Who hasn’t dreamed of a “gamer vacation”? What would it look like? What would be your ideal amenities? How many people would you need to be there or would you prefer to have the place to yourself? There are so many things that would go in to the planning and the process but ultimately you would need to have some good games, good options for fun and good friends to enjoy it with. Let’s look at a place that does just that!
Today I want to introduce you to the Gamers Ranch. The Gamers Ranch is the dream location for a getaway with all the amenities you could want as a gamer. First, a little backstory on the location and what went into it. I sat down with the owner and operator of the Ranch, David to discuss the Ranch and some details about himself:
INTERVIEW:
Hello David! Thank you for joining us for this interview. Let’s start easy shall we? Tell us a little about yourself and your gaming interests:
I’ve always loved games of all sorts and fell in love with programming games as a teen in the 80’s. I remember begging my mom to buy me Microsoft’s Quick Basic at a bookstore in the mall. My plan was to use it to build BBS door games and get rich. I must have been convincing because my mom bought it for me and I went to work spending my entire high school years cranking out games. While getting rich from BBS games never panned out I did build some cool games that got some play on the local BBS scene and ever since then I was hooked on building things.
Fast forward a number of years and I became a professional programmer, got married to my wonderful wife Min and had a son named Kai. I noticed that while I loved video games they were very solitary and hard to share with my family. Shortly after I was introduced to Puerto Rico and was hooked. I never imagined that board games could be this fun. This was exactly what I needed to scratch the game playing itch and enjoy the time with my family. It was also a great way to disconnect myself a bit from technology, which I was totally immersed in.
I’ve always imagined creating a place full of games, cool hobbies and crafting welcoming environment I could share all the things I loved with like minded people. Luckily after starting a software company in 2004 and running it a number of years I finally had the financial opportunity to make it a reality. In 2016 I bought some land in Missouri and went to work building Gamers Ranch. I wanted a place in the country, secluded, but also a location I could bring interesting people to play games, chit chat and share experiences. We opened in the spring of 2018 and it’s been so much fun ever since.
What would be your ideal game night lineup of games?
That’s a tough one because it’s all about the people. I’ve had just as much fun playing ten straight games of Quixx as an eight hour game of Twilight Imperium 4. A perfect gaming day for me would include Arkham Horror the Card Game, Sentinels of the Multiverse, and some Gloomhaven. Of course I wouldnt turn down a day of Through the Ages, any Vital Lacerta game, and La Havre.
What snacks go best with board games?
I’m not much of a snacker when playing games but if I do I tend to like beef jerky and sparkling water. 🙂
What gave you the idea to start building the Gamers Ranch?
This place has always been a dream of mine. I’m not sure I can pinpoint the origin but I’ve always felt compelled to build it. At first I wasn’t sure anyone would come but I’ve been so lucky to find so many like minded families and groups to make this place successful. My hope is that I can keep making it better every year and keep sharing it with everyone.
There are a lot of awesome things to do on the Ranch. What is your favorite thing to do there?
I enjoy meeting new people and getting together with old friends. I’ve always wanted to live in the country but like the dynamism of people from all around the country. Other than that it’s like picking a favorite child, I love everything pretty much equally at the ranch. I will say one thing I really love is meeting new people who then get me into new hobbies, so much at the ranch comes from cool people I’ve met there. I’m always looking for new hobbies and interesting things.
What can I expect to find outside of board games to do there?
This might be better as a list and I’m sure I’m leaving some things out.
Video Games
Artemis Bridge Simulator
Building & Flying RC Planes
Swimming
Lego
Painting
Disc Golf
Hiking
Four Player Arcade Machine
Virtual Pinball Machine
Basketball
Sauna
Air Soft
Mushroom Hunting
Ping Pong
Pool
Gym
Puzzles
Cornhole
Let’s talk about your games. You have quite the collection don’t you? What types of games can I find when I arrive?
The best place to find out is BGG where I have most of the games listed. We have over 2,000 games and the entire BGG top 100. I try to get all the top games every year and my main criteria is all the games on BGG that rank over 7.0 with at least 1,000 votes. Even if you don’t bring a single game to the ranch you won’t run out of cool stuff to play.
https://boardgamegeek.com/collection/user/Gamers%20Ranch
What types of groups would be a good fit for the Ranch?
