Albuquerque's gaming scene has grown from one lonely center just three years ago to six and counting today.

If you want to meet local gamers, get in some play time and enter the tournament scene, these are great starting points.

The Trib checked them all out so you'll know which one best suits you.

So get out there and have some fun.

Dragon's Lair

Location: 1016 Juan Tabo N.E., Suite M, near the Wendy's.

Web site: Dragon's Lair

Phone number: 307-9200.

Owners: Thomas King, Alex Bohn.

Founded: Spring 2006.

Target audience: Open to everyone.

"It's a mild atmosphere, we try to keep swearing to a minimum and keep it open for parents and young people and the whole works," King said.

The average crowd is 16 to 24 years old.

The store tends to draw students from Manzano High School.

Computers: 30 computers, all Nvidia based, with Razor gaming mice.

Consoles: Two big screens, six Xbox 360s, four PS2s, one PS3 in store and a second PS3 upon request. No Wii yet, but there's been no high demand for it, King said.

Top games: CounterStrike: Source, Battlefield 2, World of Warcraft, Need for Speed, Carbon, Resistance: Fall of Man. And coming soon: Halo 3.

Tournaments: CounterStrike Source on Saturdays, BattleField 2, Guitar Hero II. Working on a Madden tourney.

The scene: With two huge curved sofas and computers snaking throughout, the store feels a bit like a real dragons' lair - big, dark and mysterious - but thankfully without the dragon heat and foul odors. This center is also the only one in town with plants, albeit plastic ones, decorating its otherwise dark decor.

Membership fee: $10 a month.

Hourly cost: $3 with membership, $5 without.

Hours of operation: Monday-Thursday, noon to midnight; Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.; Sunday, noon to 10 p.m. The store often has all-nighters on Fridays and Saturdays.

In short: The store is slick and dark, but a little more mature than the teen hangout types. It seems mostly geared toward the tourney and 18- to 20-something crowd.

• • • • • • • • •

Game Gopher

Location: 6001 San Mateo Blvd. N.E., near Osuna, next to Laff's Comedy Club.

Web site: Game Gopher

Phone number: 884-1720.

Owner: Bob Emery.

Founded: June 2003.

Target audience: Ages 20 and up.

Computers: 12 computers (all 2.5 gig or higher processors), 512 meg video cards.

Consoles: No.

Top Games: Battlefield 2, World of Warcraft, Eve Online, CounterStrike: Source, Age of Empires, Command and Conquer 3.

Tournaments: World of Warcraft timed instance run-throughs, Age of Empires. Working on Battlefield 2.

The scene: This is the most well-lit of the bunch. It's a nice little hole-in-the-wall type store for older gamers.

Emery knows his games and the crowd is very welcoming. He also runs table-top games.

The store is trying to work a deal with its neighbor, Laff's Comedy Club, to get some sort of liquor license.

Membership fee: None.

Hourly cost: $3 an hour.

Hours of operation: Monday-Thursday, noon to 10 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, noon to midnight; Sunday, noon to 7 p.m.

In short: Go there if you're in your mid-20s or older and want to hang with Albuquerque's cool MMO crowd.

• • • • • • • • •

Insomnia Gaming Center

Location: 1331 Juan Tabo Blvd. N.E., Suite 2M.

Web site: Insomnia Gaming Center

Phone number: 573-4536.

Owner: Keith Krueger.

Founded: April 13, 2007.

Target audience: Teenagers, some parents, hardcore tournament players.

Computers: 16 computers (2 gig ram, 2.4 dual quad processors). Nvidia 8800 graphics cards, direct X compatible.

Consoles: one PS3, two PS2, two 360s, one Wii, separate room for console games.

Top games: CounterStrike: Source, Guitar Hero II, Halo II, Halo III Beta, World of Warcraft, Wii sports.

Tournaments: Halo II, Starcraft, CounterStrike: Source, Battlefield 2. Madden and Tekken 5 in the works.

The scene: Dark and quiet. The computers have headphones, and noisy games like Guitar Hero II have a separate room so they don't disturb the hardcore gaming teams when they're playing.

