The Wandering Dragon Game Shoppe

My husband and I stopped in to check out what the shop had to offer and we were very pleased. Tons of games to choose from and one of the owners, Laura, answered about a million questions from us. We told her games that we had played in the past and she suggested about 5 different games we might like and explained how each was played. The games are a little higher in price then you might find online but if you take in to consideration the excellent service and the friendly small business atmosphere it is well worth the price difference. Will definitely be returning!

The whole family loves The Wandering Dragon. What a well-​run, local, family-​oriented business! Owners Kevin and Laura have done such a great job setting up a place where people can enjoy all different types of games and events. Their prices are very competitive and they will also do special orders. They have the newest and latest games and releases as well as the old standbys. You can also try many of the games to see if you enjoy them. If you like board, card, miniatures, or tabletop games or if you are thinking about trying something new, def check this place out!

This place is great but a little pricey. Lots of games to choose from but went in to buy magic. They were asking $ 5 more for the cards we wanted than any other place. Other then that, they are great and very friendly!

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
— Gandhi
I have decided to give The Wandering Dragon another chance. There is soooo much to love about this store, location, gaming space, Kevin + Laura (the Owners/​Hosts) the selection, and the wonderful patrons and gamers that support it.
Clean! Impeccably clean. Safe, bring your kids.
Such a great selection of games, plenty of space to play these games, and a atmosphere conducive to friendliness, good sportsmanship and camaraderie.
My best friend lives just 10 minutes away, so it will make a great place to meet, hang out, browse and discuss gaming.
My son is 9 now, and has a year of gaming under his belt, so is ready to build a great gamer foundation.
WD is the standard on which all other game shops should strive to be.
I challenge you to find another venue with gaming rooms as comfortable and nicely equipped. Great for Date night, bring the kids, let them game, play Friday Night Magic, while you enjoy the restaurants and nightlife within a block of this fine establishment.
Want to game with the kids but you’re all hungry? Fear not, the owners supply you with menu’s of local delivery places bringing food to your table.
This is the quintessential boutique of gaming at it’s best. Total Opulence. I love it.
ED.E 1-​7-​2015

I’ll make this as short and succinct as possible: The Wandering Dragon is an amazing store with top notch management. Regardless of cost, I buy all gaming related purchases from this locally owned store.

I’ve visited the store since its inception above West Lockport St and Illinois St. The owners (Kevin and Laura) are hardworking people who will go out of his/​her way to assist any customer. I rarely game as I have three small children at home, but whenever I come into the store (once every 3 months) Kevin and Laura remember my name and treat me like a friend.
A few visits ago, Kevin was running around managing a Friday Night Magic tournament and looked as busy as a bee. When I approached Kevin with a question, he stopped what he was working on and took the time to assist me. When I called to reserve a room for their «Un-​Sale» and support the shop, Laura again remembered me by name. I brought three friends in and we each paid the $ 5 for the room. At the end of the night, we purchased more than $ 300 worth of games because we had so much fun.
Please visit the Wandering Dragon to make up your own mind — you won’t regret it.
TL/​DR: Great place to play games and meet new people — try it out soon.

The store has a beautifully laid out interior with several smaller rooms for gaming, as well as a larger room in the back for large group gaming. The prices are MSRP, but the loyalty club offsets this. HUGE selection of great games, classic games as well as all the new releases. The owner is incredibly friendly, and runs tons of events in the store. Everything you could want from RPGs, Magic, and organized play through fantasy flight and ticket to ride tournaments. Unfortunately my schedule doesn’t allow me to get out to game there, but I am dying to get out at least for one of the ticket to ride events. Definitely the best place I’ve found in the area to buy or play games.

The Wandering Dragon is just about the fanciest game store that I have been to (taking second place to an out of business game store decked out with marble, and the like). The environment is pleasing with copious televisions displaying various geekery, plenty of high quality geek posters, and many clean, well-​lit conference rooms to play in. The store stocks plenty of games. There is a $ 5 fee per person to play a game at the store. The store is always full of people, and thus this price must meet the demand. There is a two ship entry fee to play a Star Trek: Attack Wing tournament (one retail ship, and one blind tournament only ship). This is the largest entry fee in a 100-​mile radius of Chicago. There are plenty of players at the tournaments, so again, the cost meets the demand. The people are nice, the owners are nice. I just hope that the entrance fees do not scare away younger gamers.

Came here on 6÷20÷14 with a large group of about 30. Paid a perfectly acceptable $ 5 fee in order to game for 6 HOURS. That’s less than a dollar an hour. Brought our own gaming stuff and settling in for rousing games of D&D, Cthulhu, GoT and other such games. Had we not brought our own, The Wandering Dragon has a large selection of games to play before you even buy. Their merchandise selection is staggering, the décor is beautiful and the owners were so accommodating. They had the patience to put up with a bunch of rowdy gamers. The cherry on top was the binders they have at each table with menus for various restaurants in the area that deliver. Oh, I forgot to mention their many gaming rooms available. Best game shop I’ve ever been to, hands down.

