After two and a half days of Thanksgiving Break, it was time to get out of the house. So after fueling up with a decent lunch, Joss and I headed toward Broken Arrow to visit some new-to-us game shops. As we headed back to Tulsa, we hit up a couple others on the way. I may add more to this article as we visit more game stores in the Tulsa area, but for now, I’ll focus on the four we visited today. Namely, The Gaming Hoard, Oinkers Island, Wizards Asylum and ThrillHouse Games.
Before You Go
In case you decide to go on a similar adventure, fueling up with lunch is an important first step! I’ve learned the hard way that it is much more difficult to hear “no” on an empty stomach. And when you’re going to be visiting places that are going to be full of tempting items – i.e., Pokémon cards at a variety of price points – disaster can strike if you’ve skipped lunch.
Also, I made sure to set expectations ahead of time. We weren’t going to purchase anything pricey. The plan was to stick to a booster pack per location. No, we didn’t totally stick to the plan, but that was fine.
The Gaming Hoard
The Gaming Hoard in Broken Arrow is a family owned shop that has only been open about a month. It is located at 1825 S. Aspen, Broken Arrow. As they said, they’re not just a Pokémon shop, but they did have a TON of Pokémon cards for sale! From basic booster packs to a pyramid of elite trainer boxes, as well as some more special items behind the counter.
They also have some older Nintendo products for sale, like Game Boys, etc. Joss is asking for a Nintendo DS for Christmas because he wants to play a specific Pokémon game. So we asked the employee about what they had in stock, and what our best options were. They were very helpful, patiently explaining the difference between Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS 3, which games you could play on which, and making recommendations as to which might best fit what we need. (Unfortunately, older Pokémon games are not cheap, so we will see if we end up going this route for Christmas or not.)
At one point, the owner asked Joss what his favorite Pokémon is, and then gave him a large Bulbasaur card – because the answer to that question is, of course Bulbasaur 🙂
The Gaming Hoard also has a spot where you can hang out and play. They said in the future they hope to have some Pokémon TCG training events, and probably some other game play events as well. But having just been open a month, that’s still in the works.
Oinkers Island
Just a mile or so down the street, you’ll find Oinkers Island at 745 N. Aspen Ave. They also had a good selection of Pokémon and other trading cards as well as a couple shelves of board/card games. There’s also a shop cat, but sadly, we didn’t see her. 🙁
The chairs in their game play section looked particularly comfy, although I didn’t get a photo. And I don’t know their game play schedule, if they have weekly events, etc. However, looking at their Facebook page, they host quite a few pre-release events, hosted their first Pokémon League Cup in early November, have started doing some Disney Lorcana events – so just check their Facebook page for upcoming events.
Wizards Asylum
Joss had been to Wizards Asylum (7165 S. Mingo Rd.) before, but I hadn’t. So we made sure to stop by before heading home. This shop blew me away with their incredible selection of games. Their selection is so good that Joss actually found a card game for about $8 that he wanted more than another pack of Pokémon cards. And he made sure to point out that they had a whole shelf dedicated to Munchkin variations.
Wizards Asylum also has a large selection of comic books/graphic novels, paintable mini figures, DnD stuff, card binders, etc.
The Cryptid Cafe game caught my eye!
Helpfully, their website has a whole Events page, so you can see exactly what’s going on. Joss has attended one of their Sunday Pokémon events. They also have several Magic events throughout the week, in addition to some other options. Check them out at wizardscomicsandgames.com/index.php/events
ThrillHouse Games
The final stop on our tour was ThrillHouse Games (7851 E. 71st St.). Actually, this was kind of the motivator behind the whole thing because – as their Facebook bio says – “THG strives to have the most diverse selection and best prices on used video games in the greater Tu[lsa area].” Since Joss was interested in the Nintendo DS, I figured they’d also be a good place to check out.
It’s a very small store, but they definitely packed in a lot of games. Including some arcade games near the entrance you can pay to play. The employee was very helpful at answering Joss’s questions – but reiterated how pricey those older Pokémon games can be. We didn’t buy anything here because they don’t sell Pokémon cards and we weren’t in the market for video games, but still a good place to know about.
ThrillHouse Games is also located next to Critical Hit Table Top Gaming, but they were closed so we weren’t able to check them out. Next time!
However, they are also located next to Asahi, which I hadn’t been to since college! So I was excited to take Joss for the first time, as sushi is still one of his favorite foods. It did not disappoint!
Other Game Shops in Tulsa
Again, I may expand upon these at a later date, but here’s a quick rundown:
Dragonslayer Games at 3944 S. Hudson Ave. is our go-to. Their merch counter is small, and most of the store is taken up by game play tables. But they’re super welcoming and very generous to host gaming events pretty much every day of the week, and I think most of them don’t cost anything to participate. Plus, all – or at least most of – the snacks and drinks are just $1!
Dice Addiction (4622 E. 11th St.) is also a favorite. Joss goes there most Sundays for their weekly Pokémon tournaments. They’ve got a nice, balanced selection of games, trading cards, minifigures, etc., and a large gaming room.
Shops we haven’t been to but will try to visit in the future:
I’m probably forgetting some, or maybe there are some game stores in Tulsa I simply haven’t heard of yet! Tell me about them in the comments. We’re having fun exploring the many options!
