SEE PICTURES AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE! |
Hate shopping in general? Don't like malls or Big Box Stores? Try us. We are in a shopping area with easy parking next to the building. We have a quieter ambiance. We can usually answer questions about the games. You can look at many open, demo games before making a purchase. |
With games for the Renaissance Faires taking up the entire dining room of our home, we decided it was time for either a storage locker or a store. In late August of 2000, we opened a small shop in the lower level of Dobie Mall for Rob's August birthday. In July 2001, we moved to a larger store on the food court level of the mall for our July wedding anniversary. We continued with the Renaissance Faire for two years while maintaining a shop in the mall. In June 2004, we moved to a larger location at 5501 N Lamar in Austin.
Although we have been away from the Renaissance Faires for a few years, we still enjoy offering traditional past-times and historically based games. We like to carry games in which players can touch the game pieces, hear the clicking or tapping sounds as pieces are moved, or view the the artistic beauty of a game. We also want to offer situations where one can see the sweat on a brow, a gleam in the eyes, a smirk or tweak of a grin, a nervous tick, or even drumming fingers. Things which you can't really experience through on-line gaming!
(please do not send envelope mail here, but sending packages should be ok) 5501 N Lamar, Suite A-135 Directly across from U Haul 1 block south of Koenig and Lamar 1 block south of the NEW Half Price Books Here's a map. Monday-Saturday, 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
Mail letters, checks, or money orders to: Great Hall Games, 5501 N. Lamar Blvd., Suite A-135, Austin, Texas, 78751
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Rob & Beka met in the 1970s through historical miniatures gaming and a Cthulhu game. Both have painted, historical armies and have designed cloth game boards for Renaissance Faires. Both lived in Warsaw, Poland for a year while Rob conducted research for a Ph.D. in Political Science.
| Rob has played strategic board games and historical miniatures for over 30 years. He has written game rules for publication and has sculpted figures. For many years he worked on a PhD in Poltical Science beforing joining Austin's hi-tech market, where he still works while Beka maintains the store. | 
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| Beka loves long walks and looks forward to a time when she can work less than 50 hours a week on store business! She gardens around the store, trying to add a little green to the urban parking lot. She wants to return to oil painting and t'ai chi. She has an MA in Medieval History. |
 Looking at Board Games |  Looking at Chess |  Looking at Cards |
 Looking at Go |  Looking at Minis |  Looking at Puzzles |
NEWS STORY, News8Austin, June 20, 2005--FUN & GAMES WITHOUT THE HAND CONTROLLER, by Paul Brown
Xbox, GameCube, and PlayStation are all familiar names to young and old alike these days. They're the games of the times. But one Austin couple hopes you'll put down the "hand controller."
While you won't hear the noise of video games or computers inside Great Hall Games, you might hear an occasional roll of the dice.
"Fine, get on the Internet. But you don't see the sweat of the brow, the twinkle in the eye, that little smirk as they're beginning to get you," co-owner Beka Clark-Smith said.
Great Hall Games specializes in games that have stood the test of time: chess, go, Risk, and other classics are easy to find.
Beka's husband Rob Smith enjoys battling with the historical miniatures. But before he considers his strategy to recreate a famous battle, he takes time to hand paint every little detail on each piece.
"Something, say, from the Napoleonic Wars or earlier periods when the uniforms were very colorful and bright and there's a lot of variation in them, a single infantryman can take up to an hour to do. But in World War II, everything's kind of drab, so something like a Soviet infantryman may only take 15 minutes to paint," he said.
The couple met in the 1970s through historical miniatures gaming among others. With a master's in Medieval History, Beka maintains the store. When not working in the high-tech industry, Rob's around too.
Both like the fact that the old-fashioned games provide great quality time for families.
"Gamers, and I include people who play Dungeons and Dragons and the role play games with us, we're all the gaming community, we have sort of a reputation of being loners and outsiders, but really what we do is a very social undertaking," Rob said.
Great Hall Games provides special event nights throughout the week, everything from Chess Night on Wednesdays to Austin Boardgame Group gatherings on Saturdays.
There are demo games, so you can try something out when you visit.
For the news story printed & video, go to News 8 Austin.