When I first moved to the area I was looking for a quality FLGS and I was extremely excited when the Dragon opened up. I have always had a great time whenever I have gone there. The new location is just fantastic, tons of room, multiple rooms, beautiful décor and tables, what else can you ask for? The staff is incredibly friendly and they know you by name after a few visits and they always make you feel welcome! I just wish I could go there more often, but working midnights kind of makes that impossible :(
I have seen some other reviews where people were complaining about prices, I don’t get it. It’s not like they’re charging more than MSRP. I guess the concepts of «buy where you game» and «support your FLGS» fall on deaf ears these days. So what if you have to pay to play for certain events. Where else are you going to get that type of fun and entertainment for $ 5? If the people who game there don’t support the store then guess what, there will be no store. FLGSes are harder to come by these days. I take pride in supporting my local FLGS and wish Kevin and Laura many years of success!

I have been going to The Wandering Dragon for well over a year now and can honestly say I have never had bad experience here.
The owners are two of the nicest people you will ever meet!
Their selection of games is more than you could ever ask for in a game shop. Even better is that they have a lot of games for you to demo right there in the shop with tons of space to play them.
I have no question that I will coming here for years to come. I LOVE this place!!!

Great store! Just started playing X-​wing earlier this year and they have a great selection, as well all the accessories I need. Also the reward program there is awesome and keeps me coming back. If you live in Plainfield or the surrounding area, I highly recommend a stop by here for your table top needs.

great game store in downtown plainfield just off lockport street. most items are MSRP, but there is a loyalty program that gets you 10% back on your purchases (or 20% back on preorders) and the store has great sales a couple times a year.
if they don’t have something in stock, they can usually get it within 2 business days (assuming it’s still in print).
large open gaming space in the back, or you could opt for one of the many private game rooms available for a small fee (all day or night for $ 5/​person, or $ 3/​person w/​use of ‘dragons gold’ from loyalty program, or free with purchase that day).
large library of demo copies of games for anyone to play.
has a clearly posted ‘no outside food or drink’ sign on the door, but has a great snack pantry (food & drinks) for reasonable prices, and each private game room has a list of local establishments that can deliver food to the store.
they do have wifi, but you need to get an access code from kevin or laura (i think codes are free with a purchase or rental of a private gaming room).
often has tournament nights & multi-​week league’s going for many popular games, and the small fee for those generates the prize pool (packs of cards for MTG, gift cards for other games). owner tries to make sure everyone who participates gets some kind of prize that’s at least close to what they paid in tournament/​league fee no matter what place they finish overall.

The Wandering Dragon is your home away from home. The owners are there to make the magic happen. The Wandering Dragon has an unique atmosphere, which allows the players to get into all sorts of gaming.
We’ve been going to the Wandering Dragon for nearly two years and NEVER, EVER had any problems. In fact, we started coming to The Wandering Dragon to learn how to play Dungeons and Dragons. Everyone was patient, the other gamers, the Dungeon Masters, and that is what you want when you’re learning a new complex game, patience.
If you want to purchase a game, you’re even able to play a huge selection of games before purchasing them. Try doing that elsewhere.
The Wandering Dragon also host all sorts of events, such as going to movies, or their game auction. The list goes on, and on.
It’s a place you know your kids are safe. There isn’t any bullying. The customers are friendly towards one another. It really is, literally like home. It’s AWESOME. Especially in today’s world. It’s what gives The Wandering Dragon their unique charm and flair.
The prices are spot on and fair. There is a nominal fee to play games, and it’s WORTH every penny.
If you enjoy all sorts of gaming. You’ll really love The Wandering Dragon.
This is the place to go!!!

One of the larger show rooms I have ever seen for a gaming store. Plus the store has 8 private gaming rooms and one large common gaming area. Owners are helpful, informed and super friendly. So far haven’t found any flaws. This will be my source for all my geek fixes from now on!

This is the place to go for your boardgame fix. They have a massive collection of games to buy and a huge library of games on hand to play. The owners are awesome people and have always been able to answer any questions I have.
The place has an awesome atmosphere and has as much theme as the games they sell. This is more than just a retail store. This is where I meet to play games and ive met great people since I started coming here. They have a ton of events pretty much every day of the week.
My only regret is that I didn’t find this place sooner!

