by any stretch of the imagination. Up on the wall was the wipe board showing what games were going on during the course of the week, and it was chock full of gaming goodness.

According to everything I’ve read on the store, from their website to what their customers have to say on various review sites, Game Empire takes pride in bringing gamers together in a comfortable professional atmosphere. The shopkeep in attendance was attentive without being overbearing, the store had a good feel to it, and it just looked and felt like a good geek spot. The selection was plentiful, the prices looked to be good, and the amount of space they had for gaming was larger than most gaming stores I grew up with.

Game Empire on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena is definitely worth a drive to check out. I’m talking about an actual drive, not just if you’re in the area. I’d say it’s worth is from L.A. out to the I.E. to check them out. San Diego, they have a location down there, and if it’s anything like this one, you guys are golden. They’ve really got me itching to pick up the dice once more.

The Geek Explorer