On an unassuming corner of a retail district in Albuquerque, NM is a business with paper covering the windows. A single banner is displayed in the window that shows a Meeple, a plus sign, a cup of coffee, an equal sign, and two question marks.

I think we all know where this is going.

The Empire Board Game Library will (hopefully) open this May. The Albuquerque Journal reports that the shop will feature more than 600 games from Monopoly to “games you’ve never heard of,” that can be rented while patrons sip their hot beverages. Read the rest of this entry »

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Two alumnae of the University of Maryland will be opening a 3000 sq. ft. game cafe at The Varsity, an off-campus student housing and retail space in College Park, Maryland. Board and Brew will be set up as a coffeehouse, with an hourly fee for the first three hours of gaming. The game cafe will have between 500-100 board games from family game night classics like Hungry Hungry Hippos to more current games like Through the Ages and Blokus. Ben Epstien, one of the partners behind the venture said, “I think part of the reason we came out with [the cafe concept] is there are plenty of places that are gaming shops … but they’re really just a game store that has some people come in and play games.” Board and Brew is hoping to fill a vacancy in the local entertainment scene by having the game cafe be more than just a game store, with weekly open mic events, singles events, and live entertainment in addition to game tournaments, leagues, and “learn to play” nights. Board and Brew is scheduled to open in late January.

For more information, visit the Diamondback’s coverage of the store and the partners’ informal announcement thread at Reddit.

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