Board Game Time
Post by Ben - 11/14/2024
One of my favorite parts of going to a brewery with my soon to be four year old is checking out the game shelf. Now, they don’t usually have Monkey Around (they should) or First Orchard (his favorites), but we always find something fun. I’ve created matching games out of Sushi Go! and made more than a few dominoes fall all to have that family time at a brewery last a little longer. Almost every brewery has a game shelf if you know where to look. Here are a few of my favorite game shelves and the breweries they live in:
Not the biggest game shelf on the list, but some good stuff for groups and kids. This is where I created the Sushi Go! matching game. So, if you like that game, you can go play it, but the cards are probably all sorted together. I’m sorry? The calm brewery atmosphere helps with playing, especially if you have a little kid, and you can get a Slow Cure or a boozy slushy with your gummy worms.
One of the great game breweries of Charlotte and perhaps the finest example of the game shelf idea (they also have Nintendos and pinball). Every Wednesday is Game Night if you love games so much you are reading a blog about it, just go. Drink a glass of The Big Lubelski or a Faceplant into Hops and teach your kids the joys (and frustrations) of Carcassonne.
GIlde has a well maintained shelf of games right when you walk in the door. You can always grab a Slippery Slope and Chutes and Ladders and have yourself a time. Or! Or you could show up to their Wednesday night Game Night and learn Skat, Germany’s national card game. Grand! (this is something you say while playing Skat)
This great South End games brewery has pinball machines and soccer pool and shuffle board and ping pong and air hockey, but once you get past those, they have some board games. Their Game Night (some Thursdays, check their calendar before hauling in your own box of Ticket to Ride, nerd) is focused on making friends. Get an Elated (if it’s not too early in the season) and be a good sport, that’s how you make those friends.
Vaulted Oak is a brewery with so much neighborhood action, it makes me want to live in Oakwold or whatever it’s called. There are always families and friends just chatting and hanging out. Kids taking turns on the video games (Yay!), kids begging for more money for the claw machine (Boo!). They have pinball too, but you can settle in with the board games. I’m having a Carolina Harvest and a good time.
This is the boss level game brewery. Board games? Of course. Pinball and video games too. Their Tabletop Tuesdays takes game night to a new level with Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering groups. It’s worth the ride to Fort Mill for a great night. Get a Cosmic Ballet and roll those bones.
Divine Barrel’s Great Game Shelf
I have yet to play with one of those tilting table games they have had since they opened. It’s important to set goals.