Business Spotlight: A Seat at the Table

Move over Monopoly. The Settlers of Catan have colonized pop culture.

According to the tabletop game maker, as of 2015, more than 22 million copies of Catan have been sold in 30 languages, leading The Washington Post to call it “the board game of our time,” much like that of Monopoly during the Great Depression.

“It’s becoming iconic. It’s become mainstream,” says Allan Reid, co-owner of local gaming mecca Meta-Games Unlimited.

Spurred on by platforms such as actor Wil Wheaton’s web series “TableTop” on the “Geek & Sundry” YouTube channel, tabletop gaming has seen a resurgence during the last decade as gamers seek video game alternatives. According to online trade magazine ICv2, the tabletop gaming market in the United States and Canada reached $880 million retail in 2015, up from roughly $700 million the year before.

“Wil Wheaton is a big part of that resurgence into pop culture, but the board game industry never went away,” Reid says. “People have always enjoyed getting together with family and friends to play games.”

Organized under MGU Inc. and co-owned with friend Ryan Bennett, Meta-Games is a community of tabletop gamers ranging from deck-building card games like Magic: The Gathering, to role-playing-games Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer, and board games like Splendor. Declining to disclose revenues, Reid says the store is profitable. “We wouldn’t be around for nearly 20 years if we weren’t,” he adds, noting he’s seen 40 game stores come and go during that time.

Leveling up
Games with names like Pandemic, Pompeii, Ticket to Ride and Sushi Go line the industrial wood and iron store shelves of the 3309 E. Sunshine St. store. Last summer, building owner Goodwin Family Partnership LP revamped the 18,000-square-foot space to make way for additional retail tenants. Smokin’ Bob’s BBQ LLC opened in January and Meta-Games switched from the center’s east to west side, expanding in the process. The store now has 10,000 square feet of open gaming space filled with large folding tables and roughly 160 seats. It’s a significant step up from the old, 3,400-square-foot digs in The Plaza Shopping Center or its original 900-square-foot location on East Chestnut Expressway.

Originally selling Magic cards as a hobby, Reid partnered with friend Rick Latham on the first Springfield store.

“It really was my hobby and I turned it into a business,” Reid says.

Specializing in unplugged gaming, Reid has taken a couple forays into the electric world. One was Meta-Geeks Unlimited Inc., a computer shop that Reid calls a product of pop culture and the rise of online gaming, but the entity was dissolved in 2003. The store has capitalized on the recent “Pokemon Go” phenomenon, hosting a hangout with radio station Q102.1 FM that attracted hundreds of gamers, but the electric realm mostly is contained to 10 pinball machines. Meta-Games is home to the Queen City Pinball league.
 
Gaming community
A handcrafted Magic card chandelier hangs in the retail area and hand-drawn Magic artwork lines the walls. Store manager Jeremy Bates says the deck-builder game is the store’s bread and butter – with older cards selling for upwards of $20,000.

“There are Magic players in here every night,” he says, noting the store often hosts tournaments.

Reid and Bates are high-level Magic players with advanced decks, but neither has played in a while, opting for board games. Reid has played games such as Settlers of Catan and Puerto Rico competitively.

“It’s all about personal sales,” Bates says. “The internet exists, and we are all aware of that, but it can’t tell you how the game plays. We can.”

With roughly 125 games for sale, the nine-person staff tests them to determine how many copies to buy for the store. Reid and friends also play each Saturday night to get better acquainted with the games.

Bates says the store attracts roughly 40 gamers on weeknights and over 100 on Fridays and Saturdays. For instance, a group known as 417 Gamers holds a weekly meetup on Thursdays.

“Meta-Games has a family atmosphere and the free play area is a good chance to spread the word about our group,” says club event organizer Rick Bagwell, noting Meta-Games even offers a 10 percent discount for group members.

He says 417 Gamers typically plays more in-depth games, but they’re happy to teach any skill level. Bates believes that diversity in clientele and skill level is key to the shop’s success.

“It used to be high school or college-age males, but not anymore,” he says. “Tabletop gaming has gone mainstream and it’s been awesome.”