Exile Gaming — Local services in Milford

I definitely feel I need to give a shout out to Exile Gaming in Milford, Iowa (greater lake Okoboji area). Discovered this place while vacationing up there.

There are places in mid-sized Des Moines, where I live, or especially big cities like Minneapolis that do the same thing, and probably bigger and better (albeit without the quirky cool of small town charm). But this is not only the only place of it's type anywhere near it, it is also definitely much cooler than the homogenized gamestop with their cookie cutter setup, and exclusion of old-school games, and magic the gathering (not to mention that even the nearest one of those is itself probably 50 miles away from greater Okoboji).

This place has a very unique vibe to it. It's in an old building, and is actually kinda cluttered and disorganized. But it is so in just such a way that it works out to be more of a charming virtue. They have a nice collection of both new-school and old-school games for sale, they have a desk where you can play the games before you buy.

Then they have a decent collection of Magic cards, and an area where you can play them (including MTG play mats). They had a bunch of Atari 2600 decks and even an old Coleco pong clone on the wall. They even had some weird things, like the "SupaBoy", which is a 3rd party handheld SNES. I was aware of SupaBoy, but had never beheld it til I beheld it there.

Maria, the proprietor was very nice, and was content to talk games with me for a long while. She also had her two little boys there and let them just run around the place, something that you probably wouldn't see in the mid-size and large cities, but which again actually added something to the charm and uniqueness of the store.

I am hoping to be back up in the area again in the summer. I went so far as to promise Maria than whenever I'm up there, I'll be in! And if you're anywhere near by, and are in to video games / magic cards, then you owe it both to yourself and to Maria to drop in, check the place out, talk shop, and pick up something! Trust me, you wont regret it! I snagged me a copy of Sonic 3, which I'd been searching for for quite a while, and could never find in Des Moines....

This retro game store is awesome! And the owner is very knowledgeable about games and systems, I highly recommend if you love retro games and I believe they even repair too. I was really happy I was able to get a boxed MegaMan X on SNES, basically a collectors item. And so glad I found a lot of NES games there too. There's a lot to discover here, the...

Welcoming atmosphere, large selection. The owner is amazing and always wants to help and or save games she knows you want! Lots to look at from Ps4, and xbox to older stuff! Alll sorts and even magic cards, magic sets and more! She also supports her local business friends and is a great women. I would buy from her then a game stop anyday she makes it about...