About Us

The right game connects people. That's why we exist.

Our story

I'm Don, founder of The Game Connection. A lifelong gamer, and someone who got a second education in what tabletop games can do for people.

A few years back, I was in a pretty common spot: a dad, a husband, working from home, comfortable in a lot of ways, but feeling disconnected. I didn't have the kind of friendships I wanted. Not in a dramatic way. Just no regular crew to spend a Saturday with. I was into games, not sports, and I didn't know where to find other people like me.

Eventually I took a swing at it. I posted in a local Facebook group asking if anyone wanted to play some games. A few guys showed up. A few more came the next week. By the second meetup, one of them said something that stuck with me:

"I found my people."

He was right. I've been playing with that same group for two years now, and every session I walk into feels like the easiest decision I made that week.

That's why The Game Connection exists. We're not just here to sell board games. We're here to help people find the games, and the game nights, that do for them what that first Facebook post did for me.

What you'll find here

The catalog is curated. Every game on our shelf is one we've played, or one we're genuinely excited about and working our way toward playing. A game has to pass at least one test before it makes the shelf: we've played it, a trusted reviewer has championed it, our community is buzzing about it, or we tried it on a convention floor. If it doesn't pass one of those, it doesn't make the cut.

We're building this store slowly and deliberately. "Everything ever printed" is Amazon's job, not ours. We want the shelf to feel like walking into a friend's game room, not a warehouse. That means a smaller selection, more thought behind each pick, and a real person ready to tell you whether a game is right for you before you buy it.

How we play

The best part of running this store is that it's an extension of a life we already love living.

I run a weekly Pathfinder game for a group that's been rolling together for years. Every other week, I sit down with my dad-gamer crew, mostly grinding through Gloomhaven right now, though we rotate through shorter games when the campaign wears us out. Weekends, when the calendar allows, are for board games with family.

And every year, I take a trip to a board game convention with my oldest son. He's turning 28 in a couple months. Four straight days at a table together, somehow not driving each other crazy, finding new games side by side. It's become one of the best weeks of my year. More than anything else, that trip is what tells me games really do what we say they do.

Let's play

If you're here because you're shopping for yourself, for your family, or for a friend who's about to get pulled into this wonderful hobby, we'd love to help you find something great. Email us at support@thegameconnection.com. Tell us what you like, who you're playing with, and we'll point you toward something worth a game night.

Thanks for being here.

Don