Heretic Games

Heretic Games is a tabletop game store at 442 San Mateo Ave in downtown San Bruno, on the Peninsula. Magic: The Gathering sits alongside Warhammer and Dungeons & Dragons as one of the three games the store is built around, and most of the floor is given over to gaming tables rather than shelving. It suits players who want a place to sit down and play, especially miniatures painters and wargamers, and Magic players who want sealed product close to home.

What's on the shelves

The store carries board games, miniatures games, card games, role-playing games, accessories and hobby supplies, with the emphasis on Warhammer, role-playing games (Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder) and Magic.

On the Magic side, the store stocks sealed product by the box and by the pack. Zendikar Rising is the most visible line, with set, collector and draft booster displays, collector booster packs, theme boosters and a bundle. Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths draft boosters and Ravnica Allegiance booster boxes are also in the mix.

Living card games, which sell fixed expansion packs instead of random boosters, are a second card lane. Arkham Horror: The Card Game and Marvel Champions are the main examples.

Miniatures are the other big draw. The Warhammer 40,000 range covers Necrons, Space Marines, Sisters of Battle, Astra Militarum and Orks, and Warhammer Age of Sigmar, Star Wars: Legion and Infinity are stocked too. The store also carries an extensive selection of acrylic paints and supplies for painting miniatures, from Army Painter, Citadel, Reaper Master Series and Secret Weapon. Two of the owners are veteran hobbyists who like to talk through building and painting.

Playing in the store

Most of the space is tables, including large custom oak tables sized for games like Warhammer, Infinity and X-Wing. The store aims for a safe, friendly environment, and its owners want a community of regulars as invested in their games as they are.

Playing in the store is covered by a membership, which comes in two tiers billed monthly and renewing automatically until cancelled. Both tiers include double points during sales, no late event registration prices, access to the members-only Wi-Fi, and extended holding time on special orders. The Arch-Heretic tier adds a 10% discount on all merchandise and unlimited holding time for special orders.

Longer commitments lower the monthly rate on both tiers.

Events

The store hosts tabletop events including Magic, Warhammer 40,000 and Dungeons & Dragons. Registration is handled by checking out with the item tied to the event, which adds the player to the attendee list, and some events have attendance caps. The most recent event on the schedule was a Magic Star Trek prerelease on a Sunday, November 8, with a 1 PM start and a $40 entry fee. It was held off-site at Boba Guys on Fillmore St in San Francisco rather than at the store.

History

The store opened in 2014, founded by three co-owners who are longtime tabletop gamers and hobbyists. They were inspired to open their own shop after working at other game stores around the Bay Area.

The local scene

Several other stores sit within a few miles. Hansen A Game Gift & Toy Company in Millbrae and Lefty's Sports Card Store in Burlingame are both about 2.3 miles away, and Games.lol in South San Francisco is about 2.6 miles. In Burlingame, Bunky Brothers Comics is 3.2 miles off and BunkyBrothers Vintage Comics and Toys is 3.6 miles away.