PREVIEW

Weird Realms Grand Opening (11508 Lorain Ave.)

Friday, Nov. 4; 1 - 10 p.m.

Comedy by George Dunne, music by Chicago's City of Djinn

CLEVELAND, Ohio - In every sense, there could be no better time than now for Beckett Warren to open his gaming store, Weird Realms (11508 Lorain Ave.).

We're in the era of the board game cafe, where casual and cutthroat competitors spend their Friday nights packed into Tabletop in Ohio City, The Side Quest in Lakewood and The Malted Meeple in Hudson. Films based on Marvel comic books make up our biggest blockbusters. This summer, we all collectively fell in love with four young Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) fanatics on the Netflix runaway hit "Stranger Things" and were glued to our phones as we tried to catch Pokemon.

"People today have grown up playing video games," notes Warren. "So you have a base line of adult play. It's normalized things that were otherwise 'nerd' stigmatized."

Weird Realms will celebrate its grand opening Friday, Nov. 4, with a party featuring comedian George Dunne and Chicago band, City of Djinn. The festivities run 1-10 p.m. The shop, located near Lorain Ave. and West 115th St., is just blocks away from the historic Variety Theatre, which is currently under restoration.

Warren's love affair with games began at age eight, when he would watch "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome" with the friends who would later introduce him to D&D. He was hooked. It carried over to adulthood, and Beckett began collecting and selling games online and at flea markets for a decade under the name "Junky's Junk Shop."

Realms will carry everything from niche board games to indie publications on modern role-playing games to the more mainstream Magic: The Gathering cards. Collectables like the Star Wars X-Wing game figurines line the shelves.

The shop is so dedicated to the art of the board game that when you walk in, you'll see a floor completely made out of them. The shop is stocked with European and sci-fi games, including the "gateway games" like "Catan" and "Ticket to Ride," known to turn newbies into game obsessives.

Beckett says it's no surprise we're seeing a board game resurgence.

"There's a demand today for play and gaming," says Beckett. "Because we exist in such a mediated world where you don't live anywhere near some of your friends you engage with most, and it's all through electronic communication, there's been this desire to have that face-to-face interaction."

Realms will also specialize in hard-to-find gaming zines and small press publications. Zines have always been associated with punk and underground culture, but even before that, there was a thriving scene of science fiction zines in the 1950s and '60s, Beckett notes. A new wave of zines has been born from people digging back into gaming's history and culture.

"A lot of the people my age who played D&D when they were kids got into punk, and that took over for zine culture," says Beckett. "Now that they're coming back to gaming, they're putting it through those dual filters."

Those punk fans will likely recognize the 8-by-16-foot mural along the wall by artist Jake Kelly, whose work is recognizable from years of illustrating Cleveland concert fliers, the black-and-white murals of concert venue the Grog Shop, Melt Bar and Grilled murals and his comic book collaboration with John G., Lake Erie Monster.

"It's sci-fi, fantasy and horror genres all on top of each other," describes Kelly. "I wanted to have a post-apocalyptic scene and one of those alternate earth historical scenes with UFOs versus zeppelins. I tried to think of things like 'Mad Max' or H. P. Lovecraft stories, then do my own take on it."

Like brick-and-mortar record and book shops, Warren says some of its stock may be able to be found online, but his intent is to make coming to the store an experience. He'll be ordering a game called "Wild in the Streets" with miniature figurines that represent punks and goths, among other characters. When it comes in, the shop will have a special release party with a performance by Brainwashed California, a hybrid band of local musicians Mr. California and Paul Schlachter.

Realms will also host in-store games, beginning with a Nov. 12 event hosted by Robin Lea, a game designer and fiction author. She'll be running a D&D 5th Edition of Keep on the Borderlands. The idea, Beckett says, is to use a variety of gaming systems rather that adhere to strict standards.

"I think, especially if you're just getting into games, there's a big focus on the internet about getting rules 'right' and making sure you have the 'right' game system," says Beckett. "It takes all the fun out of just winging it and the on-the-fly creativity.

"Ultimately, it's about fostering imagination and wonderment and play."