If you’re at all interested in board games, video games, or nature and have 19 other friends this is the place for you!
Anything else you would like to share about the Gamers Ranch?
When I got serious about the idea of Gamers Ranch I decided I needed a mission statement to keep my focus and something I could refer back to when I questioned what I was doing.
Well, what would you say Gamers Ranch is all about? What is that mission statement?
It’s all about sharing. Sharing time and companionship. Sharing interests and hobbies. Sharing food and drink. Sharing fortunes and failures. Sharing stories around a fire. Sharing expertise and skills. Sharing games and devices. Sharing your tips and tricks. Sometimes it also means sharing a bed.
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You can also listen to us chat about the Ranch on our podcast episode #24, you can find it here: Podcast #24 link
First off, our stay was a welcome change from the normal activity and busyness that our lives seem to be encompassed in on a constant basis. At arrival you are greeted by the enormity of the location, the large lake in the center and the home really stand out as you come down the lane. We entered the property and were just amazed at the home and the wrap around setup of the outside deck and firepits, complete with hammocks and jumping spots/ladders into the water.
Once we entered into the home things got real big and impressive quickly. We entered through the side door by the parking area and saw the beautiful layout for cooking along with the long tables in the corner and main living space. There was ample space in the kitchen and main room to cook and sit down and eat together or play a game in small and large groups. The over 100″ quad TV screens were a great presence in the main room as well and one we enjoyed games of Jackbox and other movies through our stay.
The upstairs led to even more space to hang out and play games, along with one of the largest LEGO collections I have ever seen. We had a lot of fun through the week building and exploring his many collections of sets along with loose bricks to build whatever your heart imagined! The upstairs area also had a great paint setup as well for painting miniatures or other game components.
Upstairs along with on the main level are the bedroom setups. Each room with quite an ample amount of space, you had access to a large TV in each room with its own gaming system along with access to a full bathroom. There were four rooms with single King or Queen beds and the others all had two Queen or two Full beds with plenty of space. Each room and bathroom was very clean at our arrival and stocked with linen and plenty of amenities for our stay.
Finally the garage/extension part of the inside was another very large and open area with more tables for gaming, pool table, ping pong table, sauna and a full workout area. This area was very well lit and it was the preferred area to play games with the strong light working well for the details in the games. Just off of that was another room and this was where the treasure trove of games lived. That room also contained the VR systems and two LAN system computers so you could work together and battle in the stars!
Throughout the main area there were some games on shelves, a good sized collection of probably 100 or so games. But the back room is where the majority of the collection lived. Multiple shelves of so many games, from small box games to medium and heavy, party games, CCGs, minis and terrain pieces-you name it, David has it. He has them arranged by “weight”, so you could easily find a game if you wanted something light and easy or something that had some more meat on it to play. There were games that had been around for a long time, classic favorites, grail games, new hotness and everything in-between. David does a tremendous job on keeping up with the games that are new and high on the bgg lists so if it is a game you love or are interested in trying, he is bound to have it here.
Let’s talk about about the outdoors as well. There is a beautiful 4 acre lake to swim, stand up paddleboard, kayak on just lounge around in. There is a large jumping pad and a floating dock in the middle as well, lots of fun choices to have a great time in the water cooling off on the warm summer days. We spent time out there every day and really loved getting in there. The deck has plenty of space for everyone to relax and the firepits were a great choice in the evening as well. The sky was as clear as you could expect being out in the middle of the woods, and on most nights we saw amazing scenes in the sky including the rings of Saturn and a comet.
Also outdoors I was introduced to the world of Disc Golf. If you do not have any experience in this world, let me be the first to say it is a fun time and very challenging. He has a professional 18 hole course on the property and you will definitely get a good workout doing it. He has plenty of discs and different options for what type to use for the distances and types of throws you will be making. It was a very fun and challenging experience!
Overall Gamers Ranch is everything we had hoped it would be and so much more. David is a gracious host and his home is one of the coolest I have ever been in. The games, the tech, the outdoors-it was the best of so many worlds. I cannot think of a better place for friends and family to get together and really enjoy each other’s company with some of the most fun extra-curricular activities you can do all packed into one space. I highly recommend this experience and hope more people get to experience this amazing vacation destination. For our first and probably only home ranking here at Gaming with Sidekicks, we give the Gamers Ranch a 5/5 stars, highly recommended rating!
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