Pittsburgh’s Gaming Shops Build Community One Table at a Time
There wasn’t an empty seat in sight on a recent Wednesday evening at Game Masters Pittsburgh, located along Perry Highway. Most of the people laughing and chatting were also doing another shared task — playing Magic: The Gathering. A frequent hangout for fans of the game, the venue hosts two evenings every week dedicated to enjoying the popular trading card game where players act as powerful wizards.
Look around the room, and the crowd tells their own story. Tables were filled with people from every walk of life that night — students, retirees, professionals still in their work clothes. In one corner, a band that happened to be playing a gig in Pittsburgh had stopped in to play a few rounds while they were in town. The scene made one thing clear: This isn’t a hobby reserved for any single type of person. It’s for everyone.
That inclusive spirit is exactly what owner Phil Glotfelty set out to build when he opened the original Game Masters on Babcock Boulevard on April 1, 1996. He moved to the larger Perry Highway location four years ago to give his growing community more room. In 2024, he added the Dragon’s Roast Café on the lower level, serving coffee, loose-leaf teas and pastries from local bakeries from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.
Adding the café wasn’t an afterthought. Glotfelty said it was a deliberate move meant to make the shop feel like more than a place to buy games.
“We try to provide a nice place for people to sit down, play games, enjoy a cup of coffee or a pastry,” he said. “If you want to come hang out during the day and do some work here, we’re OK with that, too. If you want to have a business meeting here, come on by. We’re really doubling down on that third space idea.”
Glotfelty’s shop carries more than 1,000 different games. It costs $5 per person to play. Regularly scheduled nights for Magic: The Gathering and Star Wars Unlimited draw steady crowds, along with dedicated times for board games of all kinds. Groups can reserve a table when things get busy. However, the bigger draw for many regulars isn’t the game selection. It’s the welcome they get walking through the door.
If someone shows up without a group to play with, Glotfelty makes it his job to find them one. “People stay here for hours,” he said. “You’ve got to make it comfortable.”
That comfort matters, especially to people who have felt unwelcome in gaming spaces before. Tim Lewis, a gamer from Brighton Heights who frequents Game Masters, said Glotfelty treats every person who walks in the same way.
“Phil is a unique character,” Lewis said. “He treats every person who comes into this store equally, as someone he wants to have a safe place to be.”
Lewis said that matters more as a growing number of women take up gaming, many of whom haven’t felt at ease in some of the darker, more cramped venues he’s visited over the years. Game Masters, by contrast, is well-lit and spacious, with a coffee shop selling an endless array of drinks and baked goods.
Lewis and his friends gather at Game Masters two to three nights a week when they’re actively playing, cycling through stretches of a couple of weeks on and a week or two off. He favors Magic: The Gathering over more competitive games because it rewards players for working together rather than against each other.
“It’s just more enjoyable to play for fun rather than competing,” he said. His favorite format is Commander, originally known as Elder Dragon Highlander, a casual, multiplayer version of the game he said lends itself to a social experience over a cutthroat one.
Lewis, a former police chaplain, said he saw firsthand in the communities he served how much people need spaces to connect. He believes shops like Game Masters fill that role now.
“They’ve gone from a place where you can get together to play a game to a community hub where people are accepted and fit in,” he said. “This isn’t just a place to come and play a game. It’s where you come for community.”
For newcomers intimidated by the idea of walking into a room full of strangers and strategy, Lewis said the process is simpler than it looks. “Just show up at Phil’s place,” he said. “He’s good about helping people connect with others here who are new to it all.”
Regulars like Lewis help newer players understand how power levels work, so they can be grouped with others at a similar experience level instead of getting discouraged early on. “We’re always listening for that ‘I’ve never done this before’ from someone,” he said. “We want to make sure they have a good first experience that gives them a foundation to build on.”
Aaron Kozub, a gamer from Oakmont, found his way to Game Masters after growing tired of playing Magic: The Gathering with friends at home. He wandered in one evening on a whim during a scheduled game night and never stopped coming back.
“I wanted to play with some new people. This was a good place to do that,” Kozub said, laughing. “It was the best random decision I’ve ever made.”
Kozub has visited other gaming stores over the years but keeps returning to Game Masters because of its atmosphere. He said some other venues felt closed off and uninviting, particularly to younger players and women. The store even features a sensory room where neurodiverse players can take a break from the noise and confusion that can happen during active gameplay when the place is packed. There’s also an area for nursing mothers — making it more appealing to women — and a unisex bathroom with a baby-changing station to accommodate all parents.
“They’ve managed to create a wonderful community here,” he said. “Phil runs a clean, well-lit establishment. I’ve been to some of these other places that felt like sitting in someone’s dark, dank basement.”
Kozub said Glotfelty’s approach has paid off. “Phil has taken a different approach here, and I think, well, as you can see from the crowd here, the customers appreciate it.”
His advice for anyone on the fence about trying it is simple. “Get out, come out, and just talk to some people,” he said. “You’ll be pleasantly surprised how fun it is.”
Game Masters isn’t the only option for Pittsburgh gamers looking for a place to belong. Games Unlimited on Forbes Avenue carries a large selection of modern board games, family games, cooperative games and jumbo jigsaw puzzles. Hafling’s Hideout on Brookline Boulevard specializes in war games and role-playing games. Four Horsemen Comics and Gaming in Robinson Township and The Feisty Goblin Gamehouse in New Kensington both offer board game libraries and dedicated space to play.
Wherever gamers land, the draw looks less like the games on the shelf and more like the people at the tables. As Lewis put it, “It’s where you come for community.”
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