The owners of Dapper Games opened the store in 2018. From left to right: Davyn Reed, Ian Richards and Skyler Templeton.
Dapper Games sells board games, card games and miniatures.
Dapper Games is located at 1058 NW State Ave in Chehalis.
Owners of Dapper Games hang out with customers who stop in to play games.
When three friends were brought together by Magic: The Gathering, it wasn’t long before they decided to create a new space for gamers in Lewis County. In July, 2018, owners Skyler Templeton, Davyn Reed and Ian Richards opened Dapper Games in Chehalis, a game shop selling card games, board games, miniatures and more. They really wanted the shop to be whatever their customers wanted it to be, Templeton said.
“I just wanted a nice place that people could come and play and enjoy themselves … even if they just wanted to come in, sit down, hang out, maybe play a game of pool,” Richards said.
Though the shop sells games, it’s also a space for people to hang out, play games or challenge one of the owners to a game of pool. The shop offers more than 100 board games for visitors to play, many of which are also available for purchase. Magic: The Gathering is their most popular seller, representing almost 80 percent of the shop’s sales, Richards said. Magic is a card game made by a company based out of Seattle.
“What draws people to local game stores is the events and the promos you get give out,” Templeton said. “A lot of game stores are focused on variety rather than doing one specific thing different or special.”
Dapper Games hosts weekly tournaments on Fridays and Saturdays, drawing game players of all ages and experience levels. They also host special Magic draft tournaments, which can last all night. People can play whatever they want to play, but each tournament has specific rules and formats. The shop welcomes beginners to attend events because, even during competitions, players look out for each other, Reed said.
“It’s a lot of work and it’s completely worth the community,” Reed said. “They’re really supportive of their own people, building their own community… Being able to take a step back and really look in on it and see what has been built is super satisfying.”
The surrounding businesses and community are very welcoming, so the shop tries to give back as much as they can, Templeton said. One of the walls of the shop is covered by a Magic-themed mural painted by local artist Thomas Sutley. The shop also recommends Sutley to players who are looking to customize their cards so that Sutley can paint and personalize them. Oddball Creations is another business Dapper Games works with that provides 3D printed game pieces.
Templeton said they have customers come in all the time who have no gaming experience, but they work with what the customer knows to find games that they will like. The shop is trying to promote more family-oriented game nights to provide a place for entertainment that’s not super expensive, Reed said. There is also a room available to rent for events, like birthday parties.
The shop owners are all open to constructive criticism to make the shop and tournaments better. When their customers requested a more open space, the owners had a wall torn down in the shop. There are also cards available for anonymous tips and suggestions.
“We built a lot of what we have structure-wise off of criticism,” Templeton said. “It’s been nice hearing feedback from the community and being able to adapt and answer to it and then see the rewards of, ‘Oh yeah, this is way better.’”
Moving forward, Dapper Games owners would like to expand on their merchandise and continue hosting events for the community, like their Halloween costume party and Friendsgiving.
“If we keep going how we are, this is just the beginning,” Reed said. “We have a lot of game nights we want to do… We’re going to do our best to keep going.”
Dapper Games
1058 NW State Ave
Chehalis, WA 98532
360-557-3095
thedappergames@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/TheDapperGames/
