Monthly Archives: January 2023

Board game cafes in London

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A table top game of Settlers of Catan aka Die Siedler von Catan. Blue (me) has won this game, hooray.
A series of hexagonal pieces in a game of Settlers of Catan

Here’s a list of board games cafes in London! In the 1990s I used to go to the Double Six Club (when it was on Rathbone Place, I think there was an earlier version somewhere else in London) and played all sorts of board games and things like Kerplunk while drinking alcoholic lemonade drinks that seem to have disappeared. Yesterday I discovered the existence of ‘Draughts’ (which has been open since September 2014!) in the Leake Street arches in Waterloo. I used to love going to see films in the cinema there which has sadly disappeared, but I’m amazed I didn’t know there was a games cafe. Anyway, there are lots of places in London for board games (and other games) so I shall have to gather up some pals and drag them along. For completion I’ve also included a list at the end of ones that are closed.

OPEN at time of this post being published (Jan 2023, links checked Feb 2024)

  • Bad Moon Cafe – 159a Great Dover Street, Borough / London Bridge / Elephant & Castle (wheelchair accessible, not sure if child- or dog-friendly)
  • Badger Badger Gaming – 139-145 Deptford High Street, London, SE8 3NU – formerly Tanuki Gaming.
  • D20 – 87 Queens Road, Watford (child- and dog-friendly, wheelchair-accessible)
  • D20 – 21a Windsor Street, Uxbridge (child- and dog-friendly but not wheelchair accessible)
  • Draughts – Arch 16, Leake Street Arches, Waterloo (child- and dog-friendly, wheelchair accessible)
  • Draughts – 337 Action Mews, Hackney, Haggerston overground (child- and dog-friendly, wheelchair accessible)
  • Escape Bar – 25 West Ham Lane, Stratford (not sure if child- or dog-friendly or if wheelchair accessible) [there also seem to be venues in Dalston, Leyton and Shepherd’s Bush]
  • The Library Pot – Richmond (children over 8 [no babies / toddlers], one small dog per table – let them know at booking as it affects which table you’ll be allocated). Not sure if it’s wheelchair accessible. Has its own Meetup page https://www.meetup.com/gamescafe/
  • Loading – 129 Stoke Newington High Street – board games and computer games (not sure if child- or dog-friendly or if wheelchair accessible)
    Loading – 120 Peckham Hill Street – board games and computer games (not sure if child- or dog-friendly or if wheelchair accessible)
  • The Ludoquist – 63-67 High Street, Croydon (kids and dogs welcome, but note it can get a bit loud at busy times. #DogsOfTheLudoquist). Not sure if it’s wheelchair accessible.
  • The Muse Lounge – 182 Walton Street, South Kensington (not sure if child- or dog-friendly or if wheelchair accessible)
  • Rogues Quarter – 155-157 Queens Crescent, Kentish Town (not sure if child- or dog-friendly or if wheelchair accessible)
  • Rule Zero – 3 Succession Walk, Hackney Wick – Magic The Gathering and Pokémon (kid-friendly but no kids after 9pm, dogs welcome, not sure about wheelchair accessibility)

There’s also a public chess game with large pieces in Norfolk Square Gardens, Paddington.

CLOSED, or no longer seems to feature games

  • The Beer Hive – Arch 283, Belinda Road, off Coldharbour Lane nr Loughborough Junction – website doesn’t work (http://www.beerhive.london/) and they last tweeted in 2017.
  • The Board Game Cave (Highbury) – permanently closed
  • Cakes & Ladders (Wood Green) – permanently closed
  • Candid Cafe (Angel) is still open but doesn’t mention games on its website
  • Crooked Billet (Wimbledon) is still open but doesn’t mention games on its website
  • Proceed Clockwise (Shoreditch) – permanently closed
  • Scenario aka Bar Scenario – 97 Stoke Newington Road, Dalston Kingsland – website now for sale (barscenario.com), was last tweeted about in 2016
  • Tanuki Gaming – 145 Deptford High Street (kid and dog-friendly, wheelchair accessible but uses a different venue’s disabled loo, 100 metres away) – has become Badger Badger Games.
  • The Thirsty Dragon (Greenwich) – permanently closed

Further reading