York is known as the city of Vikings. It’s the place where Ivar the Boneless brought his motley crew of plunderers in 866, and the city streets are still named after the specific crafts that the Viking people used to make their livelihoods. As well as expanding on the huge wall the Romans built around ‘Eboracum’ (that’s what York used to be called before the Vikings renamed it ‘Jorvik’) and creating the main city perimeter I walk around every single day, they probably also stored hoards of treasure in secret locations.
While the stores of Viking gold might have dried up and been moved on, there’s one treasure trove that still exists just outside the City Walls on Gillygate. Walk past the Minster, down High Petergate past the Little Apple Bookshop, and there it is, a bright yellow shop that’s a bona fide retro gaming Valhalla. Sore Thumb Retro Games is one of the most exciting shops in York, filled with exciting finds that people come from all over the UK to see. As a York resident, it’s one that I’m incredibly familiar with (which is code for I’ve spent too much time in, but who’s counting) and is crammed from floor to ceiling with every game from NES to N64 and beyond with more rare consoles than you can count.
I’ve been telling Brandon how amazing this place is for years, so what better way for my esteemed colleague to visit than as part of the Retroad Show, our newest series where we document the world’s most exciting Retro Gaming establishments? He made the mammoth drive from Bath up to York to visit Sore Thumb and chat with store manager Liam about all things Retro, as well as picking up a few treats for himself and introducing his son to the world of Retro Gaming.
So, without further ado, let’s take a look inside Sore Thumb Retro Gaming and discover why gaming lovers, York residents, and tourists from all over the world have this place firmly set on their ‘must-visit list’.
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Inside Sore Thumb Retro Games – York’s Retro Gaming Valhalla
For 8 years, this bastion of nostalgia has stood as a place for gaming nerds like me to feel at home, a safe space for reminiscing and chatting with the knowledgeable team about the games and consoles from our youths as well as hardware from Japan that I’ve never seen before.
You could say that Sore Thumb Retro Games also sticks out like a sore thumb when you walk around the corner past Ashtons Estate Agents and wait at the crossing by Bootham Bar, but that’s exactly what I love about it. Standing outside, you’re instantly greeted by all of your favourite Retro Gaming characters looking at you from the window, enticing you to rediscover the gems of your childhood. Retro consoles are stacked in the window, and there’s a feeling of anticipation as you push open the door and delve inside.
That anticipation quickly turns to intense nostalgia as you stand there like a kid in a candy shop just gazing at all the different shelves and racks, so much so that people usually end up pushing past me to head straight for the cabinets at the back of the store or to pick up the PS1 game that they’ve been looking at every day for the past week.
Immediately to the left as you enter the shop is what I like to call the ‘Nintendo Nook’, a section that’s filled with Japanese, NTSC, and PAL discs and cartridges from Nintendo’s gaming past. I recently picked up a copy of Star Fox Adventures for the GameCube from here to replace the disc I had as a child and discovered some amazing SNES games that I never even knew existed back in the 90s. One of the things that I love from Brandon’s video tour is the fact that, after 10 years, Wii U games are experiencing a surge in popularity. It would be incredible if, through retro shops like Sore Thumb, this console finally got the love it should have received a decade ago.
PlayStation Piazza
Step towards the cash desk, and you’ll see the biggest selection of PS1 games you’ve come across in your life. Not only is the entire wall filled from table height to the ceiling, but there’s also box upon box of games behind the scenes waiting to take the place of the titles on the wall. This is what I love about Sore Thumb; sometimes you’ll find stacks of newly acquired games by the cash desk that still have to be priced, while others you’ll uncover tucked back away in a cabinet towards the back of the shop or bordering ‘Sega Square’ (I’ll come onto that in a second).
It pays to look up in Sore Thumb too; at the top of every cabinet and shelf is an array of retro consoles, from original Ataris to Dreamcasts and more. You’ll find every Sony console boxed as well as rare Japanese N64 bundles, controllers, and much more.
But another thing I love about Sore Thumb is that it’s not just retro games that Liam and the team are passionate about. As you can see from The Retroad Show video above, Liam is incredibly proud of their figurine collection. I mean, where else can you walk in to pick up a copy of Smackdown for the PS1 and come away with a signed Edge figurine? I’ve spent hours looking over 90s toys in this building and wondering about getting rid of personal possessions to make space for the collectibles of my youth – from Pokémon cards to Power Rangers, they’ve got it all!
