Posted by Mitch, gamura compeditorus.
Today’s installment of my local game store (LGS) adventures took me to a store I once gamed at fairly regularly, Monster Den in Minneapolis, MN.
The feel of Monster Den
Hanging out in Monster Den feels like hanging out in someone’s basement or garage, giving it a cool trendy feel and the sense that you are in your own little world. It’s a place where you get to decide what is important to you, and not have others dictate what you should feel is important. It is a place in that a younger crowd can call it its own. It feels like a place you go to play games because games are what is important to you.
What you will find in Monster Den
- A store with more space dedicated for play than retail space
- Snacks for sale
- Couches and TVs hooked up to gaming consoles
- An area to plug in your laptop and games
- A library of board games available for costumers to try before they buy
- Board games, miniatures games, and card games, including lots of Magic: the Gathering singles for sale
What I like about Monster Den
Monster Den is it is a store where I sense that many of its regular customers view gaming as more of a lifestyle than a hobby. It’s is a place to go to because you want to be where the action is. It’s a place where people gather to play, compete, discuss gaming strategy, and often buy, trade, or sell (back to the store) gaming supplies, primarily Magic: the Gathering cards, as that is Monster Den’s biggest gaming group (although far from their only regular group of gamers).
Final thoughts
It strikes me that different groups of gamers have very different gaming needs/desires and would be best served by different LGS. I believe Monster Den does an excellent job at keeping its niche of younger customers happy. What is your gaming niche? I would love to hear about it in the comment section.
Monster Den
1815 East 41st Street
Minneapolis, MN 55407
(612) 724-4543
Monster Den introduced me to Halo LAN parties.
Good times!
Thank you for the awesome article. I am very glad that you liked the place and thought you got a very good feel for what we, as the Monster Den, are trying to do.