(Review) Cloud City Games - Stroud Mall - Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania

In the beginning of the summer, my daughter had an AAU tournament in the Poconos.  It was a good Saturday for the team, and we grabbed Texas Roadhouse and wandered into the Stroud Mall, PA 611, outside of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.  

The main reason for our wanderings was the recent opening of the latest location of Cloud City Games.   I've been a fan of visiting the Cloud City Games - Palmer Park Mall location, when I visit my mother, so I was hoping that methodology and system translated well to another storefront (their third).

It did not disapoint. 

While not a mirror copy of Palmer Park (which isn't a copy of their flagship Lehigh Valley Mall location).  The color is there, the set-up is there, the stock is similar. and growing every week.  

The biggest difference?  The gaming area is bigger and far more spacious than just about any mall/shopping center based store.  

Later in the summer, I returned to the location, after scheduling an appointment to sell off some of my Magic cards.   It was one of the longest hours of my life, but I was treated friendly and professionally and given more than a fair rate for the cards they wanted.  I got to wander the store a lot in that time, and the inventory had grown considerably.  

CCGS:  The reason for all those tables.  A good supply of Magic/Pokemon/Yu-Gi-Oh! singles.  Lots of packs, although somebody was unhappy they didn't have the particular boosters for one set, didn't have two full boxes to sell, and he didn't get some additional discount.   I don't miss entitled customers, although I have my hands full with entitled business owners at work.  

RPG:  A great selection of 5e, Pathfinder, Paizo, but the heart of  Cloud City's role-playing section, to me, are the multitudes of Indy and zine-based games.   I'd like to see more price tags on these guys, as they naturally vary greatly in price for the same sized pamphlet, but it's a great start for growing an immense and diverse selection.

Minis:  GW racks, GW paints, and a large selection of the D&D mins/Wizkids licensed stuff.  Like Palmer Park, they did add a rack of Monument Hobbies paints.

Events: Two D&D nights, Magic Modern and Commander nights, Star Wars Unlimited and a free Yu-Gi-Oh! league with prize support?    Given the strict mall hours, that's more than enough.

Staff: Again, wildly friendly and professional, even dealing with the idiot Magic customer.  

Comics:  They are a comics and games store, after all.  A great rack of new releases, and enough older and graded material to attract attention, and hopefully, sales.  

Other stuff:  Always a wide assortment of crap this old guy doesn't get, although I'm vaguely familiar with the vast assortment of Squishables. 

I haven't given the Palmer Park location a new review since they moved into their new digs (and the longer I wait, the less nostalgic bias I might have, although I doubt it).  If the old location warranted a four gnome rating, then the Stroud Mall location earns four out of five gnomes as well...

The Cloud City Games Stroud Mall location is located at 344 Stroud Mall Rd Suite 136, Stroudsburg, PA 18360. They're open 12-8 Monday-Saturday, and 12-6 Sundays.