Welcome! We are one of the largest stores in the world, located at 414 Grand Avenue in beautiful downtown Spencer, Iowa. We opened at our original location in 2014 and we moved in September of 2020 to our current space.
At just under 13,000 feet on the main floor and a mezzanine, we have about 4500 square feet of comfortable retail space and about 8000 feet of play space spread out over three areas: The Battlefield, the Hangar Bay, and the Highground and some lovely seating along our front windows. The remaining space is taken up by our 3D Printing lab which hosts a number of filament and resin printers.
Community
We love the community that we have here at Game State! We have our Facebook page that has served us loyally since we’ve been open, but we also have our Forum to help serve you better as well as our discord servers for specific interests. We hope you’ll join us where and how you prefer! Events are listed on Facebook and we’re more than happy to talk to you there about our pictures and video from inside the shop! Check our our Community Section of this website for more information!
Retail
Our retail space features several areas laid out to help you find what you need, including Gateway Games for those of you who might be new to board games, Classics for those of you looking for something a little older, and many other sections that you can find in our Games section. Through out the retail section of the shop you will see miniatures and game pieces on display that were painted by patrons of the shop and you will also see products on sale from local artisans! We stock over 1000 different products in the store, and we are always expanding our selection. We are also always happy to try to do special orders for you if there’s something you’re looking for that we don’t currently have; and if we can’t get it we can give you recommendations of where to get what you’re looking for.
Play Space
Our Playspace is split up to accommodate several different types of gaming. The Battlefield is set up specifically for Collectable Card Games like Magic: the Gathering or Pokemon, but it is also one of the favorite spots of many Dungeons and Dragons groups in the shop. The Hangar Bay is set up to be more comfortable for larger games such as Star Wars X-wing and Star Wars Legion, but it also works well for board games and for D&D groups with 6 or more members. The Highground is our designated war game area and we focus on Warhammer 40k and similar games with tables that are 4 by 8 feet and at waist height for maximum comfort while playing. Lastly the round tables at the street windows may be just the space for you and your gaming group for board games, smaller war games, role playing games, or just hanging out!
Weekly Events
We invite you to check out our Events tab to see what we do every single day of the week! There is always something going on at Game State and we welcome you to join any of the events that you wish! We are known as a “Teaching Shop” which means we have some pretty amazing community members and staff that can help you learn a game, answer questions you may have. We want you to ask questions, learn, and enjoy the space with us!
Tournaments
We run several tournaments a month and we are always adding to the number that we are running. Whether it is a yearly bash for Magic, a special tournament in conjunction with a local group or business, or a monthly throwdown for some of our most popular games, we usually run tournaments on the weekend, and they are listed on our Events page along with our weekly events!
And there’s so much more!
Game State is such an amazing place to visit, to play at, and to have seen grown since we opened the doors in November 2014. We’ve seen marriage proposals, almost had babies born in the shop, we’ve lost friends, and we’ve forged a community of gamers that is truly amazing to be a part of. There are pages more information that I could cover. From our 3D Print Lab to the Buy-Sell-Trade area of the shop to contests to after school programs, to working with the SCA, to dozens and dozens of other things. But, those are best talked about in the appropriate areas of the web page. So go on! Explore the web page! Find us on Facebook! Ask questions! Or, better yet, come on in to Game State and find out why we’re the Biggest store with in the Best Community.