Mail Order Game Shops of the World

Below is an alphabetical list of shops (and a few individuals) that sell board games and will take mail and phone orders. Of particular interest are shops that supply Eurogames and used games. Note that the alphabetical listing pushes some of the best shops to the bottom so check out the whole list before ordering.

Bill Armintrout's excellent article on mail ordering games and game supplies is good reading for novice users of mail order services. The one tip I would add is to watch the prices. Pricing can vary wildly and you want to know how much you should be paying for the items you are ordering before you place your order.

Also be sure to check out the various game shops on the Web.

999 Games

Mail order: Rondeel 134, 1082 MH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Phone: 00 31 20 644 57 94

They translate games to Dutch!

Recent word indicates that 999 are no longer doing mail order and have switched over to being a distributor. Apparently, they are still a resource for games for folks in and around Amsterdam, though.

Adam spielt

Mail Order: Königsberger Straße 10, 61169 Friedberg, Germany
Email: adam.spielt@t-online.de
Phone: 06031/5029
Fax: 06031/63761

Large catalog. Fairly easy to get hold of an English speaking clerk. Reasonable shipping rates. And some good news: they now take VISA!

All About Games

Mail Order: 78 Main Street, Belfast, Maine 04915 USA
Email: aag@agate.net

All About carries all kinds of non-electronic games including family games (scrabble, backgammon, cribbage, chess, checkers, mancala, Spinners, etc.), role play games, collectible cards (Magic, Star Wars, Middle Earth, Legend of the Five Rings, Redemption, Wyvern, Illuminati), playing cards, jigsaw puzzles, role play games, games from Maine (Abalone, Stack, tackaradi), and a limited line of fantasy and military miniatures and paints. They've been in business for about two years in downtown Belfast, Maine. They also have a game space called The Gamers' Loft where gamers of all ages, but particularly junior high and high school kids, get together to play a variety of games.

Armchair Commanders

Store and Mail Order: 1220 Airline Rd, Suite 130 Box 238B, Corpus Christi, TX 78412, USA
E-Mail: acmdr1@davlin.net
Fax: (512) 242-1839
Order Line: 1-800-460-9272

Deep discounts and a wide range. Besides, they're Texans. Check it out.

Boulder Games

Store and Mail Order: 4254 Holley Rd, Lizella, GA 31052, USA
E-Mail: BoulderG@aol.com
Newletter on the Web: http://home.earthlink.net/~mlbakke1/boulderg.htm
Voice/Fax: 912-935-8777
Orders Machine: 1-800-299-6565

Mostly American games but with a growing line of European offerings.

Cape Cod Connection Gamer's Heaven

Mail Order: PO Box 195, Mary Esther, FL 32569, USA
E-Mail: rberry@bsc.net
Fax: 904-243-0738 (fax on demand catalog available)

Basic wargame range.

Crazy Egor's Discount Game Warehouse

Store: 3047 West Henrietta Road, Rochester, NY 14623, USA
Email: egorsorder@aol.com
Mail Order: 1699 Hamlin-Parma T.L. Road, Hilton, New York 14468, USA
Telephone: (716) 392-5158 or (800) 724-8628 (machine) or (716) 427-2190 (people)

Eric Derby (derby@news.cc) reports: "For any out of print game call Crazy Egor's discount game warehouse. They specialize in rare and out-of-print games. They do mail order anywhere on the planet (they have stopped shipping off planet due to outrageous shipping costs). If they do not have an item then you can get put on Egor's want list and he (yes, there really is an owner who is called Egor) will continue to look for the game for you. When the game is found they will send you a quote and give you the option to buy the item."

Jeux Descartes

52 Rue Des Ecoles, 75505 Paris, France
Phone: 43 26 79 83
Fax: 43 26 98 61

Great shop, killer catalog. Best source for French games. (Thanks to Matt for the updated phone numbers and address.)

Dufferin Games

Corporate Office: 3770 Nashua Drive, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L4V 1M6
Phone: 1-800-268-2597 (toll free but North America only)

Basic, traditional games (Mah Jong, backgammon, crokinole, etc.) and some gaming tables.

Esdevium Games

6 Wellington Street, Aldershot, Hamphire GU11 1DZ, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 1252 311443
Fax: +44 1252 24613

A great game shop not far outside of London featuring a full range of games from the Continent.

European Game Source

Unfortunately, this great source for European games has closed its doors.

Fine Games for Players & Collectors

1936 SE Tenino St.,Portland, OR 97202-6756
Phone: (503) 233-6969 (10am - 9pm PST daily), (800) 690-7879 x3333 (for orders only, 10am - 9pm PST daily)
Email: M.Dean@FineGames.com
FGP&C offers mostly wargames with a smattering of other, mostly American games with a good range of used games (once again, mostly wargames but a few others).

