Goblin Bros. Games & Gear

Goblin Bros. Games & Gear is a tabletop game store at 133 Kentucky St in historic downtown Petaluma, opened in 2021 and built around board games, trading card games, role-playing games and miniatures. It carries Magic: The Gathering among its card lines and adds dice, apparel and geek gifts to the mix, which makes it as much a store for a family game night as for a deckbuilder. A second Goblin Bros. location operates in Santa Rosa.

What's on the shelves

The floor covers a lot more than cards. Board games run from family and kid-friendly titles to intermediate and complex strategy games, and the role-playing section includes Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder along with indie systems. Magic: The Gathering sits alongside other trading card games, and Warhammer is also stocked. Dice come in resin, acrylic, metal, glass and gemstone, and the minis range covers warriors and monsters for the tabletop.

Beyond games, the store sells apparel, pins and patches, jewelry, plushies and geek home goods. Screens playing video are mounted around the shop, an unusual touch for a game store. A used games section sits in the back of the store, and orders can also be placed online. The store sells trading cards but does not buy them, so it is a place to shop for singles and sealed product rather than to sell a collection.

Space and amenities

Gryn's Gaming Garden is a free outdoor gaming space attached to the store, open for family game nights and D&D meet-ups. A board game group meets on the patio on Sundays. Gabby's Grub and Go, a snack shop, operates on site, so a long session does not mean leaving for food.

A portion of every sale supports gamer charities through the Play It Forward program.

Getting there

The store sits on Kentucky St, across from Copperfield's. Free parking is available in the Keller Street garage directly behind the store, entered from Keller Street. Street parking is free for 2 hours Monday through Saturday from 8 AM to 6 PM and unlimited after 6 PM. Longer stays during the day can use the Second Street Garage, entered on C Street between First and Second Streets. The Petaluma Downtown SMART train station is 0.4 miles away, about a 9 minute walk.

Hours

History

The first shop opened in 2021 in downtown Petaluma. In 2022 the store was named Retailer of the Year at the GAMA Power Retail Awards. The Santa Rosa store, in Railroad Square, is the larger of the two and offers a mezzanine play space and a private room for groups of about 8.

The local scene

Downtown Petaluma has a few other draws within walking distance, including Nostalgia Alley, a retro video game and arcade shop, and Ivy's Hideout, which sells second-hand comics, toys and games. The Mighty Comic Vault is just 0.1 miles away, and 2K Games is 3.1 miles off in Petaluma. In Rohnert Park, Harvey Doss Comics and Collectibles and Classic Game Exchange are both 7.8 miles away, and North Bay Hobby & Coins is 8.4 miles away.