CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Brad Koch moved to Cheyenne in 2015 in pursuit of a quieter life for himself, his wife Stacy and his children after living in bigger cities most of his life, he says. By day, Koch works as a human resources coordinator at Laramie County Library. He has over two decades of experience working in human resources.
“The minute we got here, we knew it was home,” Koch says.
However, Koch says his real expertise lies in video games, card games and role-playing games, a hobby that has enraptured him through most of his life.
Koch has been putting his wealth of knowledge on games to the test with his store Game Masters, a shop that sells a variety of products such as retro and modern video games, tabletop games, figurines and card games such as “Magic the Gathering,” the “Pokémon Trading Card Game” and “Disney Lorcana.”
Koch’s desire to launch his own retro game store dates back to summer 2023, when he was laid off from his HR position at Dish Network. After this happened, he decided to take a chance on himself.
“Why not do what you know and you’re passionate about?” Koch said about pursuing his own game store.
Koch is a lifelong fan of games like “Dungeons & Dungeons” and “Magic the Gathering” as well as video game series such as “The Legend of Zelda” and “Final Fantasy.” However, his experience spans beyond just being a consumer of games: He has been a team leader in the retail games industry for over 20 years, having worked at rental stores like Blockbuster. He also used to be a Gamestop manager for over 10 years. He and Stacy, who was also a manager at the game retailer corporation, met each other at a district managers meeting.
Since the Kochs moved to Cheyenne, Brad has felt the city has needed a dedicated retro gaming store. He’s heard similar comments through his own conversations with other local gamers and game store owners as well as at communal events like the Cheyenne Gaming Convention. One memory that sticks out in Koch’s mind is when he was checking out a Cheyenne pawn shop in fall. He overheard a patron ask the pawnbroker if they had a Nintendo 64 console. They didn’t.
The HR specialist began pursuing his plans to open his own store in fall 2023. Koch contacted his friend Josh Adams, whom he met at Cheyenne Gaming Convention in 2019 and who has a degree in business management, to help run and operate their new business venture. Stacy is also utilizing her business experience to assist her husband in maintaining the business.
The process of locating a space, renovating it and securing merchandise progressed quickly, Koch recalls. He and Stacy received the keys to his space on Central Avenue on Black Friday. The two of them revamped the space by themselves in three months.
“To say it was unrenovated was an understatement,” Koch said.
Their hard work paid off when the team held the grand opening on March 1. At one point during that day, over 80 customers were packed into the shop at once. Brad and Stacy Koch didn’t anticipate the amount of activity their store would receive.
“We’ve had nothing but positive communication across the board,” Koch said.
To celebrate the store’s opening week, Game Masters held a variety of tournaments and customer deals every day through March 7. These included drafts for “Magic the Gathering” and “Lorcana,” a “Super Smash Bros.” tournament, 10% extra credit received on traded-in games and more.
In addition to special events, all board games available in Game Masters are free to play. The store even has a concession bar. “What kind of gamer doesn’t want Hot Pockets?” Koch says.
Hosting events and getting local gamers to spend time in Game Masters is part of Koch’s larger vision for his new business. He said his objective is to provide an inclusive, welcoming, family-friendly space for community members. Video games as well as card and tabletop games, he said, have always been most fun when shared with others.
“You can have memories of one-player games,” Koch said, but one source of joy people obtain from playing games is “going to school and talking about it” with friends the next day.
Game Masters, located at 1612 Central Ave., is open seven days a week. Store hours are noon to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. To reach out to Koch or his team members, contact hello@gamemasterscheyenne.com or call 307-514-0052.
