More than just Monopoly and Scrabble, analog games are attracting players and fostering community in Baton Rouge, despite their more complex rulesets.
And with shows like Stranger Things and Critical Role bringing Dungeons & Dragons into the mainstream, as well as celebrities like Logan Paul and Joseph Gordon-Levitt normalizing collecting Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering cards, respectively, it’s no surprise.
This community is all about providing a place where everyone feels welcome, whether they play Dungeons & Dragons regularly or can’t name a single Pokémon.
|
|
|
“We want to make sure we have a community for everyone,” say James Daquanno, owner of one of Baton Rouge’s only dedicated game shops, The Rogue Games.
Originally founded in 2013 as an online retailer, The Rogue Games opened its brick and mortar location off Airline Highway in October 2017. In the shop, visitors can find walls adorned with posters from the various games offered, as well as wallpaper adorned with scans of cards from Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!
Most days, the shop is home to friendly conversation between customers and workers about what color dice it has in stock, in addition to casual games of Dungeons & Dragons that see old and new players alike welcomed with open arms. And while it specializes in trading card games, Daquanno says the store is open to playing host to most any tabletop game.
“As long as we have a free space, if you wanna come in and play D&D, a board game or just a card game with a friend, you’re more than welcome to,” he explains.
The Rogue Games even hosts Super Smash Brothers tournaments, as well as for card games for Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Cardfight Vanguard meetups are held weekly.
Daquanno’s passion for card games stretches back to when he was about 6 years old and was shown a Charizard Pokémon card for the first time.
“It was one of the coolest things I’d ever seen,” he remembers.
Only growing in passion since then, Daquanno worked at various shops before opening The Rogue Games. This world has been his “entire life when it comes to hobbies and interests,” he says.
The COVID-19 pandemic started around the 25th anniversary of Pokémon, just as interest in the game began to peak again with celebrities buying old packs of the cards to open them. This played into Rogue Games’ growth as a business.
“People would come in saying ‘Oh I used to collect Pokémon when I was a kid,’ and they’d start coming in with friends who may not have been as into it,” Daquanno says. “Once people start collecting and playing Pokémon, they see the other games that we stock and they tell their friends.”
In addition, the surging popularity of of Japanese anime culture has played a factor in the shop’s community. Card games from franchises, like Dragon Ball Super and a soon-to-release game based on manga series One Piece, have brought fans of the anime and manga series into the store, allowing for crossover.
For some players like Martin Dampier, a computer science junior at LSU, playing games provides “a solid structure to social situations.” He’s been playing 8-bit gaming inspired games like Magic and Boss Monster for about eight years and said it’s been a great way to make friends, especially when he was just getting started.
“For someone like me who is very socially awkward, it helps me avoid the tension that comes from social gatherings,” Dampier explains. “It can also be a great way to practice social skills.”
Picking something simple to learn and then introducing it to friends is the best way to broaden the community one finds themself in, he adds.
“We want to provide a place where people aren’t judged,” Mason Blake, Daquanno’s business partner at The Rogue Games, says.
Apart from the games, Rogue regulars come together for lock-ins to raise money for local animal shelters, children hospitals and The Trevor Project, an organization focused on suicide prevention for members of the LGBTQ+ community. Members of the LGBTQ+ community themselves, Daquanno and Blake say they hope to use The Rogue Games to cultivate an environment of togetherness and create a safe-space where no one feels left out.
“It’s kind of like a second family, as cheesy as it sounds,” Daquanno says. “We’re just here to play games and have fun.”
|
|
|
A few more places around Baton Rouge to buy and play games like Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons or anything in between!
Little Wars
7517 Jefferson Highway
littlewars.com
Gamer’s Paradise
11222 N. Harrells Ferry Road
gamersparadisela.com
The Rogue Games
10330 Airline Highway, #10-B
theroguegames.tcgplayerpro.com