Andy Matthews @commadelimited

32 Comments

The Ultimate Worldwide Guide to Board Game Cafes

December 27, 2019

Andy Matthews

37 Min Read

Our ultimate guide to board game cafes has everything you need to know about what a board game cafe is, or how to find one in your area! Last updated on June 22, 2024.

Cafe list last updated: June 22, 2024

What if I told you there’s a place where everybody knows your name, your favorite snacks, the type of coffee you drink, and even the board games you love? Then what if I told you that place might be in your town, or perhaps even right around the corner? I’m talking about board game cafes of course; the modern age’s answer to karaoke, lame hookup joints, and sketchy dive bars.

Looking for the board game cafe list?

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Photo credit: Adam Rice – Queen & Rook Game Cafe, Philadelphia, PA, USA

What’s a Board Game Cafe?

Just what a board game cafe is might be up for debate, but most people would probably agree that it’s a coffee shop, bar, or restaurant with an unexpected and delightful number of board games. Most board game cafes offer food and drinks of some sort; from simple pastries all the way up to full table service with burgers, sandwiches, pizza, and other tasty offerings. Some board game cafes even serve beer, wine, or mixed drinks; and of course they all serve coffee.

The defining characteristic of a board game cafe is of course the games. Some cafes might have as few as 50 or 100 popular titles mixed with beloved classics, while other cafes such as Snakes & Lattes in Canada offer massive volume, with over 1,200 board games lining the shelves of their three Toronto locations.

Board game cafes typically have a small cover charge for anyone sitting down and playing games. Some cafes will waive the cover charge if you order food and drink, while others may simply count it against your order. This helps manage the upkeep of the games, which require frequent repairs and replacements. One copy of Catan could hit the table over a dozen times a week, much higher than your typical copy at home. This also accounts for those patrons who sit and play but might not order food and drinks. If the cafe has staff that help you learn a game, the game fee helps pay for their time as well. Remember that while they’re called “board game cafes” they’re primarily a restaurant…so if you get good service, consider asking if they accept tips; it will certainly be appreciated.

What Can I Do at a Board Game Cafe?

Board game cafes are a wonderful place to gather a group of friends for fun times. Consider if your “table away from home”. That means you can expect lots of great conversation, good food and drinks, and even some friendly competition.

Most board game cafes offer an extensive library of games which means they’re perfect places to go if you want to try out that classic 90s board game, or maybe even the newest title fresh from the store. Many cafes even have staff whose job it is to teach patrons how to play games. At a visit to Snakes & Lattes in Toronto I talked to a “game guru” who admitted to being able to teach several hundred games from their shelves…amazing.

Many cafes will offer a regular schedule of events like Magic the Gathering nights, trivia nights, or other themed events meant to attract a diverse crowd of people. Of course you’re almost always welcome to walk in and grab a table for whatever games your group wants to play.

Who Are Board Game Cafes For?

While board game stores tend to cater to people already in the hobby, board game cafes fill a different space. They’re a friendly, open atmosphere with smiling staff and lots of neat things to see and do. They’re also a great place to attract new people to the hobby. And because they’re more likely to be nestled into a community they’re also great places to meet for drinks after work, or on the weekends.

Commonly Asked Questions at Board Game Cafes

While we can’t answer these questions for any board game cafe, these are commonly asked questions at many cafes. Phone ahead, or check the website of any cafe for answers to these questions before visiting.

Do you sell games?
Do you have game teachers?
Can I bring in outside games?
Can I bring in outside food and drinks?
Do you take reservations?
Do you have private rooms?
How long is my table fee good for?
Do you have a come and go policy?
Do you have a waitlist?
Do you accept credit cards?
Do you serve alcohol?
Do you have to be 21 to enter?
Can I bring my kids?

Where Can I Find a Board Game Cafe Near me?

By now you might be asking “where can I find a board game cafe near me?”. You’re in luck because our extensive list of board game cafes (below) indicates there are board cafes of one stripe or another in 63 different countries, from the United States to Vietnam to Canada to Colombia and everywhere in between.

You can even visit a board game cafe when you’re in another city for a board game convention.

