Store Report: Fat Ogre Games

Fat Ogre Games

525 Sawdust Road #101
Spring, Texas

   Returning home after a weekend in Dallas, I decided to drop back by this store on the way. They have moved, and I wanted to see their new premises. We arrived at about 1700 on Sunday afternoon.

   Premises: Spacious, clean and new. Plenty of windows. I like this, because it seems to me that too many game stores hide what they are donig behind an impenetrable wall of crap in the windows. Maybe gamers are sensitive to the sun, but I think it makes us look like we are hiding something. This is not a porn shop, after all!

   Staff: Friendly, but not pushy. They asked if I needed help finding anything, and backed off when I replied that I was mostly just checking out the new shop. Allowed me to thumb through the store copy of a Flames of War book for a few minutes, no trouble. My cashier had to be coached through the transaction because they have recently changed their POS system, apparently.

   Gaming Area: It was split between an RPG area and a wargaming area. The tables for the wargaming area are good and sturdy. Wish I had as nice, and mine is not bad (just too low and a bit small). The RPG area had standard folding tables and chairs. Gaming space takes up the majority of the floor area. There were three or four wargames going on, and one group of about a dozen playing some RPG - I didn't get nosy enough to find out what.

   Retail: Some board games, plenty of card games (not that I am interested in those, but for those of you that are - they have 'em!). Lots of GW stuff, no surprise. A good selection of Warmachine (better than Area 51's), a good selection of Flames of War as well. They had quite a few boxes of Mantic figures for fantasy gaming. Some comics, but this is definitely a gaming store with comics, not a comic store with games. This is preferable, to me.

  Food: They are right behind a James Coney Island (not as good as Der Weinerschnitzel, of course), and other food places are nearby. I didn't notice any vending in the store.

  Misc.: I would suggest a re-work on the website, as it is out of date with pictures of the old store, the old address in some places, and events that I do not think the current store can support - or I may be wrong. One neat thing they used to do was offer movie night in a separate media room, with popcorn and everything.

   Anyway, a short review of a good store. If I lived on that side of Houston, I could easily see this as my FLGS. But, an hour plus drive makes it a bit far for a regular hangout, to me.

"A"