Support -Its Your Move Games & Community Space

Hello Beloved Community!

We have re-committed and are doing everything we can to get our gaming/store/community space through this Pandemic.

Recently we have done some updating with new carpet, paint and even a fixture or two.  The place looks great! Come down and take a look.

We are reaching out to those of you who  have loved our space for the last 17 years and to the greater community here in the east bay  for your help .

Our community and retail space is normally very event orientated and with the current situation it is unclear when we will be able to resume hosting events .  Our mission statement is to encourage children and adults to put their phones and computers aside and interact with each other over gaming and the arts. We are continuing to re-work our community  based model for the current times by offering  many online events like Dungeons & Dragons, and Magic: the Gathering,  Friday night zoom gaming and  of course our 700+ used game library currently available for curbside pickup, (with a lengthy' time-out' when games are returned).   Prior to this crisis, we acquired new fixtures from Ronin games and Ruby's Garden (who are sadly now gone).  

 We are an inclusive, family run business and have always  put our community first.  We are a safe place for everyone to congregate from our youngest Pokemon players to our seniors that come to play Scrabble on Saturday afternoons.  Many of the things we offer are unique to us like  Last Sunday night free dinner and a movie,  Friday night board gaming until midnight and Saturday night stand up comedy with Critical Hit.  We teach gaming to everyone from seniors to  the youngest among us. We host numerous  community groups, after school programs, summer camps and local organizations We often take our pop-up tent out to support other local groups,  like the Oakland Pride event and local schools.

We are using this money to pay rent for the space,   and to continue changing our gaming space and store front for the current times.   Currently  we have oriented our space for virtual events and  as a supportive place for parents who need a place for their kids to attend their zoom classes.  We have re-imagined our community space as a school support site for students during this school year.  We have decided to offer day care and homework support as well as extra curricular activities in conjunction with flying yoga studios.  We are offering games as devices for teaching the basics and other necessary cognitive support for critical thinking and problem solving

We also want to turn our  game library into something that the we all can enjoy with game delivery.  We plan to add many more educational games to our library so it can be more effectively used by teachers and schools to supplement the classroom activities. We are working on an online store where we can ship games directly to your homes. 

We want to make sure that all of our clubs (like scrabble club, chess club, Dungeons and Dragons for all ages, Free Movie night , and the community groups we support like the Oakland Greens and our amazing local comedians) have a place to come back to after this pandemic is over. Our after school programs have been going strong for 17 years now and our Internship programs have helped many teens breach that gap to their first jobs.

Other ways you can help Its Your Move are  to become a member, buy gift certificates, donate games or become a volunteer. 
The store is in vibrant, changing and economically viable Temescal. We feel that this community place/shop has a future here if we can get past this.   We hope and would love to continue supporting the community on the other side of the Pandemic.

Thank you so much for even considering supporting our space and thank you also for the many years of community and gaming!
Humbly,
Chris Specker
owner of Its Your Move Games
4920 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland Ca 94609
510-547-4386
http://www.itsyourmoveoakland.com
[email redacted]
https://www.instagram.com/itsyourmovegames/
https://www.facebook.com/ItsYourMoveGames/
https://twitter.com/ItsYourMoveGame
https://www.gaypinkspots.com/event/free-events,fun-games-social-events/oakland