Fantasy Flight Games event center
Last week I was in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA on business and visited the Fantasy Flight Games Event Center.
What a fun place for gaming!
Because a number of our favorite board games are published by Fantasy Flight Games, I’d heard about the Fantasy Flight Event Center before. However, I didn’t realize (or simply pay attention) that the FFG was in Minnesota.
Until I was planning my business trip…
When I’m out on the road for business, I like to check for board game stores in the area. Even though I’m pretty sure what games I’ll find on the shelves, I love checking out different stores and getting a feel for the personality of the game store.
In addition to selling games, many hobby board game stores will also have a place for playing games. They may have a table or two set up where customers (or potential customers) can sit down to try out a game. And many stores also host game nights that focus on particular games or open gaming.
But I haven’t ever been to a game store like the Fantasy Flight Games Event Center – it was huge!
Actually, going in I didn’t think of it as a game ‘store’ at all. So I was pleasantly surprised to see racks of games for sell in addition to the many tables for playing games. And it’s not just FFG games that they have for sale. They carry games from many other publishers as well.
Although the FFG Event Center address was pretty easy to find, because I was getting there around 10:00 pm everything in the roads nearby was pretty dark. But once I turned into the parking lot, I could see about 30 cars and knew I’d found the right spot and was ready to explore. I was also happy to see that it’s open until midnight (even though I didn’t plan on being there very long).
I was warmly greeted by the FFG employee behind the counter and noticed a number of others with FFG shirts on as well. But really the first thing I noticed was the huge open space for playing games. With a tall ceiling, bright lights, clean tables, and even an upstairs area, it was all very inviting. No dark and dingy corner with a beat up table like some places I’ve visited. This felt like a great place to play games with friends.
I asked one of the employees about how many people they usually have playing games each night. And I almost laughed when he apologized for how the center looked that night. About 100 people had been there earlier that night because FFG had a big announcement. So they had moved tables around a bit to set up rows of chairs for the announcement. (Normally there’s a bit more space around the tables.)
It turns out that the announcement was that FFG is moving the event center a couple blocks away to a bigger location. Bigger? Wow!
He told me that Tuesday nights usually have about twice as many as I saw there that Monday night. And on Wednesday nights they’re usually jam-packed, with hardly any room to spare. Guess that’s why they’re moving to more space.
The Game Library wall was packed with games for people to pull out, pick a table, and play. And I quickly sent a ‘wish you were here’ text to a few buddies back home.
When we think of Fantasy Flights Games, we think of top notch quality. The games they publish are extremely high quality – both in game play and components. And the events center is no different.
I highly recommend the Fantasy Flight Games Event Center for a great place to play board games!
Fantasy Flight Games that we love:
- Lord of the Rings the Confrontation
- Descent: Journeys in the Dark 2nd Edition
- Battlestar Galactica
- Ingenious
- Hey, That’s My Fish
With over 85 published board games, there are plenty more FFG board games on our wish list…
Man does that ever look like a fun trip! Let me also say that BattleStar Galactica is one of our favorites All-Time! We use the Pegasus expansion but without the New Caprica aspect. Really, really fun and no other game is quite like it.
Scott – I’ve been thinking of picking up an expansion for Battlestar Galactica. Thanks for the thumbs up on Pegasus.
I want one of those here! Fantasy Flight is my favorite publisher overall. Besides all the original games they put out, they have some sweet reworks/reprints of older games too. Of the ones I’ve played, Cosmic Encounter is my favorite and in my top 3 favorite games period.
Aaron – Great endorsement for Cosmic Encounter, another on my ‘to play’ list.
A few months ago we picked up Star Wars X-Wing Miniature game and just last week got a copy of Star Wars The Card Game. Enjoying them both. My boys are still a bit young for the heavier strategy aspects but we are all having a good time playing together.
Eric – they’ll get into strategy aspects before you know it!
Hey Trent. Thanks for the great article. I am heading out to minneapolis next week for work and now because of this article this will be one of my stops.
Jim – Definitely get by FFG for an evening while you’re out there.
Looks like I will get to experience the New event center next week. I just noticed the new Event Centre has its grand opening today. Looking forward to seeing it. Plus it is just one block away from the current Event Centre.
I’d love to hear about your experience at FFG next week. Have a blast!
Hey Trent. Well I got to visit the new Event Center Monday night. It was quite nice. The place was not as crowded as I thought it would be. Anyway they have a decent menu of food items as well as beverages (including adult beverages). A fantastic game selection and plenty of room to play games. All in all it was a great time and look forward to getting back there when I have to make the trip out there for work.
Jim – great to hear you had a good time. Don’t know when I’ll be back that way on biz either, but I’ll definitely be back. And if it covers a Wed night even better since they told me that’s a packed night.