Misty Mountain Games

Misty Mountain is what I would call a fairly average game store. There’s nothing overly positive or negative that stands out about it. I really feel that this store could really step up their game in some areas to become something really stellar.
First, I love the massive open play space at the back of the store and frequent CCG, roleplaying, miniature, and board game events. It’s a great way to pull the gaming community together. Along the same line, this particular store does not suffer from «basement gamer smell.» I am pleasant surprised that the store has a neutral scent, despite the masses of people that hang around the store for the open play space.
The miniature and CCG selection seems to be full of anything you would really need, but the board game front needs some work. The selection sits between Target and a well stocked game store. Many of the demanded new releases are not in and many box covers are faded from sitting in the sun. I love supporting friendly local game stores (FLGS), but I find it hard to support this one because there isn’t much on the shelf that I want to buy. I already own everything on the shelf or I’m disinterested. It would be great to see more stock options and new releases. Additionally, carrying component upgrades for board games would be a welcome introduction.
It appears that all of the prices here are MSRP, which is fairly expected for a game store. Unfortunately, they do not have a loyalty program for customers. While I LOVE supporting FLGS the lack of loyalty program makes it a difficult choice for me to either spend significantly more money compared to Amazon or Cool Stuff Inc or to support local business. For example, Terra Mystica is $ 51.99 on Amazon, but the store is selling at the full price of $ 80. I really want to support you, Misty Mountain, but you make it so hard with these massive price differences and no loyalty program. If you do have a loyalty program not a single employee has told me about it after multiple purchases.

I am not a gamer, so feel free to take this review with a grain of salt. I stopped in with my geeky boyfriend because he wanted to check out the Star Wars X-​Wing game before investing. I poked around the rest of the shop while he pored over the pieces and was able to make a pretty quick loop. Misty Mountain has a decent selection but seems to specialize in a million versions of a few choice games (Settlers of Cattan and Fluxx are the ones that stand out in my memory). There were also quite a few figurines for games that you could paint and decorate yourself.
For someone like me who was just browsing to see what’s interesting, there’s not going to be a lot of variety. If you know your stuff and need something specific, though, this very well could be your place.
The guy running the shop was really nice and there is a gigantic span of tables in the back for group gameplay. I knew people get together to play games at shops, but I had no idea it was such a massive endeavor. The gaming area has a kind of warehouse/​basement feel that is somehow completely appropriate but not that aesthetically pleasing. The nice thing, though, is that I got the vibe that anyone would be welcome, even if they were a total newb like me.

In one day my husband and I hit up three game stores. Misty Mountain was the third on the game store tour. Of the three, it had the most difference in selection. There were games there that we had not seen at the other two stores. It also had an EPIC playing area. Much larger then the other two. The service was friendly, but not too friendly, which is a good thing.