From lower left and clockwise, Gideon Scholz, 13, Isaac Vaughn, 17, and J.J. Scholz, 16, at 3 Arrows Games in Carson City on July 11, playing ‘Ahoy,’ which they described as a strategic pirate game.
Photo by Scott Neuffer.
Members of a new family-run business in south Carson City described their Christian faith, their bond to each other and their passion for serving gamers of all kinds as driving forces in successfully opening 3 Arrows Games in mid-April.
“When our kids were little, someone introduced us to board games other than, like, Monopoly and stuff, and kind of opened the door to the world of board games, and we just really loved it,” said Emily Scholz. “Since then, we’ve just enjoyed board games so much, always playing games… going to other games stores. It was always like, ‘What would we do if we opened a store?’”
“How would we be different?” added Ryan Scholz. “What would set us apart?”
In a July 11 interview with the Appeal, the Carson City couple, both in their mid-40s, discussed their journey from California to the capital city of the Silver State. While they talked, customers streamed in, and not sitting far from their parents were two of the three teenaged Scholz boys, playing “Ahoy” with another youth.
“As our kids went into their teen years, we kind of realized there’s not a lot here for teens and really seeing just a great need of something to do with your kids or your kids with their friends,” said Emily.
The family’s first business, 3 Arrows Games, sells various card and board games and has a library from which customers can rent board games. The store offers plenty of tables to play on, and the Scholz family likes to use local vendors where possible in the form of snacks or beverages.
The game shop shares a building with Homegrown Bowl and other tenants at 4600 Snyder Ave.
“We feel like it lent itself really well to our vision because there’s food here, there’s the bowling, billiards,” said Emily.
She explained the shop sees customers of all ages “because of the building and natural traffic that happens here.”
“One-stop entertainment,” added Ryan, saying it’s a great place to spend a Friday night.
In July 2023, another family operation opened Dice-N-Duels off East William Street, an outgrowth of their successful Fernley game shop. That family previously told the Appeal game shops are a way to keep kids out of trouble.
“Our opinion is we complement each other,” Emily said of Dice-N-Duels. “We want other game stores to succeed.”
“My sons and I, we would go and play there and play card games there before we opened our store,” said Ryan.
A little history on the Scholz family: They are originally from Roseville, Calif, where they still have family, but lived in Southern California before moving to Carson City around 2018. Ryan had worked at the corporate level of a national grocery chain, learning different aspects of business. Emily now homeschools the three sons.
In moving to Carson, the family wanted a different pace of life.
The name of the game shop comes from Psalm 127, which likens children to arrows and says blessed is the man “whose quiver is full of them.” The couple said each of their boys is like an arrow.
When asked how their faith informs their business, Ryan said, “We want to love our neighbors, and our neighbors are everybody who comes in that door, so we want to treat them as we want to be treated.”
Emily said in opening the shop, they wanted to build community and appeal to all levels of gamers:
“We wanted to create a space that would be inviting and welcoming to people who are extreme gamers but also maybe people who have never played anything other than Monopoly or backgammon.”
“Everyone always asks, ‘what’s your favorite thing?’ and it’s really kind of like what’s the next game that we’re playing is the favorite,” said Ryan. “I mean, at this point, I just want to try everything.”
3 Arrows Games is located at 4600 Snyder Ave., Suite C. For information, visit www.3arrowsgames.com.