The sound of dice rolling and plastic cards gliding around tables percolates from the inside of Old Guard Games, a preeminent games store that rapidly became home for many hobby-obsessed Milwaukeeans.
Filled wall to wall with all kinds of games, suits of armor, statues, paintings and more, Old Guard Games is an eclectic space built to have a game for anyone who walks in through the door.
“I wanted the store to look like PT Barnum took a Victorian library and mixed it with the most classic games store you’ve ever seen,” said Ben Checota, owner and operator of Old Guard Games.
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Open since May of last year on Downer Avenue right across from the UW-Milwaukee campus, Old Guard Games occupies a once abandoned storefront that used to house the old UWM bookstore. Checota grew up with an initial interest in table top miniature figures.
“There was a little miniatures store downtown where you could pick up figures,” said Checota. “They had all kinds of figures from the animated Hobbit movie – I would take my allowance, go down to the store and buy a pack of figures to paint.”
But, his painting hobby evolved into an obsession, with the opening of Milwaukee’s oldest games store Napoleon’s.
“In the ’80s there was a man named Fritz Bucholtz, who was a force of nature,” explained Checota. “He owned Napoleon’s which had all kinds of games from fantasy and historical games to collectible cards … It set my mind on what a games store could look like,” said Checota. “Cool artifacts and art on the walls, not just boxes of stuff piled around.”
Games stores can vary in their operation. Sometimes they can be a fully organized corporate endeavor, or a more rustic space akin to a hoarders basement. Checota wanted to channel a community and create a space for people to not only hangout, but be able to be themselves.
“When I was growing up gaming was an umbrella that allowed all people who might not fit in anywhere else go to a game store and fit right in,” explained Checota. “There was a stigma with gaming, I played on sports teams growing up and none of my teammates knew I had this hobby; it was almost like a dirty secret.”
The gaming community grew from the open mindedness amongst enthusiasts. Growing from a secret to now being a multimillion dollar industry, table top and card gaming has become a popular hobby for millions of people. Checota wanted to tap into this culture and create a physical space for all kinds of people to enjoy, especially after Napoleon’s closure in 2005.
“People didn’t realize how huge a void there was after it was gone,” said Checota.
Far along in his career in real estate Checota was comfortable enough to take a risk in opening his own games store that could be the heir to Napoleon’s legacy.
“Way back in the day this whole area used to be the mercantile section of Milwaukee back when most of it was farmland,” explained Checota. “The block used to be the center of the community and the idea of harkening back to those days was something I wanted to do.”
Checota managed to buy the whole block and focused on rebuilding the space to mirror its historic past.
“The idea was to take a block that was blighted and turn it into a place to hangout,” said Checota.
Now a year into being open, Old Guard Games is a hub amongst Milwaukee gamers. The store is a revolving door of events and tournaments to satiate the community.
“Its kind of like the movie Field of Dreams, if you build it they will come,” said Checota. “The community is always there, it can just be scattered and unaware of the other parts of it.”
The Midwest has generally been a hotbed for the gaming community ever since Gary Gygax created Dungeons & Dragons in Lake Geneva. Games stores act as community centers for game hobbyists to learn new games or show off their skills, but ultimately the point of a games store is to house all kinds of people from all backgrounds.
With the help of a devoted staff the store is looking to expand its potential and host more events for more people, but for now it remains a place that people can call home.
