Something for everyone at Free State Gaming

When it comes to playing games, some people prefer the classic board games like “Monopoly,” “Life” or “Risk.”

Others prefer more recently-created popular card games like “Magic: The Gathering,” “Exploding Kittens,” “Karen” or “The Werewolves Of Miller’s Hollow,” while still others are into classic role-playing games (RPGs) like “Dungeons And Dragons.” Then, there are the newer board games that combine different types of games, like “Warhammer,” which involve miniature characters and worlds that players create.

At Free State Gaming, located on the east side of Holton’s Town Square, you’re more likely to find games that fall into those “other” types of categories, but as owners Jesse and Jacque Pinick are quick to point out, there’s something for game players of all ages.

“We don’t have the department-store, shelf-brand games. Ours are a little bit more like the next step up from that,” says Jesse, who’s a big fan of the “Warhammer” game series, a tabletop miniature war game that combines strategic warfare with science-fiction settings and is recognized as the most popular miniature war game in the world.

In fact, it was Jesse’s interest in “Warhammer 40,000” — so named because the story of the game is set in that year — that got him interested in selling the board game and others just like it. Or as Jacque jokingly puts it, “his hobby got out of control.”

“I started playing it in 2003, and I’ve been selling the Warhammer stuff since 2018,” Jesse said of a business he ran out of a shop in his native Havensville. “Then we moved in here and made it a full-fledged game store.”

Free State Gaming opened in its current location on the Square in the summer of 2023, and while the store offers a wide variety of games, the Pinicks note that the “Warhammer” line remains one of its most popular, as people are drawn into playing by the game’s allure and by the style of the miniatures used in playing the game.

“It’s between that and the ‘Magic’ guys who come in and buy,” said Jesse, referring to “Magic: The Gathering,” a collectible card game where players use spells and creatures to defeat their opponents. The Pinicks also host a “Magic Draft” every Friday where fans of the game can come and play, regardless of their level of experience in the game.

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