Went to a board game cafe in Portland and saw something weird

Last weekend I stopped by a board game cafe in Portland called The Game Room. I expected a bunch of people playing the latest hot games. But I walked in and half the tables were just sitting around talking. Not even looking at the game boxes. One guy told me they meet up to talk about game design ideas and never actually play. Is that a normal thing for board game geeks? I felt out of place because I came to play.

3 comments

3 Comments

shanes662d ago

Man, that's Portland for you... I went to a similar thing in Seattle once where a whole group just sat around debating the best way to shuffle cards. Never even opened a single game. Some folks just like the ideas more than the actual playing I guess. Made me feel like I was at a book club for rulebooks instead of a game night.

the_hayden1d ago

A buddy of mine landed in a writer's group for RPGs once, zero dice were rolled.

the_mary1d ago

Pull up their website and check the calendar before you go next time. Plenty of game cafes have separate nights for design talk and actual play. The Portland Game Room does a "prototype testing" meetup on Tuesdays that's all about discussing ideas and a "newbie friendly" game night on Thursdays where people actually crack open boxes. You probably walked into the wrong event.