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| Name me one Adventure Time fan who wouldn't buy that. The artist is a kid so he doesn't have his own site, but he's already made the news. (art by Tex, whom I have dubbed "the Amazasaurus Rex") |
As owner, Kathleen has managed to walk a tight line with Labyrinth, and the compromise shows up even in the art that hangs around the store. Although the example above was created by a kid, it’s far from childish, and the store does not have that “we’d be a daycare if it weren’t for zoning laws” feel that some game stores acquire. On the other hand, it is very kid-friendly. So moms don’t have to worry about 12ft cutouts of gore-spattered orcs and the nearly naked women of Frazetta-esque traditional fantasy art.
We showed up just after hours for the interview, right as Tracy Barnett’s School Daze demo was wrapping up. Even before she opened the store, Kathleen says that game developers have been communicating with her on everything from suggested inventory to event hosting, and that evening was a great example. Tracy isn’t local, but he drove down to promote his Kickstarter success from last year. How many places can you get one-on-one time with a game developer (that doesn’t involve convention or internet stalking ಠ_ಠ ).
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| Stocked to the ceiling and beautiful to boot (image from Labyrinth's FB) |
Kathleen discussed the frustration, anger, and decades of skill that she has brought to bear in creating Labyrinth. Beyond even a game store, the care in the selection of every, single inventory item makes Labyrinth more a juried or curated collection, and the dedication of the entire staff shows through. Judy, in addition to being a wealth of boardgame and M:tG knowledge, manages events and the collaboration with local schools.
Labyrinth has only been around two years, but the customers are fiercely loyal, and several local moms became insistent that it would be the perfect venue for a chess club. Judy and Kathleen came up with something far more brilliant. The afterschool programs are a tactics and strategy-learning club that allow kids to begin with simple games to discuss strategy, and then shows the kids how to apply those tactics to increasingly complex games. They can start at Tic-Tac-Toe and end up loving Go. The program has also expanded from in the store to nearly a dozen local elementary schools and caters to kids from three-years-old to fifth-grade (yes, even pre-readers can join in).
We talked about why Cards Against Humanity isn't exactly a "Capitol Hill friendly" game. We discussed local developer, North Star Games, who make Wits and Wagers and Say Anything. We got to hear the ups and downs about Kickstarter from Kathleen’s unique viewpoint as a small business owner. I asked my usual newb question, “What exactly defines a ‘German-style’ boardgame?!” which was answered not only with specifics, but a great history lesson as well. Not surprising given that they also provide demos of German-made games at the Goethe Institut) Also, Judy introduced us to two excellent games:
Dr. Shark and
It’s an easy store to get addicted to, so let me help:
- Labyrinth’s calendar full of events
I mean, how can you not fall in love with a store that has a zombie apocalypse contingency plan in the manual? Thank you, Kathleen and Judy, for such a great podcast.
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