But just for a few hours.
“I like the cooperative aspect,” he says.
“It lets us overcome a challenge, and every mission is different.”
Entrance fees are typically $5 per person on weekdays, sometimes more on weekends or in large cities.
Some cafes offer discounts for members or cafe guests who order a certain amount from the menu.
Cardboard Crowns owner Ben Adams stocks nearly 900 unique games to appeal to a range of tastes.
Newcomers look for classic Americana: Scrabble, Life, Connect 4.
Couples look for games labeled as good for two, such as Battleship and Patchwork.
“A lot have taken away the player-elimination aspect,” explains Adams.
Plus, there’s less direct conflict in many games.
A subgenre, cooperative games, has players pooling talents to beat the game itself.
Theres also the company.
Cardboard Crowns, where roughly one out of five guests are under 18, has a kids menu.
“We call ourselves a social gaming house with a bar and restaurant,” says co-owner Keith Meyers.
In Berkeley, Auerbach and Press appreciate supporting a local business by spending time at Victory Point.
“You get to know everyone better.
It’s just fun.”
She has written forAARP the Magazineand for The Washingtonian, where she served as the magazine’s managing editor.
