Alameda Business Spotlight: D20 Games

Owner: Ben Calica

When did you buy D20 Games? I bought it over the July 4th weekend. The previous owners were going to close the business because their son was heading off to college. I bought it the day they were going to shut it down.

What does D20 mean? It's named for the 20-sided die used in Dungeons and Dragons.

What is your background? I was in charge of game technology for Apple and I designed video games.

What hooked you on games? I like the imagination and the competition. As long as you’re gracious and aren’t hurting anybody, you can max your wits out. Games like Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh! require an intense amount of mathematics and logic skill.

What types of games do people come to play? We have different communities of gamers, both adults and children. The games that we started with are these collectible card games like Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh!. They’re very interesting games with lots of variation in the rules and strategy. 

I’m looking to expand to other gaming communities — chess, Scrabble, other classic board games — any face-to-face game. Anyone who is interested in setting up games should talk to me and we can figure something out.

What have you changed in the store? I took out the computers with video games. When there’s a computer game, younger kids get drawn away from face-to-face games. I want to serve any group that plays games face-to-face rather than screen-to-screen.

I’m a dad with three kids (10-year-old twins and a 7-year-old) so I have some rules to create a comfortable environment. I’m big on treating people with respect. For instance, players need to understand that losing is just part of playing. If everybody had fun, then that’s a good game. You can’t be too boisterous and out of control. You’ve got to be polite to each other. And don’t say anything that you don’t want to explain to a 9-year-old.

How hard is it for someone who is a total newbie to learn a game like Magic? It’s not that hard, but it can feel intimidating. If someone comes in and wants to learn, we introduce you and find someone to show you how to play.

There’s a variation of Magic called Two-Headed Giant where you play with a partner. It's a good way to learn. We just did our first Two-Headed Giant tournament with parent-kid teams. Parents can learn what the heck is going on with all this stuff without the pressure of having to play correctly. And it’s also a great chance for the kid to be the super-smart one who knows what’s going on.

People tend to think of gamers as teenage boys. How many girls participate? We have a small percentage of girls, but it’s growing. My 7-year-old daughter is a fierce advocate for Girls’ Night.

What are your future plans? On the kid side, we’re going to have Date Nights on both Friday and Saturday nights. These are tournaments for kids age 9-14. As long as the kids obey the rules and I have good contact information for the parents, they can play in the tournament and the parents can go out. (We’re located right in the middle of Date Central near the and lots of restaurants.) If parents go a couple of doors down to and mention D20 Games, they’ll give you a free appetizer. Play starts at 5:30 p.m. We’re also going to do parent-kid events once a month. These events are getting more popular so it’s best to email me if you’re planning to attend.

For store hours and upcoming events, click here.