Funagain Games

1662 Ashland Street, Ashland, OR 97520
Email: funagain@funagain.com
Phone: 541-482-1939
Fax: 541-482-1020

FunAgain features recycled (All Parts Included Guarantee) and new boardgames, including a large stock of all the latest games from Europe.

Game Empire

7510 Hazard Center Drive, Suite 417, San Diego, CA 92108, USA
Phone: (619) 574-6740
Fax: (619)574-6766
Email: gempire@gameempire.com

Game Empire features in store gaming with a friendly staff and a wide selection of games for mail order.

Game Show

474 Ave. of the Americas, New York, NY 10011, USA
Telephone: (212) 633-6328

Game Show have been on the scene for around 10 years. They do phone and mail orders via UPS. They don't really do RPG's (just basic D&D, etc.), and focus more on interesting board games, word & party games. They also have nice chess & backgammon sets, physical puzzles, and a huge selection of jigsaw puzzles.

Games & Gear

Mail order: Games & Gear, P.O. Box 531124, Indianapolis, IN 46253-1124, USA
Phone: (317) 328-8103

30 to 35% off all games (all GW products have a 35% discount). In addition, Games & Gear also has the LARGEST catalog of any mail-order game and hobby supply store.

There have been reports that the phone number listed above is disconnected. Have these folks shut down or just changed their number?

Games & Kites

Mail Order:Untergasse 6, 61200 Wölfersheim
Phone: 06036/9372
Fax: 06036/5925

Amazing catalog! A must see. Fairly easy to get hold of an English speaking clerk. Reasonable shipping rates.

Games Corner (diceman@games.u-net.com)

Mail order: High St, Watton, Norfolk, UK

Eamon Bloomfield sells new and second hand games, provides a mail order service, and also mails out a monthly list of current second hand games to subscribers.

The Games Store

Mail Order: The Manor House, Eagle, Lincoln, LN6 9DG
Phone: 01522 868353
Email: kb@tgstore.demon.co.uk, 100012.2453@compuserve.com

The Games Store is a mail order shop specialising in strategy games and magazines, mainly of the military variety eg AH, Gamers, etc. Send email to receive a catalog with descriptions of games and magazines. The Games Store has been in operation since ca. 1970. A 10% money off voucher is included with each order for use with future purchases.

Games Parts, Inc.

Telephone: (201) 784-8181

Reputedly a good source of game bits for the home hacker.

Games People Play

1105 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Telephone: (617) 492-0711

Games People Play are the premier walk-in shop for European board games in the United States. They run a very nice, but somewhat pricey, mail order shop, as well.

Gamescape

333 Divisadero St., San Francisco, CA 94117, USA
Telephone: (415) 621-GAME or 621-4263

Gamescape offers a wide selection of games: European board games, war games, role playing, miniatures, abstract strategy games, and puzzles. They also have a large used games selection - the perfect place to pick up the best games from the last few decades.

Gamescape

465 California Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306, USA
Telephone: (415) 322-GAME or 322-4263

This branch of Gamescape is more convenient to Silicon Valley but, in general, has a smaller selection. This branch also sells used games and its selection can be quite different from the San Francisco store.

The Gameskeeper

105 Cowley Road, Oxford, England OX4 1HU
Telephone: (0865) 721348

This shop has been in Oxford for a least the past 11 years, probably longer, it is well stocked, and the owners are friendly and always happy to talk about games or give advice.

Gator Games & Hobby

4212 Olympic Ave
San Mateo, CA 94403
Telephone: 650-571-7529
Email: gatorgames@AOL.com
Store hours: Monday-Friday 11:00-19:00; Saturday & Sunday 11:00-18:00 PST

Gator sells tons and tons of miniatures, card singles for Magic, MLB Showdown, NFL Showdown, Pokemon, and Mage Knight, roleplaying games, board games, used games, used PlayStation 2 and Gameboy Games, and lots of game accessories. They have several showcases just full of dice. Gator will special order your gaming needs and fill over 200 special orders a week.

Internationaler Spiele Schmuggler (ISS)

14 Hawkins Way, Lamborough Hill, Wootton, Abingdon OX13 6LB
Telephone/Fax: +44 (0)1865 730317

Mark Buckley & Meriel Lewis import only the finest from Europe and The States.

Just Games

71, Brewer Street, Piccadilly Circus, London WIR 3FB, England
Telephone: 011-44-71-437-0761 or 011-44-71-734-6124
Fax: 011-44-71-437-4541

This excellent shop has more than picked up the pieces after the exit of Mark Green, who has now passed on to the Gaming Hall of Fame (don't worry - he's not dead, just in France). Ample stocks, a fine range, and a killer location make Just Games one of the premiere game shops in the English speaking world.

