Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum
Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum
3
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
About
In 1976, Tactical Studies Rules (TSR), the company Gary Gygax founded to produce the role playing game Dungeons & Dragons that both he and Dave Arneson created, takes up a house on 723 Williams Street in Lake Geneva to be their new office/hobby store location. In 2021, Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum is a place to preserve all things gaming. For all to see. Will Be also having legendary game masters running games for only the brave of heart to experience. Please call or watch our web site schedule for more information.
Duration: < 1 hour
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3.0
5 reviews
Excellent
2
Very good
0
Average
1
Poor
0
Terrible
2
Dave C
Illinois1,692 contributions
Jan 2023
Good set of D&D material spanning quite a wide time period. Counting the enclosed porch - 3 big rooms worth of stuff. Seems like the collection of a super-avid player who'd been at the game for a while - with stuff in really good condition. Staff are very friendly and helpful. After 20 minutes, had seen everything.
Written 27 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kassi G
2 contributions
Aug 2024 • Family
We drive from Michigan to visit friends in Racine and specifically drove to Lake Geneva to see this museum. We arrived during the posted business hours as indicated on the website, only to find that it was closed. No note on the door with explanation. We tried calling several times and someone would pick up the phone and then hang up. So we headed back to Michigan having wasted half a day on the journey to this museum and a couple of disappointed teens.
Written 15 August 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Johann F
1 contribution
Mar 2022
This is not a museum, it's a storefront owned by someone from North Carolina who bought the house TSR once owned, and is pretending to run it as a museum.
I went to visit this weekend while attending Gary Con, because I thought this was a legitimate museum. Turns out the truth is very different.
All the items in the "museum" are just things that can be bought on eBay or found online. There are no historical documents, unique items, or anything actually from the original TSR company.
Wizards of the Coast, the owners of Dungeons & Dragons and the company that bought TSR, has filed a lawsuit against the museum and its owners because they obtained the logos fraudulently.
There was once a real Dungeon Hobby Shop in Lake Geneva, but this is not it. The only thing you'll find here are some dollar store dice with the fraudulent logos stapled to the top of a plastic bag, and a few photocopied booklets by the owner.
There is a real museum in town that has legitimate gaming history in it, called the Geneva Lake Museum.
Avoid this place, it's a for-profit store that charges admission just to browse, and is run by people who are being sued by the real owners of Dungeons & Dragons for fraud.
I went to visit this weekend while attending Gary Con, because I thought this was a legitimate museum. Turns out the truth is very different.
All the items in the "museum" are just things that can be bought on eBay or found online. There are no historical documents, unique items, or anything actually from the original TSR company.
Wizards of the Coast, the owners of Dungeons & Dragons and the company that bought TSR, has filed a lawsuit against the museum and its owners because they obtained the logos fraudulently.
There was once a real Dungeon Hobby Shop in Lake Geneva, but this is not it. The only thing you'll find here are some dollar store dice with the fraudulent logos stapled to the top of a plastic bag, and a few photocopied booklets by the owner.
There is a real museum in town that has legitimate gaming history in it, called the Geneva Lake Museum.
Avoid this place, it's a for-profit store that charges admission just to browse, and is run by people who are being sued by the real owners of Dungeons & Dragons for fraud.
Written 25 March 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ben Lomax
Riverside, CA547 contributions
Aug 2021 • Solo
I was in Chicago for work and this had just opened. I have been gaming for almost all my life and this was where it all started for me, with TSR and Dungeons and Dragons. I couldn’t pass it up!
So I took the 2 hour trip north, not a bad drive but there is no real freeway/highway connecting these two so it was a lot of one lane driving.
Lake Geneva is a pretty small town but I liked the whole vibe, very homey but I could see hanging out at the lakefront. It was a quick trip to the museum itself once I got into town.
The Museum had only a small sign and it would be easy to miss. Parking on the street and I had no problems with that. Still pretty innocuous all the way to the front door. It really looked more like someone’s house than a store/museum.
But once inside? Omg it was something really special. Virtually everything you could want in terms of TSR from the 1970’s. I am dropping in a lot of photos so you can see yourself and I won’t babble on too much. But I definitely spent a good hour walking around and geeking out.
But the absolute best part of the trip was that Jeff “Duck” Leason was the tour guide. Who is that, my more recent converts might ask? Just the author of “Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan”! If you don’t know what that is immediately go online and buy it. You won’t regret it.
Ok, back now? There were two younger new fans who came in while I was there. One was doing an online review and didn’t know anything about D&D. Jeff was extremely gracious and walked him about.
The 2nd blew my mind as he had just played at the table with Ernest Gary Gygax, son of Gary Gygax the creator of TSR and D&D (co-created with Dave Arneson). He was there asking for DM advice from Jeff and Ernie had given him his contact to ask advice..,
I also gave him some advice as a 40 year DM but this reaching into the future and connecting to the past resonates so much with me. I will absolutely be back and next time I will belly up to the table with some dice!
But thanks forever to Duck for giving me that experience!
So I took the 2 hour trip north, not a bad drive but there is no real freeway/highway connecting these two so it was a lot of one lane driving.
Lake Geneva is a pretty small town but I liked the whole vibe, very homey but I could see hanging out at the lakefront. It was a quick trip to the museum itself once I got into town.
The Museum had only a small sign and it would be easy to miss. Parking on the street and I had no problems with that. Still pretty innocuous all the way to the front door. It really looked more like someone’s house than a store/museum.
But once inside? Omg it was something really special. Virtually everything you could want in terms of TSR from the 1970’s. I am dropping in a lot of photos so you can see yourself and I won’t babble on too much. But I definitely spent a good hour walking around and geeking out.
But the absolute best part of the trip was that Jeff “Duck” Leason was the tour guide. Who is that, my more recent converts might ask? Just the author of “Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan”! If you don’t know what that is immediately go online and buy it. You won’t regret it.
Ok, back now? There were two younger new fans who came in while I was there. One was doing an online review and didn’t know anything about D&D. Jeff was extremely gracious and walked him about.
The 2nd blew my mind as he had just played at the table with Ernest Gary Gygax, son of Gary Gygax the creator of TSR and D&D (co-created with Dave Arneson). He was there asking for DM advice from Jeff and Ernie had given him his contact to ask advice..,
I also gave him some advice as a 40 year DM but this reaching into the future and connecting to the past resonates so much with me. I will absolutely be back and next time I will belly up to the table with some dice!
But thanks forever to Duck for giving me that experience!
Written 1 September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
AureliaLynn
9 contributions
Aug 2021
If I could give this more stars, I would. The place is a D&D gamer’s Mecca. The small museum is located in the former house where TSR operated. It has rare historical modules and sets that brought back great memories for us. I had called ahead and Jeff was kind enough to arranged a “One Shot” adventure for my family while we were there. Jeff took time to sit and chat. As a former TSR employee, He had some great stories to share. Our DM, Dave, gave us a fun, slightly silly, adventure that my guys will remember. We left wishing that we lived closer and could join some of the regular games. Overall, a wonderful experience for a group of D&D gamers.
Written 14 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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