Cabinet of Curiosities
Sore Thumb is one of those places where you can spend hours just browsing before finding a game or toy that grabs hold of your attention and doesn’t let go. The cabinets that line the right-hand side of the store (near Sega Square) are a testament to that. Liam and the team have certain cabinets that contain specific franchises or console peripherals for you to look through, making it easier for customers who are specifically looking for rarer N64 games or to complete their Zelda collection, and you’re welcome to open them up one by one to look through. I’ve sat cross-legged on the floor many a time while looking through Game Boy games and reading the backs of N64 games like Banjo-Tooie, a game I recently picked up from Sore Thumb and righted the terrible wrong I made when I sold the game as a child.
While it’s cool to look at collectibles in glass cabinets from a collector’s point of view, I also think it highlights just how easy this store is to navigate for first-time retro gamers. The Xbox area, the Sega games, the Nintendo nook; they’re all clearly signposted and instantly apparent when you walk in. The cabinets are where the rarer items and collections live, and you know that you might need a few more gold coins to be able to grab the items in here – they’re the must-haves you might want to put on your Christmas or Birthday list, the equivalent of watching the Pokémon Card show on QVC and checking out all the rare cards as a kid (I had a wild childhood).
Dare To Dream(cast)
If, like Brandon, you love Sega titles and consoles, then Sore Thumb has a vast collection of boxed hardware and software from the Master System through to the Dreamcast. I’ve been eyeing up the boxed Dreamcasts for weeks now and will probably have to treat myself to one near my birthday. You guys know how much I love the story behind the Dreamcast and how much it evokes retro nostalgia, and seeing the peripherals that Liam and the team have here will blow you away.
You see, the Store Owner Lee makes regular trips to Japan to bring back new items that Liam and the team place in perfect locations to grab your attention. I spoke to Lee once about the rare consoles he brings back from Japan and how having a business that sells retro media to both new and old generations as well as talking about his passion with customers is a dream come true, and we couldn’t agree more. After all, it’s the very reason Retro Dodo exists, and the fact that we get to connect with independent shops like Sore Thumb who live and breathe retro gaming and share them with the community makes us feel very proud.
Fairly Priced
I just want to touch on prices before we move on as many of you will be wondering how Sore Thumb Retro Games prices the media within its walls. I talk about retro games every single day and I get to know the prices of specific titles. We live in a world now where retro games are indeed rising in price, but Sore Thumb sticks with fair market pricing for its rarer items and I’ve always found it to be well-priced over the years. I recently picked up four games for around £100, and one of them was a Banjo-Tooie cart which as we all know is rising in price every day.
Some of the rarer PS2 games like Rule of Rose have a price tag of around £250 which is in line with the copies we’ve seen sell on eBay over the years. And compared to the other place in town with three letters in its name that sells Retro Games (you know the one I’m talking about) that has an Analogue Pocket in the window for £380, Sore Thumb’s stock is priced perfectly.
Community Presence
Depending on how long you’re staying in York, you might be able to put your name down for a Retro Game night organised by Sore Thumb Retro Games. Yes, Sore Thumb also take the world of retro gaming out of their colourful shop and into the city to bring Retro Gaming to the people. They’ve held multiple Mario Kart nights at Spark York (the shipping container food hall where I’ve spent far too much money on pizzas) where players can join a tournament and show off their skills with Yoshi and the gang.
There’s also the WWE-style champion belt, where visitors to their store who spend over a certain amount (which changes weekly) get a chance to pose with the belt and team in a photo that’s shared on the Sore Thumb socials. The team does whatever they can to make the people of York and the tourists to the city feel a part of both their business and the world of Retro Gaming as a whole, and that’s why they’re such an important part of the community and the UKs most popular retro gaming store!
Well, that’s all from us! Thanks very much to Liam for taking the time to take us around the store and giving us one of the most in-depth tours we’ve had so far. If you want to speak to a team who knows their stuff and lives for the media they sell, then look no further than Sore Thumb. I’m proud to live near this little independent shop and will definitely keep doing my bit to make sure it stays around for another 8 years and many more beyond that, and I hope after reading this article and watching our tour, you’ll pay a visit too!
