Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

To all Chi-towners...

I'm travelling over to Chicago from the UK in July, my girlfriend will kill me for this but I wanna check out any cool games stores while I'm there. I know very little about Chicago but I'll be staying downtown.

Any advice?

http://www.blacksungameschicago.com/
Small shop in the city. Items in front and play area in back.

http://www.games-plus.com/
Outside outside the city, but probably the largest indy store in the area. If you head out there,
there will be traffic, tolls, and aggravation. And you will find a shop that is actually two store
fronts connected by a doorway. One is the shop area and the other is the play area.

There are two GWs just outside the city limits. One is in the northern suburbs of Skokie, the
other is in the Western Suburb of Oak Park.

http://www.gmasylum.com/
Oh yeah, and there's Gamer's Asylum in Evanston. I've never actually been there because
they're closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

I don't know how easy any of this is to get to downtown. It's all pretty annoying, probably with
the exception of Gamer's Asylum (I believe it's right by a train). Games Plus is about a mile
from the train station, and Games Plus is by a Metra, so maybe it's easier than I thought,
I just don't take Metra trains so often. The issue, of course, is the limited train pick up
times from there.

If you visit the Lakeview/Wrigley field area, I recommend http://chicagocomics.com/
, if you're into that kind of thing. Very cool comic shop (not a gaming place)

Games-Plus is on a Train line from the city(Commuter Rail not Subway). Nice place, great people and gamers that play a wide variety of games. They also have a huge stock of games other than GW or PP.

However if you do play GW games then the GW Chicago Battle Bunker is the place. Friendly staff, biggest playing area in the country, and they've got all the models from all the GW lines. You'd have to drive there but it's not far from the city.

The bunker is 20 miles from downtown. It's not far if traffic is friendly.

If traffic isn't friendly, though...

Thanks for that guys, If I pass a GW i'll pop in but I have 2 very close to home so thats not a priority. I love checking out new indys though with ranges I'm not familiar with.

Like a good stereotype I do actually like comic stores so I'll certainly check out Chicago Comics.

I just found out last night that the after I leave Chicago 2 of my favourite bands are playing the area - Def Leppard and Poison! I'm gonna look today into extending my trip by a couple of days.

http://www.adeptuswindycity.com/

This is a forum dedicated to wargaming (mostly GW) in the Chicago-land area.

Maybe I'll see you around

There is a severe lacking of gaming stores anywhere near the downtown area, much to my chagrin. A couple FLGSs are within walking distance of public transportation but are bit bit off the beaten path for tourists.
The Lakeview/Wrigleyville area has a couple good ol' comic book shops but nothing in terms of gaming.

Games Plus is my favorite non-GW store. And they are sorta near O'Hare Airport which you'd probably be flying into.

The GW Battlebunker is worth checking out if you have a car and don't mind a wee bit of a drive.

Blacksun is decent. Still new and I think they're still getting into the groove of things. It's reachable by the EL train though you'll have to walk about a kilometer or so from the train stop. The guys who run that place are pretty cool.

Chicagoland games is very close to an 'EL' train stop. I've only been there once for a few minutes so I didn't get much a feel for it.


EDIT: And although the GW website may say that there are two "Gamers Paradise" stores close to downtown, it's inaccurate. They closed down a few months ago.

Gamer's Paradise went bankrupt, I believe.