Ramsey Harki and Louie DeGeorge are the owners of Game Grove in Putnam Village.

Game Grove, Teays Valley’s premier gaming space, celebrated its one-year anniversary on Saturday, February 17. The store was packed for most of the all-day event, with over one hundred people coming out to help celebrate the grand occasion. Activities held throughout the day included trading card games, tabletop games, board games and video games, as well as a task completing challenge and raffles.

To complete the task list challenge, customers participated in various activities in an attempt to rack up the most points. Some of the tasks on the list included learning how to play various games, leaving a review on the store’s Google site, and beating one of Game Grove’s owners at Smash Bros. The winner of the challenge received a $500 gift card.

Game Grove was born out of the COVID pandemic and a desire to build a local community of gamers. During the pandemic, Louie DeGeorge had a YouTube channel called Kitchen Table TCG (Trading Card Games). Kitchen Table TCG developed a lively following, and DeGeorge wanted to reproduce that in the local community. He decided to start a store, Kavdaen’s Market, which was located in Hurricane. Ramsey Harki also wanted to start a gaming store. The two partnered together to establish Game Grove in February of 2023.

“We are creating a community of gamers to have a place to play and meet friends and other like-minded people,” said DeGeorge.

Both DeGeorge and Harki wanted to create a nice environment for people to be themselves and hang out and be accepted. In a world which is often divided, one thing that brings people together is games.

“The concept was what we could do after COVID to bring nerds together,” said Harki.

Harki, who grew up in Putnam County, was bullied as a child and teen for being a nerd. When he got out of the Air Force, he wanted to give back to the community and create a safe space for those with similar interests. In the past, the county did not have a public gaming scene, and Harki wanted to give gamers and their families something to do.

DeGeorge went to a game store as a youth and was ridiculed for not knowing how to play. This sort of negative attitude turned him off games for a while. When he started Game Grove, he wanted to make sure that no one felt like that in his store. He wanted the emphasis to be upon education and friendship, not gatekeeping.

Regulars at Game Grove are called Grovians. “This is a person who exudes our ethos of not looking down on others, being kind, and having fun, teaching and learning new games,” explains Harki.

Game Grove runs three to four events per day – Magic the Gathering, Pokémon, wargames, tabletop games, e-sports, Smash Brothers, and more. The store also holds special events and tournaments as well.

“If it touches the realm of nerdom, we play it, sell it, teach it, and buy it,” said Harki, who relates that the store also purchases gaming collections and retro games.

“We would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who has walked the halls of Game Grove, played games, and been a part of our community,” Harki proclaimed, showing gratitude for all those who have supported the store in their first year.

Game Grove is located in Putnam Village in Teays Valley. Hours are 4 to 10 p.m. on Monday through Thursday; 2 to 11 p.m. on Friday; noon to 11 p.m. on Saturday; and noon to 8 p.m. on Sunday. For more information about Game Grove, check out their Facebook page or their site at https://gamegrove.gg/

Game Grove’s current schedule is as follows:

Monday
All Day – A Song of Ice and Fire
6 pm – Board Games
7 pm – Pauper Magic the Gathering
Tuesday
All Day – Warhammer Age of Sigmar
7 pm – CEDH Magic the Gathering
7 pm – Modern Magic the Gathering
7 pm – Star Wars Unlimited
Wednesday
All Day – Warhammer: Old World
6 pm – Magic the Gathering Commander
6 pm – Super Smash Bros Ultimate
Thursday
All Day – Warhammer 40,000
6 pm – Super Smash Bros
7 pm – Magic the Gathering Standard
7 pm – One Piece
Friday
All Day – Historical wargames
6 pm – Fighting games
7 pm – Magic the Gathering Draft
Saturday
All Day – Warhammer: Kill Team
Noon – Disney’s Lorcana
5 pm – Magic the Gathering Commander
Sunday
All Day – Wargames
1 pm – Sorcery: The Contested Realm
4 pm – Pokémon