GREENFIELD — When Don and Frances Hull first opened their Hometown Comics & Games shop in 2009, they wanted it to be an inviting place where customers of all ages could connect over shared interests.
Thirteen years and countless friendships later, the Greenfield couple feel like their plan has been a success.
Several times a week, customers gather at the 4,500-square-foot comic shop at — 1040 N. State St. in Greenfield — to play a variety of games, in addition to perusing the store’s selection of comic books, cosplay items and other merchandise and memorabilia.
Derek Deputy said the people who play games like Yu-Gi-Oh! and Dungeons and Dragons on a weekly basis eventually start to feel like an extended family.
“It’s nice to hang out with people you have something in common with who enjoy a shared hobby,” said Deputy, 31, who has been playing games at Hometown Comics for about 12 years.
The Mt. Vernon High School graduate now lives in Castleton but makes the half-hour drive to the Greenfield shop to help run Yu-Gi-Oh! matches twice a week — with open play on Wednesdays and tournaments on Sundays.
As a Yu-Gi-Oh! judge, he helps run the popular card games based on the anime cartoon he watched as a child.
“As a judge, I try to get to know everyone,” said Deputy, who added that he’s seen players range in age from 6 to 80, but they are mostly in their 20s and 30s.
He’s seen several friendships form among players over the years “and definitely one marriage, probably more,” he said.
Michael Pena, 30, has also seen friendships form through the Dungeons and Dragons games he helps lead at the shop’s game rooms, which are equipped with long tables and dozens of chairs.
When he’s not working as a lab technician, Pena enjoys serving as “dungeon master” for the sci-fi fantasy role playing game that was first introduced in 1974. As a dungeon master, it’s his job to create the backstory for each game and lead players through it.
Pena first got hooked on the game near the start of COVID, “when we had a little bit of free time,” he said.
He quickly developed a love for the game, in which characters embark upon imaginary adventures within a fantasy setting.
Pena also enjoys playing Magic: The Gathering, and Pokemon Go, in addition to card games and board games with family and friends.
He prefers interactive games like Dungeons and Dragons over video games, “which you typically play alone or by talking to people through a headset. It’s nice interacting with people face to face,” he said.
Ethan Hager, 26, of Greenfield, shared the same sentiment.
“I like the community of people who play,” said Hager, who plays Dungeons and Dragons at Hometown Comics & Games. “The community has always been very welcoming.”
Hager said playing D&D, as it’s widely known, is also thought-provoking and competitive.
It’s also a good way to build relationships, he said, even for people who might be considered socially challenged.
“When you play, you’re forced to interact with people. It’s a really good way of getting people together,” he said.
Dale Cross first started playing Yu-Gi-Oh! at Hometown Comics as a way to help his adult son Dustin build friendships. His son has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism which makes interacting with people challenging.
“Before we started coming here years ago he was very shy and wouldn’t speak, so my wife and I thought this would be a good place for him to try,” said Cross, 65, who drives from Lawrence to Hometown Comics to play Yu-Gi-Oh! with his son each week.
Since then Dustin, 34, has started interacting and has made some friends, and he and his dad have become hooked on the game.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Cross, who grew up in a family that loved playing card games like pinochle, euchre and hearts.
Joe Schaecher, 49, said Dungeons and Dragons is also a good game for people who struggle with social interactions.
“It’s a medium for people who are not very socially adept. They can get the chance to be part of something here,” he said while seated in one the shop’s game rooms.
“D&D is a special way to teach a person how to read social situations. It teaches them how to open up and about teamwork, and it brings out one’s creativity,” he said.
Schaecher said the characters’ personas players take on during game play is a great way to allow players to express themselves.
“D&D is something that has no limits, no bounds,” said Josh Franke, 33, of Greenfield, who has been playing the game since he was a teen. “Whereas video games are limited to what the game designer came up with, in D&D you can do anything you can conceive.”
