LV Mall’s new Adventurer’s Hollow game tavern offers food, mocktails, community

Adventurer’s Hollow is now open to the public in the Lebanon Valley Mall. Owners Azcordelia Quinn and Heather Rothwell call it a “gaming tavern” — a hybrid store and cafe offering food, mocktails, games, and a space for community.

Walking in, guests can see the collection of games along the walls. There’s a bar to the right and a collection of plush couches to the left. There’s also a private space in the back that people can rent out to play whatever they want. This could mean continuing a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, playing a non-family-friend round of Cards Against Humanity, or trying out something new.

Quinn said the games are free to play, but they’re also available for purchase if people want to take a copy home with them. Even with such a large collection, the owners, especially Rothwell, are bringing experience. Rothwell said she has played every game they carry.

“It’s not just people who want to play D&D, there’s a lot of different games,” Quinn said. “All the games here were cultivated by [Rothwell]. She and her family have been vending games for a few years now, and they only carry games they play, so there’s a really large range, and it’s mostly independent publishers, so it’s probably games a lot of people haven’t seen or heard of.”

This personal touch will help with recommendations, the two said. They can give ideas for what people might want to try out based on what they like, and Rothwell said she’s great at identifying old, mostly unknown games based on a brief description.

She’s also met a lot of professionals throughout her years in the industry who, as game masters or GMs, lead teams through roleplaying games. She said she hopes to connect people who want additional resources or a group of people to play with.

“I’ve met a lot of different game masters that have GMed at big conventions, so they’re going to be on our list of professional GMs that people can hire to play with, or, if they want to learn a new system, they can have a one-shot, two-hours to come in and learn to play,” Rothwell said.

The owners said they plan to be “matchmakers for D&D.” Customers can fill out a form with the game they’re interested in and their availability, and the owners said they’ll take care of the rest.

Once they’re in a game, miniatures can be a big deal, so the store will also have them available for purchase. There will be typical terrain pieces that gamers use to show movement and create a scene, but people can also buy custom 3D-printed versions of their characters.

“There’ll be a catalogue of 3D prints that people can order and come in and pick up. People can order a character and come in and pick up their mini next time they’re here,” Quinn said. “That’s that little extra touch, letting people know that we care about you and your character, and what you and your friends are doing, and what stories you’re telling.”

And like many gaming shops, there will be a lot of dice.

“There’s a lot of dice — so many dice,” she said. “All the dice you could possibly imagine because you have to have your shiny click-clack math rocks.”

As they play, gamers can try something off the Adventurer’s Hollow menu. Quinn said they’ll have a full menu of comfort foods. The cafe is plant-based and free of eight of the nine top allergens, and the bar will be stocked with ingredients for mocktails and artisan sodas.

Quinn said she’s been excited to come up with special names for snacks and drinks, like “Jabba the Hummus,” which will have to wait for next Star Wars Day.

“Things people actually want to eat, particularly gamers, because we all tend to be on the snacky side,” Quinn said.

She said they wanted to make the menu accessible for people who might usually have trouble ordering at a typical restaurant or cafe. This idea of inclusion was a common theme for the owners.

Rothwell described the energy as “welcoming to everyone so long as everyone is welcoming.” She said they aim to make a place that is available for the community where people don’t have to buy anything to enjoy a public space.

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Quinn added that games are great at creating a welcoming environment. They encourage conversation, engagement, and community.

And to continue fostering community, they have a long list of events in the works. These include cozy games night, murder mystery night, party games night, miniatures painting night, and craft night. They also plan to host donation drives to give back to the Lebanon community.

“If you’re going to be in a community and you want to build a community space, you got to do things for the community,” she said.

They said they want the area to be a safe space for everyone, but especially those who might get left behind in the game space.

“Particularly in the LGBTQ community, in these communities of minorities — people typically overlooked in the game space, in game creation, in fantasy spaces — it’s important to go out of your way to make a space that says we want you here,” Quinn said. “It’s not that you can come here. No, we want you here. Come be here. Come be here because we’re going to be weird with you, and you can be weird with us, and we’re all going to be weird together, and it’s going to be amazing.”