Fan Boy Three — Local services in Manchester

I used to visit Fanboy 3 once a week after the pandemic increased interest in nerd games,

when I started coming there everyone there was really polite and welcoming, the owner knew what people wanted, what would sell, and was very knowledgable in whatever I asked him, and so were the other employees, and even the customers themselves.

As I began to go regularly, the staff changed, with the new staff being frequently irritated from me BUYING TICKETS THAT THEY TELL ME TO BUY OR REFUSE MY ENTRY INTO THE BASEMENT, or with no one being at the bar, I go to the till, and the employee there looks at me for a second, looks back at his phone, then tells me without even looking at the bar to go there and buy it, WHILE HE WAS THE ONE MEANT TO BE THERE.

Another thing, one which is less than the shop's fault, is the reduction of interest in what I played.With an awful attempt at somewhat including as many game systems as possible, at the expense of all the other ones, resulting in certain game systems having only a few out of the tens of expansions for it, resutling in it being an unreliable shop for tabletop gaming, something that is especially bad with more and more prioritised on cards and boardgames, while giving the bad end of the stick to others.

Depending on what you play your experience may differ, but with tabletop games, there is little more to say until they seriously have a look at changing something.

The owner is one of the few last hopes I have foe it getring better there, until then, Ive been forced to move more to places like Element Games...

I went to this shop a couple days ago with a friend, quite spacious, a lot of stock and variety and probably a good place to pick up game supplies. Unfortunately I wish the rest of this review could be as positive, but alas, this ends with my friend and I deciding to never return to this shop.

After looking for a book that was sadly out of stock, the owner asked what I was looking for, to which I replied a dnd book. The owner proceeds to look over the section I just checked to then inform me that it wasn't in stock. Disheartened I say thanks, turn to my friend and say that I'll probably have to pick up this book online.

The owner then takes it upon himself to berate my friend and I for going to an online vendor! Even punching himself in the head! My friend, who had a disability badge and lanyard on show, is now visibly distressed due to this. The owner carried on trying to guilt trip us and berate us, as we are trying to leave, for using an online vendor instead of just... waiting for them to get it in stock again I guess?

Needless to say, I sincerely hope the owner gets the help they clearly need, but for now and the foreseeable, my friend and I will not be coming back to this store.

Small edit: upon messaging about the employee, I have since found out it was the OWNER! All mentions of employee will be altered to reflect...

An update on my 4 star review from 2 year ago.

What can I say I've fallen in love with the place. As a casual shopper it can be a little frustrating trying to move around the gaming tables to browse the shelves however it's the only criticism I can think of and not something I'm willing to knock a star off for, and here's why:

Fan Boy 3 isn't just shop. It's a place for gamers to meet up, connect and play and more importantly it's a very welcoming community.

Having made the switch from casual shopper to in-store gamer a few month back I was overwhelmed how friendly the organisers, staff and players all were, really going above and beyond to assist those new to games. Organised games are well run and reliable - I've never known them to be cancelled.

RPGs not your thing? Want to experience a new game with your own group of friends? Then take advantage of their extensive game library and gaming space downstairs.

Need snacks and drinks? They serve those too.

Give it a go, thanks to FanBoy3 I discovered a new interest and have somewhere I can go to enjoy it...