Presented in 2017 with the prospect of either buying a home or a business that felt like family, Cecilio Chavarria opted to purchase what has become CDC Games, located at 303 S. Broadway.

“A long time ago when Cale Sikes had the store, he got to the point where he was too busy with his personal life and he couldn’t maintain the store,” Chavarria, 31, said. “At the time I was saving up to acquire a house but he offered me a proposition to acquire the store. My wife and I thought about it for a good bit, whether we wanted to get a house or buy the store off him. We decided to buy the store because at the time about 90 percent of our friends went there and if the store went away where would we all hang out? We kept the store going to build up that community and keep that community.”

Chavarria and his wife Daniela are co-owners of CDC Games, and their initials led to the store name. Store hours are 3 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 3 to 10 p.m. Friday, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. The store is closed on Monday.

“It’s a fun environment where new players and old players can come in and play any game,” Chavarria said. “I teach kids how to play Pokemon, Magic, Dungeons and Dragons, Yu-Gi-Oh, Digimon, and different role playing games and board games. We have a fun, safe environment for different people to come in and hang out.”

Chavarria’s love for card games dates back to his childhood.

“During school, all of my friends collected cards,” Chavarria said. “I collected Pokémon back in the 90s and Yu-Gi-Oh in the early 2000, so I had a long history with card games. GameHaven was the store before mine, and hanging out there reignited that spark to collect and play. While that store was open, the players there taught me how to play Magic, and I joined various D&D groups.”

Chavarria is reaching out to the youth of Brown County in a variety of ways to foster their passion for various types of games.

“We used to help out the Comanche school and we’re helping out the Bangs school with their game club,” Chavarria said. “One of the teachers over there brings his students over here and we help them get supplies and they sign up for different events with Magic. When I’m off on Mondays I work at the Boys & Girls Club and have a Pokemon club there, and teach the kids how to play Pokemon. I also help out with the teens at the Boys & Girls Club. Each month they have a teen night on a Saturday and I let them use the shop Nintendo Switch for the night. Sometimes they take field trips to the shop to hangout and spend the day there.”

Chavarria attempts to educate both kids and their parents about the games and card collecting.

“Right now in the schools there’s a lot of fake Pokemon cards being traded around so I help educate the parents on showing them how to look for fake cards and read cards,” he said. “And I teach kids how to trade properly so they don’t trade a real expensive card for a cheap card. When parents come in I explain it to them and help educate them so they know more.”

Chavarria considers the game playing community to be an extended family of sorts.

“The most enjoyable part for me is all the different relationships I have with all the different customers in the community and being a part of so many lives throughout the years,” he said. “We help out a lot of students throughout the year and a lot of the students that came to the store throughout high school swing by the store when they’re back in town from college because that’s where essentially grew up in a way. A lot of the alumni from Howard Payne that come back in town visit the shop a lot, too.”

Looking toward the future of CDC Games, Chavarria said, “I want to slowly expand our merchandise to acquire more board games and different types of role playing games and miniature and figurine based board games like Warhammer. I want to expand more in those areas.”

CDC Games will also have a booth at the first Brownwood Comic Con at the Brown County Fairgrounds Nov. 17-19.

“We’ll have a booth there and we’ll have some events going on at that time to build up the community,” Chavarria said.