The Kansas City area, already blessed with several really nice game stores, now has another in the Shawnee Mission area. Mission: Board Games represents the realization of a dream for owner Mason Hans, who’s also a native of the area.

New in the small town of Peace River, Alberta is Tapped Out Gaming and Trading, a shop that focuses on Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon.

Board game cafe, Alchemy, opens soon in a 17th century building in Derby, England.

Game On, which carries tabletop games, video games, and comics, has opened a fourth location in Grand Island, Nebraska.

D20: A Bar With Characters has just opened in Kettering, Ohio. It’s open to 1:00 AM (midnight on Sunday) with a large selection of craft beers, or family-friendly mocktails during daytime hours.

New at the Three Rivers Mall in Kelso, Washington is Mythic Escapes, a game shop with in-store escape rooms. This is Mythic Escape’s second location, the previous one in Vancouver.

  • Comments Off on Retail Games

Retail Games

level-up-lounge

In Wyandotte, Michigan, near Detroit, the owners of the Biddle Blend coffee shop opened a gaming space upstairs, which they call Level Up Lounge.

The game shop, Broken Sentry, opened recently in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Opening soon in the Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis is Pieces, a bar, a restaurant, and a place to play board games.

Well Played’s opening is scheduled for early 2017 in Asheville, North Carolina. It’ll serve board games with locally sourced snacks. Also craft beers and coffee.

Liverpool, England has a new board game cafe, Sugar and Dice.

down-to-gameCalifornia’s first private cannabis consumption lounge, Harvest on Geary (San Francisco), will have comfy seating, antique styling, concierge service, and Chess sets.

Fanatix, a Michigan game and comic shop, has opened its third location. The new store in Troy has play space for tabletop and console games and maintains a close relationship with student clubs at Troy University.

Labyrinth Games & Puzzles in Washington, DC (my favorite local shop) has significantly expanded its space, now allowing for more gaming tables and also more retail display. Official celebration of the opening is October 22nd.

Two childhood gaming friends now in their 30s are opening a board game cafe in Derby, U.K. Along with the tabletop games, Game Knight will offer coffee, cupcakes, and a dedicated room for virtual-reality games.

Down to Game, offering play space and the usual retail assortment, opened this past summer in Starkville, Mississippi.

Common Ground Beer and Wine Bar in El Paso sounds more like a relaxing lounge. To complete the feeling, board games are also on tap.

Hamleys toy store of the U.K. opened its first location in China, with 7,000 square-feet of retail and interactive games, in Xinjiekou Sanpower Plaza in Nianjing. Hamleys is also opening up a new location in Resorts World, Birmingham later this month and opened an outlet in Scotland today.

As part of the Canvas Outdoor Museum Show in West Palm Beach, Florida, Narcissus Street will be turned in to a life-sized board game called Streetopoly. Canvas is scheduled just for November but Streetopoly will last for a year and include large movable game pieces.

Barnes & Noble will be hosting in-store game events at all locations October 15th. Participants will have an opportunity to win promo products for featured games.

  • Comments Off on Retail Games

Retail Games

bonus-round-game-cafe

Otherside Games opened a few weeks ago in Edwardsville, Illinois with the usual assortment of games and play space.

Tabletop Game Cafe is soon to open in the Clintonville neighborhood of Columbus. Despite the name, the business intends to focus on the cafe aspect with games a nice accompaniment to the meal. There’ll be no cover charge or rental fee for games.

Monopolatte in Ottawa is closing. The owner said that despite the restaurant and game-space doing a brisk business, it wasn’t bringing in enough money to pay himself and the employees a living wage.

Drew Lovell and Courtney Hartley are raising funds on Kickstarter with the hope of opening Bonus Round as Chicago’s first board game cafe.

Toy Hub, a High Street toy shop in Dunblane, Scotland, is running weekly Game Clubs in local restaurants.

Zander’s Game House, a game cafe (minus the coffee) in Camarillo, California, is focused on providing a family-friendly venue (so also no alcohol).

