[Cape Town] Shopping for geeks – Fanaticus Hobbies and Games
Situated in the High Street Shopping Village, Fanaticus Hobbies and Games has recently made it onto my list of gaming stores worth visiting. I managed to stop by for the SkyCastle Games Card Game Day and had a chance to take a look around (and try a few new games).
Fanaticus seems to be designed as, first and foremost, a place for people to play games. After years of struggling to find good gaming venues in Durban, Fanaticus surprised me by not only providing a space to play, but also rewarding people for playing and using the space provided. If you play a game at the store, the store gives you a 10% discount on all merchandise for a month – that’s a pretty sweet deal.
The venue maintains two gaming tables on a permanent basis, which are available on a first-come-first-serve basis. Gamers can bring their own games to play (no purchase needed) or make use of store-owned demo sets. The play area is large enough to support bigger games and is well lit and relatively distraction free. Card Game Day proved to be a sunny and calm day and the store set up additional tables, some outside, and proved that they could cater for larger events. The store currently stocks board and card games (and accessories, such as protective card sleeves) and models. I asked about role playing games and was informed that the store can order games from their suppliers and that I’d be welcomed to play role playing games at the store. The store are also quite willing to help me host Pathfinder Society events. I hope to start running open PFS events in the Cape Town area soon (stay tuned for more news on that).
War of Honor... so tempting... must buy...
Card games are my gaming weakness – I cannot get enough of card games. I managed to try out Rune Age and War of Honor on the day. I tried the co-operative version of Rune Age and lost the game on the final card (so close!) and played a 3-player game of War of Honor. That was my first ‘real’ taste of the Legends of the Five Rings universe and has me looking for an opportunity to try out the role playing game. I will try to post up full reviews of these two card games at some stage.
- Jerall
P.S. Yes, I know that the post title sounds like some sort of human (geek) trafficking report. Sorry for the disappointment. Yes, I also know that I’ve been using the same line in my store review posts for years.
A place like that might be worth looking into for safely acquiring the new Wizkids Pathfinder figurines. I’m really tempted to buy, but it’s a really big investment to hope that it makes it through postals without incident and actually arriving.
I assume you are familiar with Wizards Books and Games in Stadium-on-Main, Claremont because if you are not I can assure you that it should be on your “list of gaming stores worth visiting.” Over 300 games with a healthy mix of Euro’s and Ameritrashers. What more need I say?
Hey Daniel,
Yeah, I know of Wizards and a review is long overdue. It’ll probably once I get another chance to grab some pictures and buy the remainder of your UFS stock up. I’ll send you guys a message when it goes live.
We look forward to selling you UFS stuff some time in the future then.
[...] recommendations from friends and fellow gamers). Last year, I got to try out the card game for the first time and that only got me more interested in the franchise. Unfortunately, I could never bring myself to [...]