Buzz Blog

After the most recent convention season this year, it's clear that the gaming side of geekdom in Utah is a dominant force that is steadily gaining traction. So to capitalize on that, we're starting to see an influx of comic shops doubling up on gaming, and new stores in the pipeline. The newest store to join the fray is Paragon City Games,  which opened in Draper along 123rd South. Today we briefly chat with one of the co-founders about the shop and what they plan to do in their first year.  (All pictures provided courtesy of Paragon City.)

Jason Collet, Talon Taylor, Travis P. and Alton Wheelhouse
Paragon City Games on Facebook

When did the idea come about to start up your own shop? Why choose Paragon City for the name?

Talon: All of us have been avid gamers our entire lives, and we wanted to build a clean, quality place where everyone could come and enjoy themselves regardless of skill level, where they come from, or what’s going on in their lives. That’s where we came up with Paragon City—it means a City of Heroes.


What led you to the location in Draper?

We plan on hosting regular tournaments and large-scale events with guest celebrities and nationally recognized artists and authors, so we were determined to make sure that we were right next to the freeway. It’s important to us to be easily accessible to all of our communities in both Salt Lake County and Utah County.

What was it like for you getting everything together and getting the games you needed?

Anytime you have to sit down and sort 750,000 cards, in addition to all of the regular board games and accessories, it’s going to take some effort, but having that kind of selection available to the community from the beginning is important to us. On top of that, we’re working with local artists and game designers trying to get community-made products in house for people to own even before they hit crowdfunding or publication. It really has been a huge amount of effort put in by our community so far, but the results are spectacular.


You say you’re going to be the leading provider for Magic: The Gathering tools and products. For those who don’t normally play, what does that entail?

One of the things that makes physical games attractive to people is being able to play the game how you want to play it. Having premium customizable products help our players find a deeper love for the games they already play through expressing themselves, whether that’s with Magic: The Gathering or any other game. Similarly, making sure to have the expertise in-house to help new players learn new hobbies means that we are able to provide a stronger community with more points of view.

Do you plan on having regional and state tournaments at the shop? Or is that something you need to build to?

We are opening with nearly 3,000 square feet in hopes of having as many large-scale tournaments as possible. The number one thing we will need to do this is feedback from the community on what kind of events they would like to see.


What else do you plan to do or feature that will set you apart from other shops?

Make sure to come check our line of gaming boxes, life counters and other Paragon City premium products. We’re also working with local game designers and artists to feature their work as early as possible and get feedback from the community. One of the biggest things that we’re excited to present to the community is our on-site recording studio. We’re going to be broadcasting our tournaments, and we’re currently looking for people who are interested in creating their own podcasts, live streams and video/audio content

What do you hope to do with the shop and what impact do you hope to have with the gaming community.

More than anything else, we want people to be able to enjoy their hobbies and find friends who share the same love that they do. Regardless of what else is going on in your life, we want you to walk through our doors knowing that you can be a hero in the community. We’re constantly looking for new talent to help create the next generation of content producers, competitors and outstanding pillars in building gaming as a part of our culture.


What can we expect from you and Paragon City Games over the rest of the year?

Come in and enjoy the product releases, celebrity and artist appearances that we will have throughout the rest of the year, with tournaments or events happening every week. We are also going to be starting our first Heroes League for Magic: The Gathering and our first annual “Save The City” charity events in October. Most importantly, come in and play! We’ve always got a table open for you.