The east wall in the parking lot of Athen’s Burgers on West Yosemite Avenue in Manteca is a gigantic mural depicting a bucolic, rustic scene aptly titled “Cow-munity.”
On the other side of the wall, inside the building, is nothing close to that, albeit in a fantasy sort of way. Inside are Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder and X-Men, “geeky” board games such as Munchkin, Settlers of Catan, and Arkham Horror, plus hundreds more products of the imagination. The interior décor, consisting of Medieval-period weapons such as a double ax, mace, shining sharp swords and misty fantasy scenes like castles lining the walls, immediately transport visitors to a world of magic as soon as they pass through the front door.
Welcome to Gamer’s Path.
Owner Lucas “Luke” Howard describes his business of nearly three years as both a “retail and services” store. That means you can come in and enjoy role-playing games, board games, pen-and-paper rolling, trading cards (Magic the Gathering is arguably the most popular right now), miniature types that you paint yourself, and literally all kinds of games for a table top.
And his store is a gamer’s fantasy-come-true when it comes to the retail products that literally wallpaper his store. He carries more than 350 board games, and those are not your normal big box-warehouse store fare.
“We don’t carry normal games like Target and Walmart do. We don’t want to compete with big box retailers. We usually carry harder-to-find games, like ones derived from Dungeons and Dragons,” Howard explained.
“Magic the Gathering was the first one that came out and the most popular now – I think it’s the world’s most popular game – but definitely the most popular in the United States,” he said.
Although you can purchase games to take home for your private collection or to share with family and friends, Gamer’s Path is also a gamer’s service store. It has tables for gamers to use, plus a room in the back that Howard designed and decorated to evoke a Medieval Age kind of feeling and ambience. Groups, such as families, can reserve this room for their private rounds of role playing and other games.
“Role playing has been around since, I think, the 1970s” when Dungeons and Dragons burst into the gaming scene, said Lucas whose fascination with these games since childhood sowed the seeds for the business that he opened in Manteca after a stint in the service, earning a degree in business and entrepreneurship from Washington State University, and working as a Home Depot supervisor at “several different places” including Manteca.
“I’ve always wanted to own my own business,” he said, succinctly explaining why he made the professional turn-around from employee to small-business owner.
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Family-friendly gaming atmosphere
Gamer’s Path is open to youth and adults.
“I actually have families that come to play as a family, families that come in to role-play or to play board games,” Howard said.
“It’s a cooperative, friendly atmosphere,” at least, when it comes to the games his store offers, he said.
In the grand scheme of things, there are different types of game stores, he pointed out, with each one catering to “different crowds” and offering different games.
“I tried to build (Gamer’s Path) around cooperation and fun. There are some shops that cater mostly to card games, and they can become competitive. The more competitive the shop, the more – I guess, I’d say, people tend to become jerks, more defeating than having a good time. I build the shop more around coming here to play and have a good time than to kill people. My shop is known to being family-friendly, having-fun-and-cooperative play type than others,” Howard explained.
He has a large-enough shop with both open tables and a private gaming room that people can rent out. Anybody is welcome to come in and bring their games if they want to. From time to time, he holds tournaments and people can come in and play and receive prizes. No cash prizes, though – just “little bit of prizes” which are given by the store.
“One great thing my store does that many others don’t is that every single (player) gets a prize,” he said about the tournaments he hosts.
Videogames is one thing Gamer’s Path does not offer.
“They’re great games and they have their place, but at best, the only thing we might do is hold a videogame tournament, but won’t do retail,” Howard said.
“It’s not really a group activity,” for the most part, he said by way of explaining why he does not have videogames in his arsenal of games.
“It’s something that somebody would play for hours on end at their house, probably online,” and not for group-activity access, he added.
For gamers who get too involved that they don’t have time to grab a snack or a sandwich – although Athen’s Burger’s is just a few steps across the parking lot next door – they can grab light snacks that the shop offers like chips, candy, and drinks.
Or, “they are more than welcome to bring in their own food,” said Howard who also lays out strict rules for “younger teams.
“I try to remind them to keep the place clean,” he said.
Gamer’s Path is located at 234 W. Yosemite Ave., next to Athen’s Burgers and just east of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. Just look for the “Cow-munity” mural by the Manteca Mural Society which depicts a dairy scene.
Business hours are noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday; noon to 10 p.m. on Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday; closed on Monday. For more information, visit Gamer’s Path on Facebook, or call 209.239-8573.