While this list doesn’t claim to be comprehensive, we’ll be updating regularly. If you come across a cafe that isn’t on this list, or find one that’s closed down, please consider using the form below to let us know and we’ll get the list updated.

Thanks to the Boardgame Cafes Facebook group for their input on this article.

Worldwide Board Game Cafe List

The following list of worldwide board game cafes is updated regularly.

Add your own cafe, or update an existing cafe.

Can’t find the cafe you’re looking for? Click the crosshair icon on the top right corner of the map to expand it, then search for your cafe.

Listing 858 cafes

Argentina

Australia

Austria

Belgium

Brasil

Brazil

Brunei

Bulgaria

Cambodia

Canada

Alberta

British Columbia

Manitoba

New Brunswick

Newfoundland & Labrador

Nova Scotia

Ontario

Prince Edward Island

Quebec

Saskatchewan

Chile

Colombia

Costa Rica

Czech Republic

Denmark

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

England

East

East Midlands

London

North East

North West

South East

South West

West Midlands

Yorkshire

Finland

France

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

Bretagne

Centre-Val de Loire

Grand Est

Île-de-France

Normandie

Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Occitanie

Pays de la Loire

Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur

Georgia

Germany

Greece

Guatemala

Hong Kong

Hungary

Iceland

India

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Ireland

Israel

Italia

Italy

Jamaica

Japan

Kenya

Kuwait

Lebanon

Malaysia

Mexico

Moldova

Myanmar

Netherlands

New Zealand

Nigeria

North Macedonia

Northern Ireland

Norway

Oman

Peru

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Saudi Arabia

Scotland

Serbia

Singapore

South Africa

South Korea

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Taiwan

Thailand

Turkey

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United States

Alabama

Arkansas

Arizona

California

Colorado

Connecticut

District of Columbia

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Iowa

Illinois

Indiana

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Massachusetts

Maryland

Maine

Michigan

Minnesota

Missouri

Mississippi

Montana

North Carolina

Nebraska

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

Nevada

New York

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Virginia

Vermont

Washington

Wisconsin

United States

Vietnam

Wales

TagsBoard Gaming Resources

About the author

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Andy Matthews

Founder of Meeple Mountain, editor in chief of MeepleMountain.com, and software engineer. Father of 4, husband to 1, lover of games, books, and movies, and all around nice guy. I run Nashville Game Night, and Nashville Tabletop Day.

32 Comments

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Lee says:

December 27, 2019 at 12:14 pm

Wow, congratulations! This is a great list. I never thought you would have the Troy NY location and you do! Thanks for creating it.
David says:

December 27, 2019 at 5:54 pm

Good list, but there are so many more board game cafes in Australia. South Australia has BrainHackr. Victoria has Games Lab, Queen of Spades and Marche. Queensland has Vault Games.
Trevor says:

December 27, 2019 at 6:52 pm

Thanks for spending the time to do this. In Korea, there are so many, though, so if you’re interested in searching them out, you would go to either Naver Maps or Kakao Maps and type in “보드 게임 카페” (Board Game Cafe), and you can see hundreds upon hundreds of them. There are a few English Speaking-friendly ones, but The Dice Latte is probably the most well known one, though. And there’s a big chain board game cafe called Red Button.
- Andy Matthews says:
  
  December 28, 2019 at 12:13 am
  
  Do you know of someone who speaks Korean who might be able to assist in the collection of cafes from that country?
Smita says:

December 27, 2019 at 7:36 pm

Thanks so much! I’m very impressed and awed by your zeal, enthusiasm, love/dedication and diligence. Wonderful!
John says:

December 27, 2019 at 7:42 pm

https://www.boardsandbitestyler.com/

A store in Tyler, Texas. Nice folks.
F says:

December 27, 2019 at 7:46 pm

GameCraft Brewing in Laguna Hills, CA

https://yelp.to/qTKq/atTggw15L2
Kelly Shane says:

December 29, 2019 at 2:53 am

I didn’t see Lebanon on the list. There’s a great one called Multiverse in Beirut. They’ve done a great job with it and deserve some attention.
- Andy Matthews says:
  
  December 29, 2019 at 2:57 pm
  
  Thanks! adding.
Liam says:

December 29, 2019 at 6:32 am

You’ve included Wales in UK, but placed Scotland separately?
- Andy Matthews says:
  
  December 29, 2019 at 2:56 pm
  
  That was an oversight, thanks for mentioning it. Fixed.
Andrew S says:

January 3, 2020 at 1:45 pm

All Around the Board Game Cafe (north of Charlotte, NC) has closed.
- Andy Matthews says:
  
  January 3, 2020 at 1:46 pm
  
  Confirmed and removed. Thank you.
Stuart says:

January 4, 2020 at 10:14 pm

Well done on this list, obviously a lot of work.