A new Toys “R” Us store has opened in Huddersfield, U.K.

  • Comments Off on Retail Games

Downtown Dice & GamesLas Vegas’ version of a game cafe is Milk Teaze, where the tea, juice, and board games are served by women in lingerie.

Good Games, a chain of game shops with 25 locations in Australia, is opening its first in the United States. The store will be located in downtown Indianapolis, just around the corner from the convention center.

Retailer Downtown Dice & Games opened last month in Great Falls, Montana.

Molino Lounge, part of the Loungers chain, is opening up in the restored Old Town Hall of Oldham (Manchester area, UK), with an alcohol license but a family-friendly atmosphere, including newspapers, a book-swap, and board games.

Pawns and Pints, a game cafe planned for Kansas City, has already singed a lease in the Crossroads area but is raising money on Kickstarter to stock its board game library.

While looking for a location for Meeples Cafe and Games, a husband and wife pair are hosting Thursday night game events at Toolry in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Black Rabbit bar in Brooklyn has some of its own board games but also encourages patrons to bring their own and occasionally hosts tournaments.

  • Comments Off on Retail Games

Retail Games

Knight Moves Board Game CafeKnight Moves board game cafe of Brookline, Massachusetts opened a second location in Sommerville, serving coffee, tea, Nutella shakes, paninis, and cheese plates.

Boards & Brews is a board game coffee shop that just opened in Douglas, Isle of Man with the dual mission of bringing people together and providing employment opportunities for people with autism.

Newly opened in Barrie, Ontario, Perplexcity serves as board game cafe and host to four different escape rooms.

Board Game Republic is a new game cafe and bar in Denver.

Laura Briggs and husband are raising money on Kickstarter to open Jack Straws as Belfast’s first board game cafe.

  • Comments Off on Retail Games

Cheeky Camel InteriorQatar has its first game shop, Cheeky Camel, opened by a pair of gamers who have day jobs in the petroleum industry. Though on weekdays it’s only open in the evenings, the store seems to host a pretty active gaming scene in its upstairs play space.

Stay2Play is a service in Calgary that sets up restaurants and bars to host board game events. The company provides a library of games, training of staff, and publicity. So far, there 16 locations participating.

There’s a business in Milwaukee that’s planning to open a single venue to serve both video gaming and Chess tournamentsI don’t even

The Game Boutique in Youngtown, Arizona is relocating to a larger space, with expanded hours, and a different name. What’s now called The Orc’s Lair will have a grand opening event July 1st.

Playopolis Board Game CafeAlso opening in July is the Playopolis board game cafe in Rochester, UK.

A new game store will be part of the revitalization of the Bradford Mall in Bradford, Pennsylvania.

Brewpoint Coffee Company in Elmhurst, Illinois already had small selection of board games for its customers but is now partnering with local Tyton Games shop to run weekly board game nights.

For nightly Ramadan break-fasts, the Almaz by Momo restaurant in Dubai serves up board games along with a North-African themed buffet.

The Ampersand Hotel in London has a game room with a variety of board games.

At The Den, a cafe in Sebastian, Florida that from the description seems to define “eclectic”, board game nights feature live music.

There are Backgammon sets in the guest rooms and giant-sized Connect Four and Jenga in the outdoor lounge of Hotel Zephyr on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.

  • Comments Off on Retail Games

Epic Nerd CampCafe Mahjong in Moscow, Russia offers selections from a variety of Asian cuisines, as well as Mahjong sets to play at the table and even lessons for those new to the game.

Epic Nerd Camp is a summer camp for adults in the Pocono Mountains. Among the many activities it offers to campers is gaming—lots of gaming.

The owners of two laser-tag and mini-golf centers in Cincinnati are getting in to board games, opening The Rook board game bar in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Borrowing one of their 800 games is free as long as you’re drinking.