Since my original review, The Wandering Dragon has moved 1 block west into a larger location! Everything that was great about the original store is even better. The only downside to the old place was that when the shop was really busy, games that took up a lot of real estate (DnD, X-​Wing, etc) would take up a lot of table space. Well the new shop have 6+ private rooms including a really nice VIP room.
These rooms have large wooden tables that can expand with leaves or contract to make the space fit your group and allow more people to play without interfering with each other through the noise. The open area is actually a little smaller than in the original shop but because of all the private rooms everything actually ends up feeling more spacious and inviting.
Nothing super exciting about this update: the first shop was one of the best board game shops I’ve ever been to and the new place is even better. The community here is great. Whether you’re a long time gaming grognard or someone who doesn’t know anything about board game except Monopoly and Jenga, you should check this place out.

I love this place. It’s definitely one of the best suburban gaming stores. A friend of ours is a regular at The Dragon, so we occasionally head down to visit and play. The game selection is AWESOME, whether you’re looking to buy or play. They rent out space, or you can play a few dollars to play from their in-​house game library. We’ve been to several small gamer birthday parties here and bought a few games in the process. They’ve got several gaming rooms to play in, so even if they’re busy, there’s always space to play and someone to play with.
They offer a family-​friendly atmosphere, so gamers of all ages can visit the Dragon without concern.
If you’re into gaming or want to try out some really sweet gamer games, check this place out. Also, I think it’s super important to contribute to local businesses (plus I like the instant gratification of game! I want it now!)

I just visited their new location this evening — Thursday, September 19^th. It seems like it will address the problems that others have noted about a lack of space and handicapped accessibility. Since the new location is on street-​level it gives them a lot more space.
In this new location there are at least three rooms where 6 to 8 people could sit and play games and one large room where 30 to 50 people could sit and play games.
This is in addition to the store area which is quite reasonable in size.
Even though the store had not officially reopened yet, Laura was quite accommodating and let us in to make a small purchase because we driven all the way down from Naperville expecting them to be open.
While my daughter shopped for D&D paraphernalia, I was given the chaos tour, wandering through boxes all over the floor in the usual situation that you might see in a store that was not quite open yet. It was a lot of fun.
They hope to be officially open this weekend. Only one day to go. They have a lot of work to do but I wish them the very best and hope to see them again after they are officially open.
Oh, by the way, this new location appears to be directly across the street from the Plainfield Fire Department. That should make it easy to find.

If you’re anything like me, your first reaction after walking up the stairs to enter The Wandering Dragon will be, «How did I not know about this place?» In fact, one could make a strong argument that it’s the best kept secret for gamers of all kind in Plainfield– The only way I event found out about it was because we were looking for a place to play Magic the Gathering at on a day other than Friday, which works better for my friends’ schedules… Making this the one time I’m actually thankful they work such weird hours.
So, for any place that’s in a downtown-​y location my first worry is always parking. I used to live in downtown Naperville and I know what a nightmare it can be to need to park on the street. This isn’t the case with The Wandering Dragon, as the nearby library on Illinois St. has a huge public parking lot that’s within incredibly easy walking distance to the store. Oh, also, another tip– Even though The Wandering Dragon’s address is technically on Lockport St, the entrance is actually on the west side of Illinois St.
Anyway, I play a LOT of Magic in the Chicago area, and even the best venues typically have some sort of caveat. They might have a great play area, but the storefront for buying Magic cards and accessories is severely lacking. They might have a great storefront, but the play area is totally cramped, too hot/​cold, dirty, poorly ventilated (read: smelly), or features bathrooms so filthy your hands feel less clean after washing them in the sink… I could go on. The Wandering Dragon nails it.
The play area is great, featuring clean tables, comfortable clean chairs, actual framed posters and art on the wall, a vending machine that sells snacks and soda for reasonable prices, a nice size TV to watch between rounds, and more. Tournament organization is fantastic as well. We played four rounds and the whole thing went incredibly fast. I prefer numbered tables as it makes it friendlier for newbies, but it seems like the player base there knows each other well enough that such formality isn’t necessary, at least at the event I attended.
Overall, the vibe of The Wandering Dragon couldn’t be better. It totally feels like a place that you would actually want to meet friends at to play a board game, card game, or anything else. They’ve flawlessly managed to bridge that weird gap between nerdy game store and actual cool place to be.
It’s a hell of a drive for me from Lisle, but I’ll definitely be back for more Magic at The Wandering Dragon whenever my schedule allows for it.

The Wandering Dragon is an absolutely outstanding game store, and by game store I mean board, and pen and paper, NOT video/​computer. Old school gaming at it’s best. These guys have shelves of great RPG games from D&D to Pathfinder and others. The have gaming leagues like D&D Encounters, Mage Wars, Warmachine, Star Wars X-​Wing League. They have a back room that looks like it holds about 40 people or so for different gaming events. My group just started playing Pathfinder there and we were all very impressed, not only with the store, but more importantly the staff. They were extremely accomodating and seem like a great group of people who truly enjoy what they do. If you are looking to give your imagination a boost, or someone else’s that doesn’t involve electronics, give the Wandering Dragon your patronage.