A new business in downtown Lansing caters to players of Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop role-playing games.
Dungeons & Flagons located on Washington Square has a game room available for rent with props, lighting, costumes and special effects for groups running campaigns and offers help leading games among other experiences.
"Our goal is to have all the tools and toys for people to have the most immersive experience that they can," said co-owner Colton Hughes.
"We can teach people how to play, which is one of the biggest barriers to entry for Dungeons & Dragons."
Hughes credits shows like "Stranger Things" and web series of campaigns played by celebrities and voice actors like "Critical Role" and "Dimension 20" with bringing Dungeons and Dragons into the mainstream in recent connection.
He says the pandemic also brought people looking for connection into these kinds of games.
Hughes, who also owns Element Massage next door, says new developments downtown that are currently in construction make him feel confident about the area's business outlook.
"They are going to transform this area, and I want to be prepared for that moment when all these people start coming into downtown Lansing again."
He also plans to engage with other local businesses to share customers and foot traffic.
"We want to debut a quest board where people can come early for their game and choose a quest they can which will take them into various points of interest in downtown Lansing, to solve riddles or do scavenger hunts, go into other businesses and roleplay a bit with the shopkeep there," he explained.
Dungeons & Flagons' grand opening is December 4 at noon.
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Interview Highlights
On Dungeons & Dragons' growing popularity
D&D is just celebrating their 50th anniversary last year. It's never been bigger, as you mentioned, and I think that's in part because of things like "Stranger Things" coming out 10 years ago, reintroducing that into the mainstream media, as well as livestreams with actual voice actors, like shows like "Critical Role" and "Dimension 20" having popped up within the last decade as well. As well as the pandemic creating a space for everybody inside and pods of people, or just people trying to connect and find something to do.
On what the business offers
People can rent this space out for their regular campaigns, their one-shot adventures which are just single games as well as their hallmark or milestone events like campaign end or a birthday party. Our goal is to have all the tools and toys for people to have the most immersive experience that they can from over 600 miniatures and physical terrain to a projector with digital maps and a soundboard, props to hold in your hand and get you in that moment, or costume pieces to help you just kind of get into character. We can also provide game masters for hire if someone doesn't have one, and we can teach people how to play
On being in downtown Lansing as a business owner
Downtown has shifted a lot in the last 10 years that I've been here. Element Massage is nearing its 10 year anniversary. And from the state workers going to work from home to now, it becoming a space where they're building residential towers, even the tallest building is being connected to the back of this building, and they're going to redo Washington Square. I mean, they are going to transform this area, and I want to be prepared for that moment when all these people start coming into downtown Lansing again.
Interview Transcript
Sophia Saliby: A new downtown Lansing business wants to provide the ultimate Dungeons & Dragons playing experience.
Dungeons & Flagons located on Washington Square has a game room available for rent with props, lighting, costumes and special effects for groups playing tabletop roleplaying campaigns among other offerings.
I talked to co-owner Colton Hughes at the business and started by asking him why Dungeons & Dragons has seen resurgence in popularity in recent years.
Colton Hughes: D&D is just celebrating their 50th anniversary last year. It's never been bigger, as you mentioned, and I think that's in part because of things like "Stranger Things" coming out 10 years ago, reintroducing that into the mainstream media, as well as livestreams with actual voice actors, like shows like "Critical Role" and "Dimension 20" having popped up within the last decade as well.
As well as the pandemic creating a space for everybody inside and pods of people, or just people trying to connect and find something to do. You can play in person. I was playing online, and so it was just kind of one of those things, like Animal Crossing, where people were just looking for any excuse to connect with people.
Saliby: We're five years out from the height of the pandemic in 2020, so why was now the time to create this space and this business?
Hughes: Just around 2020 I had started teaching some of my massage clients who were interested in learning about D&D how to play. And it was always just the dream of everyone who's played Dungeons & Dragons to an extent, is like, "Man, I wish I really had a cool space to do it in." And it was just something that was on my back burner.
I have Element Massage next door, and that's been going well, and it wasn't until Wyatt and I started talking about it probably two years ago, about my goals and visions and like, "Wouldn't it be cool?" And he's like, "Yeah, it would." And we kind of just jumped in this year. We had this extra space that we got, and this was just going to be an unused room at the time, so why not start the concept?
Saliby: We're sitting in the game room right now. Can you explain how this space works to people who might not be familiar with tabletop role playing games?
Hughes: People can rent this space out for their regular campaigns, their one-shot adventures which are just single games as well as their hallmark and milestone events like campaign end or a birthday party. Our goal is to have all the tools and toys for people to have the most immersive experience that they can from over 600 miniatures and physical terrain to a projector with digital maps and a soundboard, props to hold in your hand and get you in that moment, or costume pieces to help you just kind of get into character.
We can also provide game masters for hire if someone doesn't have one, and we can teach people how to play, which is one of the biggest barriers to entry for Dungeons & Dragons, we want to provide the ultimate space for people to live out their fantasy games.
Saliby: I wanted to end this conversation by kind of asking about something different, but related. You own a business in downtown Lansing. This is another business in downtown Lansing.
A lot of people say this part of the city is struggling. It's hard to get people in here. So, do you feel confident that that's going to happen, or what would it take for it to be easier for business owners like yourself to keep going?
Hughes: That question is a little varied because my business is not reliant on foot traffic. We have something that people are specifically looking for through Element Massage. They look us up, find us online and they set an appointment, and then they come here. We have independent contractors, so it's not necessarily employees on the clock waiting.
And so, I took that same business model for Dungeons & Flagons, and we have a themed room where people can book an appointment. They can hire an independent contractor, and they can come here for the experience that they are looking for. Downtown has shifted a lot in the last 10 years that I've been here. Element Massage is nearing its 10 year anniversary.
And from the state workers going to work from home to now, it becoming a space where they're building residential towers, even the tallest building is being connected to the back of this building, and they're going to redo Washington Square. I mean, they are going to transform this area, and I want to be prepared for that moment when all these people start coming into downtown Lansing again.
Saliby: That was Dungeons & Flagons co-owner Colton Hughes. The business is having its grand opening on December 4 at noon.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