Tiki Tiki Board Games of Woodbury, New Jersey is relocating to the historic Polsky’s building. The new space’s 5,800 square feet (Tiki Tiki’s current store in 1,400) will be shared with Luke & Cade’s Toy Chest.

Two friends who met online are opening the first board game cafe in Bristol, U.K., Chance & Counters. They’re getting custom made gaming tables with out-of-the-way storage space for boxes and other bits.

Fellow Pawn, Robert, is blessed with two new game shops near his home in Connecticut, Games In Real Life and Silver Eagle Games.

Club Sosay in Paddington, near Brisbane, is a board game cafe that took over space from a wine bar. The chef’s specialties include South American empanadas. A second location for the cafe is already in the works.

Eastern-Mediterranean restaurant, Tawla, recently opened in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco, offers patrons Backgammon sets to play while they wait for their food to appear.

Soon to open in Lafayette, Indiana is board game cafe, Merlin’s Beard.

Amazon’s new Handmade marketplace includes a Games section, where you can find such things as a Bubinga wood Cribbage board and hand painted 25 mm fantasy miniatures.

Game Exchange BoxA brother and sister pair, 10 year-old Liam and 8 year-old Claire Goodowens, have set up three Game Exchange Boxes around Winter Park, Florida. The repurposed newspaper boxes are stocked with board games free for the taking, though leaving one of your favorites for the next person to enjoy is the general idea.

The general manager of Kimpton’s new Mason & Rook Hotel in Washington, D.C. holds weekly game nights with guests.

  • Comments Off on Retail Games—Roundup of New Cafes and Game Stores

Diversions Puzzles & GamesThe city of Dunsmuir, California (population 1,500) has a new board game cafe called The Wheel House.

Columbus, Ohio is getting one this summer. Tabletop Game Cafe will specialize in Argentinian empanadas so gamers can play with one hand while eating with the other.

Recently opened Elm City Games in New Haven, Connecticut shares space coffee shop, The Happiness Lab.

The Game Chateau in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania opened in March a stone’s throw from I-81 and therefore a convenient rest stop on my next drive to Central New York. Brother-sister owners Chris Moore and Elle Hammond settled on the cafe concept while investigating the challenging economics of hobby game retail.

An Exeter, U.K. brother-sister pair had a pop-up over one weekend last month but were forced to close it for lack of financing. Now with funding through Kickstarter, they’ve been able to reopen their cafe, simply called “Board“, just a block down the road.

Card Table Republic, recently opened in Davison, Michigan, is a board game lounge, meaning it’s a pay-for-play-space with a 500 game lending library.

Ludorati Cafe in Nottingham, U.K. went for a sophisticated, modern style and hopes to become a tourist attraction.

Diversions Puzzles & Games shop of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is adding a second location, in South Portland, Maine.

Younger’s Turkish Cafe in Hull, U.K. has received permission to stay open until 4:00 AM so that it can host Dominoes and card games.

Small Print Board Game CafeCalgary is getting its third board game cafe. Boxcar will be located in the Victoria Park neighborhood, renting games and selling coffee, beer, wine, and food.

Prince Edward Island’s first board game cafe is to be Small Print in Charlottetown. Preparing for an opening in April, owners Jennifer Campbell and Julian Taylor are busy studying game rules.

Now open in Southampton, UK is Board in the City, specializing in games and vegetarian food.

Dice & Donuts, a board game cafe in Preston, Lancashire, UK, has secured a permanent alcohol license and will soon start serving beers and ciders.

Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Vault of Midnight is opening its third comic book and game shop in downtown Detroit.

Thre guys planning the Vigilante game bar and restaurant in Austin, Texas have put a lot of time and thought in to the design of the their custom tables and lighting. In order to use them, though, patrons will have to be members of their secret society.

Matt Zaremba purchased a building in Bothell, Washington last spring with plans to open a board game store and cafe. He’s been renovating the space himself and is just about ready to open Zulu’s.

« Previous Page  Next Entries »