I’d like to submit Pixel Bar and Cafe in Huntingdale, Melbourne (Australia). They lean more towards video games but do have some shelves of board games.

https://www.facebook.com/PixelbarAus/

And can I make one correction? Whilst it’s pronounced “Saint Kilda” we write it as “St Kilda” . (It’s a very minor quibble but it’s weirding me out to see “Saint”!)
- Andy Matthews says:
  
  January 4, 2020 at 11:56 pm
  
  Thanks for the correction Stuart, St Kilda updated.
rajaqq says:

March 5, 2020 at 5:51 am

Excellent blog! I found it while surfing around on Google. Content of this page is unique as well as well researched. Appreciate it.
Steen says:

January 12, 2021 at 1:38 am

Great site. 2 new boardgame cafe in Denmark
Cafe Firefly, Munkegade 4, 6000 Kolding, Denmark (https://cafe-firefly.dk)
Æ Bræt, Store Rådhusgade 19C, 6400 Sønderborg, Denmark (https://www.facebook.com/aebraet)
- Andy Matthews says:
  
  January 12, 2021 at 8:22 am
  
  Got it, thanks.
Peter says:

April 30, 2021 at 8:14 am

Thanks for the nice list.
I’d like to add the Würfel & Zucker in Hamburg (Germany) https://wuerfelundzucker.de/
- Andy Matthews says:
  
  April 30, 2021 at 8:19 am
  
  Thanks Peter. Würfel & Zucker is already on the list though! 😀
Misi says:

May 1, 2021 at 11:43 am

Good list! But I’d like to submit our board game cafe, it’s called Játsz/Ma Társasjáték Kávézó from Hungary. 🙂
- Andy Matthews says:
  
  May 1, 2021 at 12:23 pm
  
  Sure thing. Please use the submission form and I’ll see about getting you added.
Jeevanjot Kaur says:

July 14, 2021 at 2:29 am

Thanks for sharing useful information, Its a amazing Post . Keep Sharing!
Dominique says:

July 20, 2021 at 9:41 am

I wish this list were a little better organized, it’s so hard to find exactly how many stores are in each state/province
- Andy Matthews says:
  
  July 20, 2021 at 9:44 am
  
  Greetings Dominique, thanks for your input. Do you have suggestions as to how this list might be better organized? Smaller countries are easier to work through because there are fewer listings. For example, what country / state are you looking at so that we can get a feel for how best to resolve your feedback?
Christoph Schmidt says:

June 8, 2022 at 3:08 am

Great list, but you should still combine Deutschland and Germany 😉
Nadia Parkins says:

February 15, 2023 at 12:52 pm

Hi Andy, great list!

There’s one in Jamaica called Diced Cafe that you can add to the list
- Andy Matthews says:
  
  February 15, 2023 at 2:02 pm
  
  Nadia, I’d love to have you add it to the list! There’s a button at the top of the list which allows you to add new entries.
paige says:

May 16, 2023 at 7:15 am

Mana in Pittsburgh has closed 🙁
- Andy Matthews says:
  
  May 16, 2023 at 8:17 am
  
  Thanks for the heads up Paige, I’ll update.
beckmann says:

October 16, 2023 at 7:11 am

Nothing new about playing board games in a cafe, been done since the 1700s. Also what’s not new is paying employees low pay like the capitalist game board cafe owners are doing. So game board cafes are the same old shit.
- Andy Matthews says:
  
  October 16, 2023 at 8:56 am
  
  I’m sure there are board game cafes that underpay their workers, just like any business out there. However I’m in a Facebook group for board game cafe owners and most of them indicate that they’re paying fair wage, $15/hour or more.