We are in the midst of the holiday season, and everything that comes with it: pretty snow, cozy fires, festive music, stressing over gift ideas, Seasonal Affective Disorder, and that one family member nobody likes . . .
Okay, maybe it is not all snowflakes and candy canes. The holidays can be a stressful time, especially if shoppers just do not know what to get for someone. Luckily, if a loved one enjoys fun, Blind Tiger Games in Neenah may be the place to visit.
First opened in 2015 as Don Father Games, Blind Tiger offers various games of all genres. What brings most customers into the store, according to the owner, Alex Thompson, are trading card (or TCG) games. Pokémon is far and away the most famous example, which they do carry, but Magic: The Gathering is what brings in the most customers.
“Magic has multiple ways that you can play it,” Thompson explains, “then we will host events based on a type of format that has parameters on how you can play the game, within that event.” These different events vary quite drastically in size. “Depending on what type of event it is, sometimes we have six to eight people, other formats we have upwards to high twenties, low thirties.” Winners of Magic tournaments can earn prizes like valuable cards and store credit.
The first thing vistors likely to notice when they walk into Blind Tiger is their selection of board games. “We try and meet the interests of anybody, if it’s a party game, if it’s economy-kind of games, deck builders, trading cards . . . I think it’s important to have a variety of different types of games for different types of people’s interests.” Some are extremely in-depth, some pleasingly simple. Games of all sizes and all price points – whatever customers want, they probably have it.
One of my favorite board games is Settlers of Catan; when my family and I visit my grandparents, we usually play a round if time allows. In the front window of their store, Blind Tiger has an entire shelf of Catan variations and expansion packs. I was well aware of the multi-colored expansions to the game through the advertising in the game’s manual, but I had no idea about the Traveler’s Edition of the game, which features a compact plastic design with a carrying case. I have discovered many games at their store over the years, and overall, I think they are a great option for board game fans and casual partygoers alike.
The store also runs several Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. According to the Blind Tiger Games Facebook page, throughout the year they run 11-month-long adventures, as well as shorter four-session adventures for kids with little/no experience with the game. Along with all these games held by the store, they have numerous products available for playing individual games, including dice, miniatures, and painting supplies. On that note, Blind Tiger has recently begun carrying supplies for another popular tabletop game franchise, Warhammer, providing a resource for fans that had not been available in Neenah before.
What first got me interested in their business was not any of the trading cards or board games they have in stock, it was their video games. When I was younger, I spent many hours playing the Nintendo 64 and the Gamecube, and as such I have always loved old video games, and Blind Tiger has a decent selection. Unlike the other games they sell, most video games and related accessories come through customers selling them or trading them in. (If anyone is interested, a copy of Dante’s Inferno: Divine Edition for PS3 that I traded in this past summer is still available for $15)
At any given time, Blind Tiger has some selection of games from nearly all major systems of the past four decades, from the NES to the newest Xbox. Their prices are pretty fair in my experience, and I have found both legendary “greatest-of-all-time” titles, as well as the lesser-known oddities of some older consoles. I will never forget when I went to the store to get a memory card and found a PlayStation 1 game simply called “Sheep,” which has a typo on the back of the box. Best $12 I’ve ever spent.
I only have one minor nitpick about Blind Tiger Games, which relates to their products inside the glass cases. Because game enthusiasts cannot pick up anything inside to get a closer look at it, we cannot check the prices of things easily. Some products have the sticker visible from the cabinet, but for things like DS games, which we can only see the spines of, we have no way of knowing how much a game costs. This, however, is a minor nitpick, as stated before, but if there is any way this could be improved it would be greatly appreciated.
In summary, Blind Tiger Games fills the role of a nerdy gaming enthusiast shop quite well. I have been a patron of theirs for years now and wholeheartedly recommend their business. As a person with loved ones who love games, this might be the place to find the perfect present this holiday season.