Computers are arrayed around circular tables, which the tournament teams seem to like.

Several players told The Trib this is where Team Eternal often plays - they're semi-pro and rising in CounterStrike: Source.

The store also draws players from nearby Manzano High School.

Membership fee: $24 for six months.

Hourly cost: $4 with membership, $5 without. $20 all-day passes.

Hours of operation: 11 a.m.-2 a.m. or later daily.

In short: Albuquerque's newest center is the usual dark you'd expect from a teen-oriented gamer hangout. But the array, the quiet atmosphere and slick computers make it ideal for Albuquerque's computer tourney crowd as well.

• • • • • • • • •

Ninja Monkey Gaming Centers

Locations: 11200 Montgomery Blvd. N.E., Suite 22, in Eldorado Square. (Known as its Eldorado store because it's next to Eldorado High School).

7610 Carmel, behind the Whattaburger. (Known as its La Cueva store because it's near La Cueva High School).

Web site: Ninja Monkey Gaming Centers

Phone numbers: 217-2309 (Eldorado); 217-2160 (La Cueva).

Owner: Woody Grover and Robert Pickering.

Founded: May 2006, first store; November 2006, second store.

Target audience: People ages 8 to 100.

"We try not to have a specific audience. I guess our average gamer is an 18-year-old male, but we also have a huge female crowd, lots of older people and lots of younger people," Grover said.

Computers: 24 at Eldorado, 20 at La Cueva, but that number will likely grow, Grover said.

Computers are custom built Athlon 64 systems with high-end Nvidia G-Force cards.

Consoles: Each store has two Xbox 360s, a PS3, a Game Cube and a Wii on two 120-inch screens.

Top games: World of Warcraft, CounterStrike: Source, Battlefield 2, Gears of War, Guitar Hero II, Halo II and Halo III Beta, Super Smash Brother Melee.

Tournaments: Super Smash Brothers, CounterStrike: Source league, Starcraft, Gears of War.

"Check back. There's so many games coming out in the summer months," Grover said.

The scene: Dark and slick, with a bit of a sense of humor, Ninja Monkey seems geared mostly to the teen and early 20-something crowd.

Grover and Pickering are laid back and friendly to all comers - and good with kids, for parents looking for a center.

They have a very strict no-drug, no-smoking policy.

Membership fee: $25 for six months, you get two free hours and a T-shirt.

Hourly cost: $6 for nonmembers, $4 for members.

Hours of operation: Weekdays and Sundays, noon to midnight. Friday-Saturday, noon to 2 a.m.

In short: Great for the teen crowd. Slick looking. Drop the kids off for a day of fun.

• • • • • • • • •

Serversyde

Location: 2501 Southern Blvd., Suite 8, Rio Rancho.

Web site: Serversyde

Phone number: 217-1950.

Owner: Steve Vansickle.

Founded: May 2005.

Target audience: Teenagers and a few older gamers. Has a solid group from Rio Rancho High School.

Computers: 16 PCs running Intel processors, with LCD screens.

Consoles: two Xbox 360s hooked up to two big screens.

Top games: Command and Conquer 3, CounterStrike: Source, Battlefield 2142, Day of Defeat: Source.

Tournaments: There are tournaments, usually CounterStrike: Source, during ServerSyde's monthly all-nighters.

The scene: The gray painted entrance is a bit deceptive, hiding the tricked-out PCs lining the walls inside. It's dark enough for the teen set, yet light enough for spectators not to go blind. Near the back of the center, there were two large TVs with gamers playing the coveted Halo 3 beta.

The atmosphere is welcoming. The individual desks for each PC give the center a homey feel.

Membership fee: $25 a year. VIP membership is $100 a year.

Hourly cost: $4 for nonmembers; $3 for members; $2 for VIP members.

Hours of operation: 5 p.m.-midnight Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. 2 p.m.-midnight Saturdays. Closed Wednesdays, Sundays and major holidays.

In short: The only place in Rio Rancho to hang out and do PC/360 gaming. But expect to get ribbing if you consider PC gaming The Sims 2. Food consists of Hot Pockets and White Castle burgers.

Geared toward the competitive gamer set.