(Review) Kirwan's Game Store, Catskill, New York

It’s not often that I get requests for reviews and when it comes from my ex-wife, color me intrigued.

I received a single picture from her with the caption of game store somewhere in the Catskills…

It didn’t take much research to find out that she was talking about the game store actually IN Catskill, New York:  Kirwan's Game Store.   One weekend visiting the girls, I left at a decent hour and managed to swing off the exit off the New York State Thruway and venture into town. 

Catskill, New York is a perfect little tourist trap for the day, nestled along the Hudson River.  Of course, when I showed up, they were in the midst of a major downtown rehabilitation program, replacing all the sidewalks, parking turning a very Bougie Mad Max fever dream.

Greeting:  This has been my thing now for two years, but I was not greeted at all. Let’s assume I’m dealing with the tail end of the summer tourist season tons of people wandering en masse to stereotypical game store employees.  They're probably still recovering from retail shell shocked,  but still...

Cleanliness:  There's a few dark spot, due to lack of light, but none on the carpet.  For a weekend with gaming events, it was very clean. 

Comics: Standard disorder of new releases, back issues, a lot of collected in graphic models and discount books

CCGs:  They carry Magic, Pokemon, and Yu-Gi-Oh cards and a lot of singles in multiple display cases.  They do employ a simple idea that has vanished in most FLGS:  Everything in the case was actually priced .  That rare occurrence might allow me to forgive the lack of a greeting. I’m usually dismayed by a lack of pricing because I want to take the initiative and actually tell the staff I wanna buy something not forcing them through a rigmarole of looking up prices. 

Board Games:  A smaller than usual selection of the standards and some newer stuff too.

RPGs: Focused entirely on D&D

Miniatures:  Pretty much limited to Games Workshop and WizKids D&D minis.

Other:  You have your standard dice and GW paints, but I was amused by what I might call the correct amount of LEGO and plushies, offset by the large selection of Funkos

Amenities/Events:  A spacious area for open gaming separated and running parallel to the store front.  There is a separate area for war gaming in the back. 

I enjoyed my time, didn't buy anything and was soon on my way for another two hours and forty-five minutes of driving time.  

On the Gaming with the Gnomies Five-Gnome scale, I'm giving Kirwan's Game Store a solid 3.5 gnome out of 5.

+0.5 gnomes

If you're local... or looking at stopping by for singles... or you need an escape from the tourist trap part of the town, Kirwan's is perfect. 

I did discover that Kirwan's has a Poughkeepsie location as well, so I will plan out a side trek probably during the holidays.  

Their Catskill location is at 369 Main St, Catskill, NY 12414