Business Profile: Groombridge Games, Cold Spring
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Growing up, Ian Groombridge couldn’t always find fellow gamers his own age to play with or against. They were either a little older or younger than him.
Now, Groombridge Games is making it easier for residents interested in certain card games and fantasy tabletop role-playing games to come together, becoming a community of sorts in the village of Cold Spring.
Opened at the end of January by Groombridge and his mother Kim Connor, Groombridge Games is becoming the go-to place for gamers of all ages to congregate and take part in certain cards games, dungeon and dragons and magic. Hosting events almost every day of the week, the village main street location continues to draw more residents as they come out of hibernation following a long winter.
“It’s a meeting place for people who don’t know each other to get to know each other,” Groombridge said. “It’s hard to tell who in normal life plays a game and who’s interested in this stuff but once you go to a game store you can just hang out and meet other people.”
Groombridge, 22, said there used to be a couple of similar stores in the region, but they recently closed leaving the greater gaming community in need of a new location. As Connor said, if you walk by on a Friday or Saturday night, the location begins to quickly fill up. The store is open five days a week, Wednesday to Sunday.
Self-described as a gamer all his life, Groombridge noted there are multiple skills participants must use in order to stand a chance against competitors, including probability, memory, math skills, reading comprehension, and having the uncanny ability to know what your opponent is thinking.
“These games are the kind of things that people think about a lot and learn,” Connor added. “There are many sets of rules, versions and things so someone who’s interested in amassing a great deal knowledge about something like this, this is the sort of thing that appeals to them.”
Groombridge would certainly know all about the intricacies of the variety of games played at the store. He owns more than 10,000 cards and is a certified judge for magic tournaments, which is useful when tournaments are held at his store.
With the business only three months old, Connor said the two are still experimenting with other possible games and events to introduce. The store recently held its first video game event after Groombridge convinced Connor to allow it, and the two are considering holding Cosplay events, which is short for costume play that has participants wear costumes and accessories representing certain characters.
While the Internet allows gamers to play each other online, there is a certain camaraderie felt when staring down an opponent face-to-face.
“It’s a lot more social to be with an actual person, a lot more interesting,” Groombridge said. “A lot of these games are essentially trading really good graphics for a much more social atmosphere.”
Groombridge Games is located on 165 Main Street in Cold Spring and its phone number is 845-809-5614. Its website is http://www.groombridgegames.com.
