BYU-Idaho Radio · An Interview with co-owner of Binary Cocoa, James Brower
Binary Cocoa, an interactive game store, opened its doors in Rexburg in December.
One of the owners, Joseph Brower, said he has been playing and designing games with his friends since he was young. A few years ago, he and his friends created a video game. After this, they were inspired to create and sell more games. They started out by selling their games online but have just opened up a physical store as well.
At Binary Cocoa, members of the community can try out and play games without the pressure of purchasing them.
“We’ve set up our store where it’s community first, retail second,” Brower said. “So, while we do have…things on the shelf that people can buy, most of our floor space is actually things that we’re not selling.”
Tables with board games fill up most of their store space. There are two types of games on the tables. The first, games the company has finished making and are currently for sale. The second, games still in a prototype stage. For those games, Brower said he asks for players’ input.
“And we invite the community to come in and play those games and we’ll use that as research on how we can refine the game,” he said.
Binary Cocoa is open from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday, Friday, and Saturday. Anyone is welcome to come play games for free.