As some of you may know, I’ve been working in Amsterdam and staying in Utrecht, the Netherlands, for the last three months and have been able to explore the local gaming/geek scene. So, as is my habit, today, I present a list of what I discovered (Utrecht edition).
Just a note before we begin: most of the people I’ve met here have no problems with English. Though my knowledge of Afrikaans did help a lot, even the most monolingual of English-speakers should get on just fine in Utrecht.
Interestingly, my daily walk to and from Utrecht Central Station took me by all of the below-listed stores, each threatening to eat up my per diem and leave me living off tap-water and air. I’m still unsure if I’ll have enough space in my luggage for all the loot.
Whoops
Even though this store is the closest to Utrecht Central Station, it’s a bit off the busier pedestrian routes and I discovered it quite accidentaly (a pleasant accident, though) due to my weird city/street plan fetish and explorative nature.
The store is quite small (the smallest of them all), focusing primarily on manga, comics and graphic novels, table top wargames and trading card games. Entering the store pulls quite pleasantly on any otaku heart strings you may have. Unfortunately, my current interests focus more on board games and role playing games, so I probably didn’t spend as much time as I should have at Whoops, and thus can’t quite give it a proper write-up.
Next time I’m in NL, I’ll get PB to review Whoops and its piles of yaoi.
Unlike Whoops, the rest of the shops are located along the Oudegracht/Vismarkt just south of De Dom, all clustered nicely together.
The Joker
The Joker is actually two stores. I was not very impressed with the main store, which focuses almost exclusively on board games and trading card games. Maybe if I was still into the Magic scene…
I, however, did fall in love with the secondary store. Only two doors down from the primary store, the second Joker store acts as a second-hand board game store, providing a great opportunity to pick up those now-out-of-print games.
Piet Snot
I love the name of this store. Piet Snot is a comic book store (not much for gamers here), and probably has the best supply of t-shirt and TV/movie memorabilia.
Labyrinth
Labyrinth isn’t the easiest store to spot (in fact, I walked straight by it twice while looking for it), but, once inside, you’ll find quite a large store, with an upstairs gaming area. The store stocks board games, card games, a small role playing section, an impressive collection of LARP gear, puppets and books (both Dutch and English). The staff are friendly and I had my very first all-Dutch conversation about zombies here.
Blunder
Blunder is a three-level comic store. The below-street level houses the manga and American comics and graphic novels. The ground and upper floor holds all the European comics/graphic novels and figurines. I am seriously considering buying the Asterix chess set… it’s just about 4 days worth of food.
Never Never Land
Never Never Land has a large board game selection (there’s a small RPG and minis/wargames section towards the back.) The owners of the store keep their personal, not-for-sale games on the tops of the shelves. Amongst this collection, I spotted Betrayal at the House on the Hill. It’s one of my favourite games in my collection and f00 has always wanted his own copy. Since it’s out of print, it’s kinda hard to come by and , unfortunately, I failed my diplomacy check and couldn’t convince the owners to part with the game. ;_; Hmm, maybe if I challenge them to a game of Agricola…
Strip & Lectuurshop
Situated just above Subcultures (in fact, there’s an inside stairwell that links the two stores), Strip & Lectuurshop is a comic book store, boasting a large collection.
Subcultures
Subcultures is my favourite store of the lot. I spent WWDDGD 2009 #1 and #2 here. The staff are friendly (offering free coffee) and the store is well stocked, carrying RPGs, board games, war games, LARP gear and, most importantly, a NERF armoury. The store is at canal level, so you’ll need to keep your eyes open.
That’s it for the stores. Next time, I’ll talk about where to go to find a game.
- jatori
