News Photo by Mike Gonzalez K-otic Games owner Gaige Tarsney checks whether a Nintendo 3DS game works on the portable console on Tuesday at the store.

ALPENA — After changes in location and ownership over the years, Alpena video game store K-otic Games celebrated its 15th anniversary on Tuesday.

To celebrate, the store will raffle off a PlayStation 5 bundled with the game “God of War Ragnarok” that will be given to one participant on Tuesday. Raffle tickets can be picked up all this week at the store, 923 W. Chisholm St.

Current store owner Gaige Tarsney originally started his career at the store about 14 years ago, working under the past co-owners, Casey Benton and John Colburn.

By July 2020, Benton changed ownership of the store to Tarsney.

Since the switch in leadership, the store moved from the now-closed Alpena Mall into the building on West Chisholm Street, where games and game-related merchandise is sold.

“One of the biggest things was jumping on the toy collectibles,” Tarsney said. “With the gaming nature turning mostly into a digital future, you kind of have to have more than just video games.”

To celebrate the anniversary, the store is decorated with balloons, colorful lights, and a large 15th anniversary banner in front of the building. The decorations came from employee Noah Martin, as Tarsney said he’s not good at celebrations.

Despite that, Tarsney posted on the store’s Facebook page about the milestone, showing gratitude toward the community that supports the game store.

“We don’t necessarily believe in the idea of shopping local just to shop local,” the post said. “We believe that you should support what you think should stick around, not what is around. And the fact that we are still around speaks volumes of what you think of us.”

Tarsney said he has played video games for as long as he can remember.

He added that the ownership position has been stressful over the last three years, but he enjoys talking to customers about a subject on which they have common ground.

“And most people coming in for games have some kind of stories of what they like or what they grew up with,” Tarsney said. “Biggest part is normally nostalgia. That’s a huge thing that people end up buying older games that they used to have or played. It’s just easier to talk to someone once you find common ground.”