Local business owner gets his game on

A glance at the well-adorned wall of colourfully packaged games on the left-hand side of the Aux Jeux store shows that board games have indeed evolved far and wide since the heydays of Monopoly and Risk. Games based on hot movie licenses, games about colonization of foreign lands, specialized trivia sets, and the ever-popular games recreating World War II's historical battles, all give interested customers a variety of choices.

"The first game I played was Axis and Allies," storeowner Peter Michaud, 36, said, reminiscing a game with his friends when he was 19. Though not technically the first board game he had ever touched-like many children, a younger Michaud had tried his hand at Monopoly and Battleship-it was the one that brought him back into the fold, turned him into a self-described passionate gamer. The World War II simulation is one of the most popular of its kind, and has been around since 1984.

Aux Jeux also sells trading cards. Michaud's enthusiasm for what he sells can be felt immediately upon talking to him. "I've always been a card collector and a gamer. I wanted to get into the business," he told The Chronicle during an interview, sitting at one of the two large tables at his store that he has installed for "gamer's nights."

On Wednesdays between 7 and 10 p.m., gamers of all stripes can come and play trading card or board games of their choosing, and Michaud plans to add similar availabilities on Saturdays in the near future.

It is not a completely novel concept, but it is unique to the West Island, where, according to Michaud, no other store combines sales of board games with trading card games, and no other store offers players the chance to create a community thanks to gaming nights. "There is a market for it," he said. "The West Island needs a place like that," he added, stating this can be seen in forum postings of numerous gamer groups online, where users wonder where the nearest game store in the West Island is.

As a father of three, Michaud is proud his enthusiasm for board games and cards has passed on to his children. "My daughter loves the board games," he said, and his younger son is a fan of card games. Even his three-year-old will get into them one day, he said.

Michaud championed board games as a way to both make gamers use their minds and to socialize. "I'd much rather (my kids) pull out a board game than play video games," he said, although he admit he lets them do the latter as well.



Michaud said word of mouth is spreading positively about Aux Jeux. In the beginning of October, he was able to have hockey legend Guy Lafleur over for an autograph session, and business has been picking up since then.

Fore more information on Aux Jeux, head to www.auxjeux.ca or call 514-620-9111.



The store is located at 3683, St. John's Boulevard, Dollard des Ormeaux.