Craving community? Head over to your local game store

The days of discretely engaging in nerdy hobbies for fear of ridicule are long gone.

On any given night, you’ll find groups of people at a local game store, or LGS for the initiated, gathered around tables for all kinds of fun and games. For the most serious hobbyists, they offer something crucial: a place to play. And the simple presence of free or low-cost tables can turn a shop into the beating heart of its community.

The growth of local game stores throughout Southern California has been a long time coming, meeting a demand that’s been building over the last couple decades.

As evidence, look no further to Dungeons & Dragons’ decade-long cultural renaissance. Once thought as something you play in your parents' basement, the tabletop roleplaying game has spawned popular podcasts, Madi