Owner expands with third location for board game enthusiasts in Boardman
When local business owner and game enthusiast Tom Vaughn showed up for work on Jan. 10, there was a line of people waiting to come in that stretched down the sidewalk.
“I thought, ‘This is insane,’” Vaughn said. “I expected some people to be there, but it was completely crazy to see that many people. It felt good that the past 13 years, all the hard work that my team and everybody put in finally came to fruition. We got to see it encapsulated in the amount of people that want to come and shop at our store. It’s hard to recreate that feeling.”
Vaughn is the owner of ICG Hobbies & Games, and to kick off 2026, he opened his third tabletop board games and accessories shop in Boardman.
“We have 12 people that work at all three of our stores, and I’m so thankful for everybody that’s gotten me here,” he said.
Originally from West Middlesex, Pennsylvania, Vaughn opened his own small business in Sharon 13 years ago.
“My favorite card game is called the One Piece TCG; it’s gained a lot of popularity in the past eight months. They have a huge manga that’s been going on forever. The Netflix show’s having another season come out. My favorite board game for hands down, for sure, is Carcassonne,” Vaughn said.
ICG Hobbies & Games has grown to become a favorite among local fans of tabletop and card games.
“When we first opened, we had 10 board games on the shelf to look at, and one six-foot case of cards. It was barely enough inventory,” he said. “As time went on, we expanded into the space next to us.”
Seeing his customers travel across state lines from Ohio to shop, Vaughn was encouraged to expand with a new location inside the Eastwood Mall in Niles.
“At the time, I felt like there wasn’t a huge presence in the Youngstown area for board games, so it made a lot of sense to me to be in the Niles area,” Vaughn said. “Plus the Cafaros are amazing. They take care of us and the whole area. The response was definitely positive. [Customers] were happier that they had somewhere closer to go. And now moving into the Boardman location, it was kind of the same thing.”
On opening day at the new 4,000-square-foot space in Boardman, ICG Hobbies & Games hosted special guests celebrated in the tabletop game industry: Charles Urbach and Rhonda Libbey.
Urbach is a well-known Magic: The Gathering artist and award-winning illustrator with over 30 years of experience.
Libbey is also a professional illustrator and graphic designer with decades of experience with art featured on multiple Magic: The Gathering cards.
“We want to get people at the table together, talking, conversing, telling each other about their days, about their week, something funny that happened. That’s what this is about,” Vaughn said. “People, myself included, dedicate days of the week to go to friends’ houses to enjoy these games. That’s the common denominator to get them to come out. It’s harder to pitch to your friends and say, ‘Hey, can I come to your house and sit on the couch and watch TV with you?’ Not very exciting. But if you say, ‘I built a new deck. I want to play games with you.’ How does that sound? It’s much more appealing. It’s a much more interesting way to get people talking to each other, in-person at the kitchen table.”
Visit ICG Hobbies & Games from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. on Monday, 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. on Sunday at 7394 Market St. in Boardman.
