Eating out in Bellingham and Whatcom County is getting pricey — so AJ and Chris are bringing the fun home. This month, your pacific northwest podcasting aficionados make the case for analog: gather some people you know (or some friendly strangers), throw some chicken nuggets in the oven, and play a game. No screens. No $120 dinner tabs. Just meeples, dice, and a little friendly competition or co-op’ing.

AJ and Chris share their favorite game stores across the region, swap game recommendations for every type of player — cooperative, competitive, family-friendly, and card-shark — and close with Quality Assurance picks including a shout-out to a pair of local Bellingham authors and a generative music app that just might help you survive eight hours of studying if you are studying for finals.

♟️Where to Find Your Games

* Meeple’s Manor (Lynden) — Your local game shop up north

* Cosmic Games (Bellingham) — Great local Pokémon league and loads of games of all kinds (and the materials around them)

* AEGIS Games (Downtown Bellingham, Railroad Ave) — A substantial wall of board games, card games, tabletop, and expansions; near the fabulous Café Adagio

* Bakerview Games (Anacortes) — The Ollivander’s Wands of board game shops. If you have a game in mind, stump the band — they just might have it upstairs.

🃏 Chris’s Game Picks

* Guess Who? — The classic whodunit-by-process-of-elimination. Disney edition available for the little ones.

* Versus (the musical Apples to Apples) — Song lyrics meet topic cards in this family-friendly Cards Against Humanity alternative. Comes with six guitar picks. More the merrier — you can’t vote for your own lyric.

* Cribbage — Chris’s 40-year classic. Challenge accepted.

* Trivial Pursuit — Need we say more.

🎲 AJ’s Game Picks

* Vantage (cooperative) — You and your pod of space fellows have crash-landed on a planet. Gather resources, learn languages, evolve — or die. No two playthroughs are the same. Block off at least five hours. The analog version of No Man’s Sky.

* Forbidden Desert / Forbidden Island — Shorter cooperative play for those who don’t have 5 hrs to kill.

* My Lil Everdale — A beautifully illustrated town-builder for the 9-and-under crowd (and the grown-ups who won’t need a beverage to cope). Think Tolkien, but the adventurers are badgers and squirrels.

* Dragon Isle (Dragonwood series, Vol. 3) — Eastern dragon vibes, Oni imps, cards and dice. A competitive card-shark slay-fest found courtesy of Bakerview Games.

* Dragonwood → Dragon Realm → Dragon Isle

* Pokémon TCG — Feb 27 is Pokémon Day and the franchise’s 30th anniversary. Three decades of catching them all! If you’re nostalgic for those childhood cards, now is the best time to grab a pre-built deck and learn to play. A single casual game runs about 30 minutes.

* Wandering Towers (Les Tours Ambulantes) — Discovered at a jeux café (game café) in Paris. Found in the US courtesy of Bakerview Games in Anacortes.

* Rich Dad Poor Dad: The Boardgame — Robert Kiyosaki’s 90s classic. Learn passive income, FIRE (Financially Independent, Retire Early), and how to make your rent roll before you quit your day job. Statute of limitations on grumpy emails applies.

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📚 Quality Assurance

AJ’s Local Author Shout-Outs:

* Gigi Berardi (WWU Faculty) — Debut novel: Bianca’s Cure A work of historical fiction set during the Medici era in Florence — weaving alchemy, early science, and the story of a woman who bridged both worlds in the search for a cure for malaria. Recently held a book signing at Village Books.

* Rev. Dr. Joyce Parry Moore (WWU Faculty) — Upcoming book: Fill the Room Event coming up at the fabulous Village Books — stay tuned for the date.

Chris’s QA Pick:

* Bloom: 10 Worlds — The 10th anniversary follow-up to Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers’ iconic generative music app Bloom. Available on iPhone, iPad, and Android. Ten ambient soundscapes, resident on your device (no streaming required). One tap, up to eight hours of original, never-repeating meditative music. Less than the cost of a lunch entrée in Bellingham.

📍 Around the County

* Ramen & Bowl (Downtown Bellingham) — Formerly Muto Ramen, across from Woods Coffee near Bank of America. Open until 2 a.m. Hat tip to Celia for the discovery.

* Anacortes Day Trip — AJ’s wife’s birthday gift: a local tourist adventure on Commercial Ave. Highlights include Bakerview Games and a Turkish coffee shop at the Safeway corner with quite the tingle.

* Rook & Rogue — A fond remembrance of Bellingham’s former game café. Gone but not forgotten.

📻 Listener Reminders

* Tune in on KMRE 88.3 FM or stream at kmre.org — community-powered radio, right here in Bellingham.

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