At any given time a handful of people can be found sitting around a table in a Village shop commanding battalions of troops or a single, fabled warrior through epic battles between warring galactic empires or mythical creatures of the underworld.
When the smoke clears, the generals pack up their hordes of demons or guilds of heros and return to the real world until the next battle ensues.
The shop is Wizard's Keep. March marks the 25th anniversary of its opening in the Village. In that time it's been the only store to provide the Ball State University community with a forum and arena for tabletop games.
"I get to pretend to be that," senior Richard L. Conwell said, pointing to figurine of a light saber-wielding Obi-Wan Kenobi mounted on lizard-like creature from the Star Wars universe.
Conwell, information systems and operations management major, said the shop introduced him to tabletop games. He said it supports the gaming community around Ball State.
"It's the life blood," Conwell said. "Everybody gets their stuff for it here, everybody comes here to play."
Owner David Barnette said tabletop games serve as a social and creative outlet. They help people relieve stress, make friends and escape the "grind of reality."
Barnette has owned or worked at the store for 11 years, he said. He worked under the first owner and founder, Stan Stephens, from 1994 to 2000 before leaving to finish college. He returned in 2004 and bought the shop Jan. 1, 2005.
Stephens, owner of the Heorot in downtown Muncie, said he founded the Wizard's Keep in March 1984 because the Ball State community didn't have a place for people to buy and play tabletop games. Stephens started playing tabletop games about 35 years ago, he said. He enjoyed building and painting figurines and dioramas. He said his was the first store to offer space for and encourage in-house gaming.
"At that time, a lot of stores didn't have in-house gaming," Stephens said. "Now that's standard."
He said he wanted to offer services no other store did and did not want Wizard's Keep to be "just another comic book store."
Barnette said the store has had four Village locations in the past 25 years. From 1984 to 1985 it was located in one of three storefronts that now hold the mt cup. In 1985 it moved above The Chug. From 1991 to 2008 Wizard's Keep was located under what is now Mugley's Pub and Eatery before moving to a University Avenue storefront next to the mt cup.
Barnette said Wizard's Keep has been able to stick around despite frequent store shuffling in the Village because it's the only store in Muncie that serves the tabletop-gaming niche.
Despite video games having more publicity and notoriety, tabletop games offer much that people can't get from video games, he said. Video games are typically more solitary. Online communities are different than sitting next to friends and playing, he said. Wizard's Keep offers people a place to hang out with friends and talk about and play games. Students often stop in the store for a half-hour between classes. The shop offers a sociable environment that video games can't.
Senior history major Eric Mackey said hanging out with friends was the reason he went to Wizard's Keep. He still plays video games, he said, but tabletop games offers more of a variety and a more social atmosphere.
Stephens said the store has never been in danger of closing for economic reasons. Sales would decline during summer months and pick up again during the winter around Christmas.
He said he the only time the store could've potentially gone under was when Magic: The Gathering cards were popular. In order to carry the cards, the store had to sign a contract with the company that sold them. The contract stipulated Wizard's Keep had to pay for the cards a year in advance of their release. Stephens said he invested about $68,000 and, if it hadn't yielded positive results, to store probably would have closed.
Barnette said adapting to changing markets has been key to the store's survival. In the 1990s the store began carrying paint ball guns and equipment. When paint balling became more popular and other stores in Muncie carried equipment, Wizard's Keep stopped because it wasn't making a profit. He said the shop also used to sell model kits until they weren't making money anymore.
Since its last move, the store began carrying used video games and DVDs. Wizard's Keep has been a destination store, he said. Most of the business comes from hobbyists who know what they want when they walk in. The current location has increased foot traffic in the store, Barnette said, and selling video games and DVDs has become profitable.
"We're trying to stay ahead of the curve," Barnette said. " ... Some product lines have stopped. If they hadn't stopped I'm not sure if we'd still be around."
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