About Boardgames.ca
The online store boardgames.ca began as MISSION: Fun & Games, a family-owned (a mom and pop and two tot) store that opened in 1990. MISSION: Fun & Games is located in a small 750 square foot location on the south-west side of St. Albert, Alberta, Canada.
PHONE: CALL US TOLL FREE: 1-866-379-1055
HOURS: CLICK ON CONTACT LINK ON TOP RIGHT OF SCREEN
FIND US: CLICK ON MISSION FUN & GAMES TAB ABOVE, THEN CLICK DIRECTIONS
 How We Began
When we started in 1990, MISSION: Fun & Games was a video game and movie store, dealing with the rentals and sales of VHS movies and Nintendo, Sega, and Gameboy games. John Engel, Tracy Robertson (now John's wife), Dan Matheson and Glenn Turkington built the store from scratch in the small vacant lease space in a strip mall on the south side of st. Albert. When Magic the Gathering was released in 1993, MISSION: Fun & Games took a leap from their current niche, and was the second store in the Edmonton area to carry it. They immediately began running events in the vacant space adjacent to the store and as the CCG category grew, the store became more a game store than a rental store. In 1996 the time came to move to a larger storefront and also give up the rental business entirely. This second location was 1050 square feet, and we had the space to begin carrying miniatures and role playing products also.
Only 13 months later, we moved across the parking lot to our present home, taking two 1200 square foot bays, and now adding even more board games, miniatures, and role playing to our selection. In February of 2004, another bay next door became available and we cut a hole for a door to the adjacent space. This became our main gaming area where tables and chairs are permanently set up. There is also a showroom for chess, poker, Go, mah jong, backgammon and cribbage in the new space. A special room for role playing and other unique use, about 8 by 12 feet, was set aside and renovated for use by roleplayers in the new space as well.
The Mom and Pop and Two Tot Shop
When the store began, John and Tracy had been dating each other for a few years. John proposed to Tracy on a Scrabble board during a game on his birthday, and they married in September of 1991. They now have two daughters, Christa and Sharlene. Tracy is the avid role player in the family, while John is the nutcase board gamer. They both enjoy playing a lot of trading card games and classic games. John enjoys miniatures games, and occasionally role plays, and Tracy is vice versa. Sharlene and Christa are influenced by both their parents, and so are both avid boardgamers and love to role play like their mother. Christa and Sharlene enjoy playing Pokemon competitively as well. Sharlene, Christa, and Tracy all pitch in to help run the store significantly.
 The Pokemon PT Cruiser!
In 2004, Mission: Fun & Games was the only Canadian entry in a huge contest run by Nintendo. All hobby game stores in North America were invited to participate in the Pokemon themed event. The efforts of John and his family and friends, about 400 hours worth, went into a massive promotion they called T.E.A.M. Day (Tournament Event Aqua Magma) and they were extremely happy to be awarded the first place prize, which was the choice of either a Hawaiian vacation for 2 for 6 days with a rental car and $500 cash, or a PT cruiser that had been custom painted half red, half blue, with Pokemon signage and decor. The Engels chose the car!
Boardgames.ca Today
In the fall of 2004, a young couple was in one weekday looking at board games. John chatted with them as he does most of his customers, and discovered they were not only avid gamers, but very talented website designers. Shawn and Rebecka's company HighlyInspired, and John began working immediately to redesign the new website you see today, with on-line shopping, tied into the store's point of sale program. The website went live May 31st, 2005 at 5:30PM.
The Staff of MISSION: Fun & Games
Simon Hill
Simon works full time and has three published articles on gaming by Polymancer magazine. British by birth, Canadian by heritage, Simon is the store Board Game expert. He does, however, know something about RPG's and Card Games, and is the store geek when it comes to Anime.
Eric Christensen
Eric joined the staff of Mission: Fun & Games in November of 2006, during the height of the Christmas rush. Despite being thrown to the wolves, he somehow survived and has been a regular staff member since. Eric is the resident Magic: the Gathering pro, and is also fairly well versed in other Card Games. He is also full of information of a variety of Board and Miniatures games.
Scott C. Bourgeois
Scott has been a regular sight at the store for over a decade, and in July of 2007 joined the staff behind the counter. He is the staff RPG expert, having played or read virtually every role-playing game published. He is also an avid Board and Card gamer, and has a fondness for flashy Hawaiian shirts.
Lisa Cave
The latest addition to the staff, Lisa is a girl - which automatically puts her at odds with the entire regular staff. Usually she's cloistered in the back, busily working on the website. Lisa is a renaissance geek, dabbling in Card, Board and Role-Playing Games.
John Engel
Store owner. 45 years old, tall, strak, and geeksome, John has a personal collection of 1500 + board games and card games. And no time to play them...hence the store logo, "so many games....So Little time".
Tracy Engel
Tracy works part time at the store and has a great interest in Role Playingf as well as board games, card games, and some CCG's such as Magic & Pokemon. She is a registered GM and often runs campaigns at the store.
Christa Engel
Christa helps out around the store with daily duties form iinventory to til transactions, store decorations to website data entry. Along with her sister, she runs the Pokemon league on Sundays. Christa plays all kinds of games
Sharlene Engel
Same as her sister, Sharlene helps out around the store with daily duties form iinventory to til transactions, store decorations to website data entry. Along with her sister, she runs the Pokemon league on Sundays. Sharlene came in 6th in her age category in the 2004 Pokemon CDN Nationals, and played in the Pokemon World Championships in San Diego in 2005 finished 34th..
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