The guy at the game shop who counted my mistakes

I was at Dragon's Lair Games in Cleveland last Saturday picking up a used copy of Patchwork when this older guy behind the counter watched me look at the price tag. He said 'that one's missing two tokens, so it's marked down but also it's not really complete.' I told him I didn't care about missing pieces as long as the board was fine. He looked at me for a second and said 'you're the kind of person who plays Ticket to Ride without counting your trains, aren't you?' I had no idea what he meant until he explained that some people just play for the vibes and others play to win. He was totally right about me, I lose track of my own score all the time. Has anyone else had a game shop employee size them up that fast based on one choice?

2 comments

2 Comments

fisher.adam1mo ago

Three years ago at a Half Price Books in Austin, a clerk pegged me as a "Catan expansion buyer not a base game player" just from me asking about a used copy of Seafarers. Your mileage may vary, but I think that's just a shop guy trying to be helpful with a little personality thrown in. I've had plenty of those interactions and most of them were just folks making conversation, not judgment calls.

the_jana1mo ago

Missing two tokens and they still put it on the shelf?" That's wild to me. My local place would've just trashed it or donated it, not sold it with a "heads up" from the cashier.