Our Story

Travelling Man had its humble beginnings back in the late 80’s when two friends, Nabil and Simon (see recent picture of them below!), were looking to use their passion for role-playing games to escape their dead-end jobs.

Nabil (right) and Simon (left)

This started as a play-by-mail game called Star Marines, which they ran for some time before looking up to notice the extensive library of games that had amassed around them and had a bright idea.

Named after the prototypical adventurer from the games it continues to sell today, “Travelling Man” became both a mission statement as well as the company name – to be always moving forward and to keep exploring the rich genres and worlds that games, comics and independent press have to offer.

The first store popped up in 1991 on Hyde Park Corner in Headingley, and a few years later had already expanded and relocated to Leeds city centre. Today, our flagship store is joined by branches in York, Manchester and Newcastle, and we are a three-times Eisner nominated store, and reached the finals twice. We pride ourselves on having a lovely community around our stores, scheduled gaming tournaments, comic signings and other events. As well as being a proud partner of Thought Bubble Festival and Airecon Festival.

For more information, see the “Our Stores” section or drop into your local branch for a chat!