Cloud City Games in Their Newest Palmer Park Mall Digs

When I was of proper "kids on bikes" age, I had an actually shopping mall less than ten minutes away by bike ride. Way too many afternoons were wasted there.  While Waldenbooks had it's own sacred pilgrimage spot in it's weird corner location in the center of the mall, most of my time was spent at the holy trinity on the "new" side of the mall:  the arcade, Kay-Bee toys, and the Wall (or Wall to Wall Sound and Video beforehand... or was it Listening Booth, I honestly don't remember).  

By the late 90s, the arcade had closed up shop, and that Kay-Bee stumbled through the mid-2000's.   I believe I had officially moved out of the area by the time the Walls and their lifetime guarantee stickers on CDs converted over to great concept but horrible execution of f.y.e/FYE.  

On a trip to visit my mother this spring, I discovered that the FYE was closing for good at the end of April.  While it had mutated into something different, like the old trees in the neighborhood getting cut down for construction, or my old elementary school getting torn down, I lamented the loss of a piece of my childhood.

That loss was short-lived as Cloud City Games, which had a location at the other end of mall, took up the lease for FYE's old storefront and moved in after the 4th of July holiday. 

There's been a minor increase in inventory, most notably a hefty variety of 'zine RPGs, but the store is spacious and can have a dozen or so people playing Magic where I once stood at the newest album releases thirty years prior.  Comics also have a better dedicated section, where I always felt they were a buffer zone between the open gaming area and the rest of the retail space.  

I didn't go too crazy, as it was an impromptu visit to check on my Mom during this heat wave, but I did grab some paint agitators and color-coordinated dice for my Fistful of Lead game at Historicon this week. 

Cloud City Games - Easton is still in the Palmer Park Mall, now just outside the entrance to Boscov's.