Just Say Game

Telephone: 800.SAY.GAME

This new division of Wargames West has an excellent catalog.

Kent Game Brokers

Telephone: 1-800-925-GAME between 9am and 9pm EST (East Coast US time)

A wide range of supplies are available to members at a substantial discount. Give them a call and they'll get you signed up, send you a catalog, and take your orders. Annual membership is only $5, which covers the credit they give to whomever referred you. Note to current members - You receive a $5 merchandise credit for every new member that mentions your name.

[Ken - I haven't checked out KGB personally so let me know what you think if you deal with them.]

Lambourne Games

US Distributor: Keywood Cheeves (kccheve@ngic.osis.gov)
Keywood serves as the American distributor of these unusual sports simulation games.

Leisure Games

Mail order: 91 Ballards Lane, Finchley, London N3
Telephone: 0181 346 2327
Email: leisuregames@btinternet.com

With the fall of Mark Green to Cupid's arrow, this humble shop in Ballards Lane, Finchley, home of Margaret Thatcher and Becker Bakeries, has ascended to the heights as, perhaps, the very best game shop in the English speaking world. Worth the trip out from London even when you factor in the transit police.

Magnus Spiele Versand

Mail Order: Postfach 1644, 68506 Viernheim
Phone: 06204/ 73264
Fax: 06204/79734

Apparently these folks offer a 20% discount. Rumored to be the cheapest prices of all the German mail order houses. I've had good reports about service and delivery speed.

McGartlin Motorsport Design

Mail Order: 4648 Leeward Drive, Chesapeake, VA 23321
Phone: (757) 465-9540
Email: AWGE19A@prodigy.com

These folks sell The Stock Car Championship Racing Card Game and a range of imports from France (Ludodelire's line), including Formule De with its additional tracks and other expansions, and a few other games from Europe. Great prices and cheerful service. Recommended.

Mission: Fun & Games

Mail Order: 8636 McKenney Avenue, St. Albert, Alberta, Canada
Phone: (780) 459-1055
Fax: (780) 459-1021
Email: daplayer@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca

These folks sell The Stock Car Championship Racing Card Game and a range of imports from France (Ludodelire's line), including Formule De with its additional tracks and other expansions, and a few other games from Europe. Great prices and cheerful service. Recommended.

The Old Game Store

Mail Order: Rt 11/30, Manchester Center, VT 05255
Email: game@vermontel.com

This store is about 1600 sq feet with over half in games from around the world, the rest are puzzles (jigsaws and brain teasers). They specialize in board games, both the boxed versions and wooden. There are no electronic, video, computer or role playing. They also keep a wish list for people of out of production games. When they find one they make sure it is complete and let you know the exact condition and give you the option of getting it or not. In the puzzle line they also have beautiful hand crafted wooden puzzles that are real collector items. They do mail order - the farthest is to Australia - no "catalog", but they put out a newsletter twice a year that is free.

OYA

22 rue Daubenton, 75005 Paris, France
Telephone: +33 1 47075959

OYA ("the first player" in Japanese) is a great idea: a cafe that rents out games so that you can give them a try before buying them. And they've recently started taking mail orders for games. The cafe/shop is open every day (except Mondays) from 2 PM to midnight. Almost makes me want to slip in a trip to Paris sometime soon...

Rio Grande Games

Telephone: 800.SAY.GAME

This new division of Wargames West is importing an excellent range of European games into the US.

2nd Games Galore

23 Reynes Drive, Oakley, Bedford MK43 7SD, Great Brittain
Phone: (01234) 823873

Piet Notebaert reports on this new find: "They sell new and lots of 2nd hand games and publish a monthly newsletter for members. Membership costs 15 pounds sterling (in GB) and 18 pounds sterling overseas.

For that membership you get:

Sounds interesting. I may check it out, myself.

Schaak en go winkel het Paard /
The Knight: a Chess and Go Shop

Haarlemmerdijk 147, 1013 KH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Phone: +31 20 6241171
Fax: +31 20 627 0885
E-mail: paard@xs4all.nl

Wholesale and retail import and export of Go books and equipment. European distributor of Go World.

Sir Ludemus' House of Games

Kinkerstraat 16, 1053 DV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Phone & Fax: +31-20-4121083

Mostly American games with an active in-store gaming culture and pointers to a weekly gathering of gamers in Amsterdam.

Note: Ludemus does not translate games into Dutch (but you can check out the Flemish translations maintained by our friend, Piet).

Pegasus Games

6640 Odana Rd., Madison, WI 53719, USA
Phone: (608) 833-GAME
Email: games@pegasusgames.com

Featuring a full range of American fare plus Games Workshop gear. On-line specials on a wide range of collectable card games.

