Guardian Games

Guardian Games (Also on FB and Twitter)

503.238.4000

303 SE 3rd Avenue

Portland, OR 97214

Guardian Games in Portland, Oregon, is one of the most well-stocked gaming shops I've been to, and it carries a lot of fairly uncommon items, including Fan Boy T-shirts for games like Munchin, Magic, and others. They have a well stocked RPG area, including Old Skool D&D accessories and games like Paranoia, Traveler, and a pretty complete line of GURPS books.

The stock several collectable games, including Star Wars, Monsterpocalypse, Pokemon, and Magic: The Gathering, and a strong stock of miniature games including Flames of War, and the Games Workshop and Privateer Press assortments. They are a BattleFoam supplier as well, and had several cases and foams available for sale.

The shop itself is located in what looks like a run-down warehouse district, but it's just a short walk from where the Fancy-Shamncy hotels are (I walked from The Nines), so it's a great place to visit if you're traveling in the Portland area on business.

The staff was friendly but gave me enough privacy to browse without interruption. When I walked in I was greeted, and they asked where I was from, etc. They also offered to find me anything. I asked if they stocked Paranoia, and he found it for me instantly. Unfortunately, they didn't have the core rules, which is the one thing I'm looking for, but they had just about everything else.

Their Magic Card selection - both singles and sealed stuff - was pretty massive. They had some cool enlarged cards for sale, and all the sets in the current block. They even had a pretty substantial stock of M10 boosters, which is something of a rarity back home. They were very helpful with folks looking for singles, and the store was well trafficked while I was there.

The shop itself is huge - it has a great warehouse feel to it, with extremely high ceilings. They use the high walls to display posters, T-shirts and what not, and have pretty high shelves stocked with board games, etc. The back area boasts several tables setup for miniature gaming, and a pit in the back has a projection system for playing video games (They also stock a large number of video game titles and accessories for various consoles).

I could have spent the day rummaging through their boardgames, or flipping through their card selection. In the end, I walked away with a Munchkin T-Shirt, a small pile of Magic boosters, a dice bag, and a whole list of things I wish I had room to pack in my suitcase.

Guardian Games is definitely a destination store. If you're anywhere near the Portland, OR, area, it's worth the trip.