Went to a board game cafe in Portland last weekend, and the vibe was way off

I popped into this spot called 'Meeples' on a Saturday afternoon (around 2pm) and it was packed with people glued to their phones, not playing games at all. Like, two groups were just scrolling while a stack of Catan sat untouched. Has anyone else noticed these cafes becoming more about the coffee than the actual gaming?

2 comments

2 Comments

zarak186d ago

oh my god YES that's the exact issue. i went to this place called "The Game Room" in Seattle and same thing. i saw a group of four people just sitting around a table with their phones out, nobody even had a game picked out. another group was taking selfies with the board game shelves for instagram but never actually sat down to play. it's like these cafes are turning into weird social media backdrops where the games are just props. the coffee part is fine but if i wanted to just drink and scroll my phone i'd go to starbucks for half the price.

noah_black6d ago

Look, @zarak18, I'm gonna push back a little here. That Seattle spot "The Game Room" charges $15 for a latte and an hour of table time, and the people taking selfies are probably paying the bills that keep the lights on while you're sessioning Gloomhaven for six hours on one pot of coffee. My local board game cafe in Portland has a "play or leave" rule after 30 minutes of phone scrolling, and guess what? That one went out of business in 2023 because they couldn't keep enough casuals coming through the door. I get that it's annoying to see games being used as photo props, but without the Instagram crowd bankrolling the place, you'd be playing Catan in your mom's basement instead of a legit cafe.