Not to be confused with Pegasus Speile, the German publisher of RPGs and fantasy games.

Spielbar

Holger Herrmann, Gutenbergstr. 52, 44139 Dortmund
Phone/Fax 0231/556106
E-mail: spielbar@t-online.de

An on-line games store with a good range of German games. Note that the site is entirely in the German language.

Spielerei

Mariahilfer Str. 88a, A-1150 WIEN (Vienna), Austria
Phone: +43/1/523 64 34
Fax: +43/1/524 30 90
Email: office@spielerei.co.at
Spielerei is the leading games store in Vienna, Austria (not Australia!). They have been in business for more than 25 years now. For the last five years they have had the only Austrian mail order games service. Soon they will also be the only Austrian Internet order service for games.

They carry a wide range of games: family board games, strategy games, RPGs, TCGs and also luxury games (Chess, Roulette...) from all over the world, as long as the rules are in German and/or English. They also print an annual 80-page mail order catalog.

Best of all: they take credit cards!

Spirit Games

98 Station Street, Burton on Trent, Staffs, DE14 1BT, UK
Phone: 01283 511293
Email: salnphil@spiritgames.u-net.com
Shop opening hours: 10-6 Tues-Fri, 10-5 Sat.

One of the longest running game shops in the UK.

The Sports Game Shop

32 Hampden Crescent, Brentwood, Essex CM14 5BD, England
Phone/Fax: +44 1277 221473
Email: games@eady.demon.co.uk

Official distributors of Lambourne Games, The Sports accept world wide credit card orders 24 hours a day.

The Three Trolls

P.O. Box 4095, South Chelmsford, MA 01824-0795, USA
Telephone: 1-800-342-6373 (1-800-3GAMES3) anytime, works in Canada, too
Fax: (508) 250-0680
Email: 3trolls@world.std.com

Tim Trant reports on Three Trolls: They take MasterCard, VISA, money orders, and US bank cheques (slower). Shipping is per order, $3.50 for US, $6.75 to Canada, and International orders at cost. Prices seem to be "list", but with "every purchase of $50.00 or more you receive $5.00 off of your next purchase of $20.00 or more". They'll send out a catalogue if you phone up and ask for it: it's just over 100 pages of all sorts of games and puzzles, ranging from mystery party games to arjeu puzzles to abstract strategy games to shogi sets to railroad games to role playing to wargames. For example, they have Cosmic Wimpout, Pipeline, Silverton, Distant Seas, Castle of Magic, and Cry Havoc, to name some of the less common items that caught my eye. At this point I have no personal or second-hand experiences with them to relate but I intend to try them out with an order for a couple of obscure things that are hard to find elsewhere.

Karen Grady (kgrady@abacus.bates.edu) reports: I have ordered from their catalog a number of times and they have always been clear, prompt, and accurate. Their staff is fantastic; they really know the games they sell and will happily give you information about the play or feel of a game. They are also willing to find games they do not carry, but their selection is wide. I visit as many game stores as I can when I travel but their catalog remains my favorite. Their store, however, was a bit disappointing, with a fairly limited selection.

Le Valet d'Coeur

4408 St-Denis, Montreal, P.Que, Canada H2J 2L1
Telephone: (514) 499-9970
Toll free US and Canada: 1-888-499-JEUX
Fax: (514) 499-1972
Le Valet d'Coeur Online: www.levalet.com
E-mail: mute@levalet.com

Dany Gagnon says, "We used to be customers at Just Games in London in the Seventies. So when we openned in 1981, we modelled our store after them. Our Web site does not begin to reflect our real inventory but we are working hard at it. We are also the only Boutique Relais Descartes in North America."

Dany wins extra bonus points for sending his store's information to me already formatted in the proper Game Cabinet Store List Format (GCSLF, pronounced like a painful sneeze that you tried to stop but it slipped out anyway). He's a sharp one, kids!

Village Games

Camden Lock, London, England
Phone: 0171 485 0653

Lots of puzzles, small selection of board games. Has an excellent collection of gaming books available.

The Worldhouse

195 College Street, 2nd floor, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5T 1J2
Phone: (416) 408-GAME
Fax: (416) 408-4600

Toronto's oldest specialty gaming store (established 1982) carries a comprehensive selection of roleplaying games, wargames, trading card games, other board games, miniatures, accessories, and game related novels.

They ship by UPS or post anywhere in the world (and claim regular customers on five continents). VISA, MasterCard, or American Express (phone or fax only for first time orders, but hope to have a secure Netscape connection soon).

The Game Cabinet - editor@gamecabinet.com - Ken Tidwell