Feb. 18, 2022
Instead of playing board games at home or at our friends' homes, we sometimes go to a local board game cafe to play games. Board game cafes or bars have hundreds of board games for people to play.
There are a few things that make board game cafes different; they work slightly differently than a regular bar or cafe. While people do play board games at home or in a regular bar or cafe, there are many reasons why people go to board game cafes. How do they work?
It's exciting to walk in and see hundreds of games neatly arranged just asking to be played. But before you can get them, you usually have to pay the game keeper.
The fee covers the cost of library expansion and maintenance. When a popular game is used hundreds of times, it does start to wear out and break down and needs to be replaced. Also, games can be very expensive. I can read the side of the box to see the number of players, game time, game style, and choose my favorites.
Board game cafes offer a great place to try many games with friends without having to buy a copy of each game.
If your gaming group all really likes the game and can see themselves playing it again, then you know it's worth the purchase. To save money, one person in our gaming group will buy the game so that we don't have multiple copies between us.
Sometimes we bring smaller, more portable games to play at the local bar. That's fine - when the bar is quiet. But our local board game cafe is so much better than a bar! Here's why.
No loud music
Clean tables and don't get wet from damaging game drinks
Tables big enough to play games
Like-minded people go there
It is centrally located, so everyone is easily accessible
It has bigger and heavier games that are too big to bring to the bar
Once you're settled at your table, your Game Master will take your order. This is one of the wonderful things about going to a board game cafe. Table service! While they bring you drinks and snacks, you can play the game without interruption.
When playing at home, this usually falls on the host, who will be preoccupied with guests while playing the game.
Local board game cafes serve drinks, light meals like bagels and quiche, and snacks like chips and chocolate cake. You won't eat 3 courses while playing games and eating at the same time. It just doesn't fit on the table!
Thank goodness the days of nerds being the only type to play board games are over. Board games attract all kinds of people. Because the game is social, it makes sense for board game cafes to host events for tabletop gamers.
Some of the events that board game cafes can host are
New Year's Eve parties
Game testing sessions for game designers
Social gaming
Disability game nights
Game tournaments
Role-playing game night
I hope you try a board game cafe or bar! They are fun! If you are a board game bar operator and are looking for a game maker, contact manufacturer HPOESfor a list of products and we will recommend the right game for you, customize it to your needs and provide you with the perfect solution. Contact us now!
