It's All Fun, Games, Mana At New Milford Gaming Center

MILFORD, MA — Don't let that sword-wielding warlock in the corner fool you, TJ's Café and Games is a family-friendly place.

Late in 2020, longtime downtown Milford businessman Tom Shea moved his TJ's Collectibles store to a much larger space in the Big Lots shopping plaza along South Main Street. It was the realization of his dream of opening a big, inviting space where local gamers could come and play favorites like "Magic: The Gathering" and "Dungeons and Dragons," and where Shea could host tournaments that are wildly popular among tabletop gamers.

But after 25 years in his downtown Milford store, he also wanted to broaden his audience and draw families and board game (think the "Catan" series or even "Monopoly") enthusiasts. And he wanted to wrap it all up with treats like espresso and ice cream.

He opened TJ's Café and Games on Dec. 16 after months of renovating the former Blessing Barn thrift store into a one-of-a-kind gaming entertainment center.

Customers enter through a café serving espresso, Cheesecake Factory-brand cheesecake and ice cream. One long wall features a boggling number of board games — from every conceivable version of Monopoly (even "Jay and Silent Bob" and "Minions") to games based on shows like "X-Files" and "Sons of Anarchy." The café opens into an enormous gaming area, large enough to hold dozens of people, plus a private gaming space in back.

TJ's Café and Games is the culmination of Shea's three decades in the collectibles industry. He began in 1992 selling baseball cards at his store. When he moved to a larger space in downtown Milford in 1994, he began hosting "Magic" tournaments in the basement, and eventually began overseeing tournaments for the game's owner, Seattle-based Wizards of the Coast.

By 2011, Shea was organizing big gaming tournaments at events like the Boston Comic Con and PAX East, an indie gaming convention held annually in Boston. It got to a point where Shea was on the road more than he was at his own store.

His new venture is, in many ways, an attempt to create his own gaming convention center, except warmer and for a wider audience. TJ's should be a place where parents should feel as comfortable hanging out as their Pokémon-obsessed kids do, he says.

Of course, the coronavirus pandemic has made the launch a little different from normal. Right now, customers sit at tables spaced more than 6 feet apart, and the business is following the state's restaurant guidelines — that means sit-down time limits and capacity restrictions.

On a recent morning, a few shoppers came in to buy gaming supplies, and Shea showed off his Nespresso machine (the "biggest, baddest machine they make"), which he says makes coffee as good as a certain Seattle-based chain. He plans to someday add "pub grub" like flatbread pizza and other snacks. Beer and wine are off the table, he says, emphasizing the business's family-friendly approach.

Ultimately, TJ's Café and Games will serve the needs of die-hard game players, but it's also for people who just want to hang out and play a game of chess, browse the comic book section or just have a cup of coffee.

"We're selling an experience," he said. "It's a good time."