This story is part of WTOP’s Small Business September series, sponsored by EagleBank.
In a world where stress can dominate daily life, a small business focused only on playing games can take on an important role, giving people a chance to escape and relax.
“The idea was to create a space where not only they could buy games that they play, but also play the games in the store so that they could build a community,” said Richard Hubley, owner of the store Play More Games in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
For Hubley, escaping to the world of gaming is not about avoiding reality. It is about recharging mental and emotional batteries and giving his customers a healthier, more balanced lifestyle.
While other, similar stores use the term “gaming community,” Hubley prefers to think of his customer base as a “gaming family.”
“Playing games around the kitchen table has been a staple in many families’ lives all around the world,” Hubley said. “Our goal is to bring that kitchen table experience into a retail setting.”
The store doesn’t sell video games. It sells toys, action figures, trading cards and long-form board games, such as “Catan” and “Ticket to Ride.”
“They are kind of the next step from ‘Monopoly’ and ‘Scrabble,’ and all the games that we grew up playing as kids and loved,” Hubley said. “These games take it to the next level.”
Hubley also offers role-playing games, such as “Dungeons and Dragons” and “Pathfinder.”
“We also do trading card games, such as ‘Magic: The Gathering,’ which is kind of the original trading card game,” Hubley said. “Then you’ve got ‘Pokémon’ and ‘Yu-Gi-Oh!’ and just other various trading card games.”
The business has an active calendar of in-store gaming events on specific days, but people can go in and play whenever they want on their own schedule.
It can be beneficial to get away, Hubley said, especially when life gets so serious.
“We try to tell people to leave all that behind and just focus on the things that you have in common with each other,” Hubley said. “Just being able to immerse yourself in having fun — I do find that that’s extremely important.”
