Armchair Dragoons PAO, 25 August 2024
Continuing our spotlight series on the Friendly Local (War)Game Stores around the US & Canada
Game Kastle – Santa Clara is located in Santa Clara, CA
In our key ratings for the FLGS directory, Game Kastle – Santa Clara scores
- 6 – Wargame Friendliness
- 4 – Wargame Inventory On-Hand
- 5 – Wargaming Event Frequency
This is a 1-7 scale, where higher numbers are better; see bottom of article for details
And Yes, they do offer online ordering as a part of the nationwide Game Kastle franchise family; you can find store-specific info at their store homepage
(we previously covered the Game Kastle in Greenville, SC here)
What makes this store awesome?
Brant says
Very heavy on minis wargaming with a huge amount of game space and a large boardgame library. There are actually 2 game rooms, the larger of which has a giant roll-up garage door to make it easier to bring large terrain boards in. Monthly historical minis group meets every 2nd weekend. Not much in the way of board wargaming on the shelves. Also have a freebie table where customers can pay-it-forward by leaving unwanted games for others to take for free.
Game Kastle – Santa Clara has fantasy/space minis wargames as their main product inventory, and also carries historical wargame minis, non-wargame minis, Eurogames, tabletop RPGs, collectible card games, general game accessories (dice, game mats, markers, etc), and minis accessories (terrain, paint, etc).
On the shelves, it’s new games only
For in-store gaming, you’ve got dedicated rooms for gaming
Snacks for sale? yes
Take a look at the store!
click images to enlarge
(photos submitted by Brant)
And they even hosted a couple of Dragoons at a meetup in August 2024!
Achilles, DudeGuy, and BayonetBrant at @GameKastle in Santa Clara
GK hosts a historical minis group in the 2nd Saturday of each month and they've got a huge game room for it
If you're in the Bay Area you should check them out! pic.twitter.com/RufnEUrI5J
— The Armchair Dragoons (@ADragoons) August 4, 2024
Don’t forget to check out our overall FLGS directory, which will continue to grow as you folks submit your own nominations for inclusion!
Ranking scale for the stores
- Wargame Friendliness: 1 (What’s a Wargame?) through 7 (Wargaming Nirvana)
- Wargame Inventory On-Hand: 1 (A stray lonely copy of one game) through 7 (Inventory is at least least 90% wargames)
- Wargaming Event Frequency: 1 (Monthly or less) through 7 (Nightly)
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