The shop's parent company, Wizards of the Coast, announced that it will close its chain of retail businesses. The Vallco store is among the 64 Game Keepers that will close their doors in April.

According to a statement released by Wizards of the Coast, "the move out of the retail store business will enable a deeper focus on Wizards' core business of game design."

The Game Keeper shop has been at Vallco for 25 years. It's one of the oldest and most popular stores at the shopping mall. Children used to go to the store to play Pokemon League games. Some people bought their first chess sets at the shop and have returned to buy chess sets for their children.

The store has carried a wide variety of games—classic board games such as Scrabble, war games like Axis and Allies and the newer games like Lord of the Rings and Battle of the Sexes.

Even with signs saying "Total Inventory Clearance" and "Store closing. Everything must go" hanging everywhere in the store, people still drive all the way from other cities to the little game shop.

"I came to buy dice for my husband. He's a teacher and wants to use dice for his class," said Theresa Wigginton of Santa Clara. "I came here because there simply aren't many game shops around."

The shop's wide selection and playful atmosphere are probably the reasons why it is so popular. "The store managers have worked very hard to keep the store a fun place for customers and employees," said Stephen Nicholson, 27. He has worked on and off at the Game Keeper since the Halloween of 1998.

Every employee at the store has his or her favorite game. Nicholson likes to play the card game Fluxx, with the rules constantly changing throughout the game. Former store manager Jason Rosander, 26, likes to play chess, the trivia game called Sugar Pursuit and a Japanese strategy game called Go.

"Chess is the game of kings; Go is the game of warriors," Rosander said. "Sometimes the customers see us play and want to buy the game simply because we seem to have fun."

Many customers expressed regret that the shop is closing. Even its competitor, Legends Gaming at Vallco, is sad about the closing of the Game Keeper.

"We carry things they don't. And they carry things we don't. So we complement each other. In the future, the customers will have less choice," Rosander said.