The Gaming Goat - Tinley Park, IL — Attraction in Orland Township

As an out-of-towner, I cannot say whether or not The Game Store - formerly The Gaming Goat - represents what your Friendly Local Gaming Store experience is in the Chicago area.

If it isn't, though, it should be.

The aura of this place is palpable: it's friendly, more so than many game stores I've visited. On crutches, a gamer standing outside chatting with friends before a tournament stopped what he was doing to get the door for me. That right there amazed me enough, but the greatness had just begun.

There are two sides to the store: one for gaming on tabletop, and one for actual shopping. The selection here is massive, and I found two board games to purchase (and several others that I desperately wanted) amongst the shelves, stocked as they were with a wide variety of games from your basic Ticket to Ride to more esoteric ones such as Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn game.

The gamers inside? Awesome. No gamer funk, and it looked like they respected the store a lot. Most had masks on in this Covid endgame, and none of them immediately popped as "That Guy" at the FLGS. The staff, though not always easily identified, were right there with their customers: no one waited long for service, and no one left frustrated.

One of the owners checked us out. Super friendly dude, and I was happy to tell him I loved the place. It just felt right, and that's so important in an FLGS, especially with all the stereotypes AND with Covid winding down.

Stop here for your gaming needs and look no further. This is one place to support amongst all others, and the next time I am in the area? I'm coming...

The best, most welcoming shop I have EVER been to! Clean, well lit, large and varied inventory. The staff and owners are top notch, very friendly and helpful. The patrons are also fantastic and kind, warm and personable. I visited while on vacation and plan to return again when visiting the area. In fact, we visited this shop twice on the same trip! We had so much fun on the first visit we wanted to return before leaving to pick up a few other things to support the store. We chatted with one of the owners and found out they have a strong set of values which means a lot to me. They have made business decisions based on these values and it TRULY reflects in their shop. To explain a little more about my experience, as a woman I often walk into a game shop and receive one of two reactions- "OMG IT'S A GIRL must stare/I don't know what to do" or "what the heck is a girl doing in here, girls don't game". I received neither from ANYONE. Patrons outside were friendly, opened the door for us. Patrons inside were polite and conversational. Staff was so helpful and caring. If you're a gamer and have been to other stores you have experienced the 'gamer funk' at least once. You won't face that issue here. I cannot say enough about this place and strongly urge you to give them a try. This to me is the gold standard...

Used to be a huge fan of this store especially when it used to be the gaming goat. The customer service was great but doesn’t seem to be anymore. I used to be a reoccurring customer and would purchase a lot. I had to take a hiatus and since returning I’ve been faced with nothing but poor customer service and rude attitudes. I had questions and was talked to as if I was an annoyance. Unfortunately it seems the store mainly caters to only certain types of card games now which is sad considering it used to be the greatest shop in the area for magic the gathering. Ultimately I used to really love this shop but it seems to have taken a left turn in the recent years and I no longer...