House Rules Games — Attraction in Dallas

A while back my husband and I drove the 30 min it takes to drive from Addison to this store that we’d recently discovered and really enjoyed. By then, we’d spent well over $300 on board games because we loved the selection, location, and service (up to this point).

We arrived 30 min before closing. As we’re about to walk in, the owner rushes to the door to lock up. He seemed almost bothered that we were about to walk in half an hour before closing and said he was closing early to pick up his child. He said if we already know what we’re getting he could let us in “if we want?”. Basically the most insincere non-offer. We awkwardly declined because I mean we were intending to do some browsing and the guy was practically locking up as we were standing there.

We’re about to turn and leave when he asks if we have kids. What? …Uh. No, we don’t. His response: “Oh, okay. So you wouldn’t understand what it’s like. You’ll understand some day.” Dude what? You closing up your business half an hour early is your deal. Go off. Don’t make things even more uncomfortable for us after driving that long by being weirdly invalidating and dismissive because… we don’t have children we have to go pick up…? Truly the most uncomfortable experience I’ve ever had at the hands of a business owner. It was like we were in the wrong for interrupting his last-minute...

My wife and I visited Steve’s store on accident, and it turned out to be the most pleasant surprise of our entire trip.

First off, Steven alone is worth the visit. He’s as knowledgeable as he is pleasant and sociable. We felt like we’d known him for years upon leaving the store.

My wife and I are relatively new to board games, and so Steven did a great job helping us understand ourselves and the types of games we like, while giving us great options with descriptions to choose from…

Our favorite part was that we could tell he wasn’t trying to “sell” us on anything, he just wanted to help awaken a love for board games, and in that regard, he was very successful!

We walked out with two games (both, very fairly priced) that he recommended, and played one of them almost immediately and we LOVED it!

Steven, it was a joy to be around your passion and we look forward to visiting your delightful shop in the near future to...

I am so glad a board game store like this exists in Dallas!

House Rules has a great selection of games for all types of board gamers: newbies, euro fans, RPGs, traditional board games and everything in between. It's amazing that the store has such good prices too--most of their games are cheaper than buying from Amazon.

The owner, Stephen, is also incredibly friendly and well-versed. If you're unsure what board game you want, you can tell him what you like/dislike about board games (themes, number of players, complexity, mechanics, etc.) and he will recommend a few options to you. Try going on a day that he's in-store. I have spent so much money supporting this small business, and I plan to spend...