Draughts

This is the home of board games. There are over 500 and counting. With everything from Mastermind to Cluedo, from Operation to Battleship — you can revisit your childhood and teens. Blink and you would miss this little venue, as it’s a bit off the beaten track. Make your way to Haggerston station (just down the road from bustling Shoreditch and trendy Hoxton) and around the corner are some old train arches which have been converted to venues not only home to Draughts, but also some bars and grills (reviews coming soon). It is a great chilling pastime to sit with your beau/​bae or friends, sipping on a chilled beer, guessing answers, throwing dice, pressing buttons and building stuff. Game on!

I never seen so many versions of Setters of Catan in one place. If that doesn’t get you going then try one of the many other games. Not sure how to play? There are informed staff who LOVE games so they are happy to show you how to play. Oh did I mention there is beer and drinks. Great for a date or a group get together.

I love love love this place! If you want a really fun and chill evening out with your friends, or alternatively an evening of mad competition trying to ruthlessly crush each other (ideal!) this is the place to go. For £5 you have a day to use their massive collection of awesome games to compete with your friends and have a blast. Their collection is amazing and it’s really great to get to play so many and try them all out. As a gamer, it is really nice to do that instead of buying them first and finding out you might not like them.
The tables here are comfy, the food is a small selection of simple things but nicely done (brownies are good), and the vibe is relaxed and fun. The staff here is really good about answering any questions you have about the game which helps cut down time spent staring at a rule book and they are super nice. I think London needs a place like this and I’m so happy it’s finally here!

I loved this place. I’d heard good things but it really did live up to its reputation. A good selection of beers, nice food and most importantly a massive range of games ranging from Jenga to Magic.
I found this place while looking for a social activity for work peeps after a day of ‘team building’ which required some distraction and drinks! It couldn’t have been more perfect! Playing a game of snake oil, for which we had a short tutorial from Games Master (not Patrick Moore) Mike! and scoffing pumpkin beer and various small plates. Great stuff.
Highly recommended.

Really fun afternoon spent here. The £5 entry charge gets you 4 hours of games, which is pretty generous. They have LOADS of games, categorised really well. Unfortunately, we were told to speak to the ‘games guru’ for recommendations and it took us quite a while to get a hold of him — you’d think in a board games café, more than one member of staff might be able to advise you on games. However, when we finally did get a hold of him, he was very patient and talked us through all the rules of the game rather than just leaving us to ourselves.
There’s also food and drink on offer.

Amazingly fun place with tons of board games and good brew. Deffo recommend trying at least once!

I’ve never seen myself as a boardgames connoisseur, partly because Monopoly and Cards Against the Humanity were easy and everything else seemed to difficult to pick up. That’s until a friend introduced me to Dixit and then I realised that boardgames can be much more fun.
We (5 people) headed there on a Tuesday evening and the café was busy — we had to wait for a table for a short while, so recommend going there either earlier than 8.30 (6pm would be good). Spent about 1.5 hours playing Jamaica — a round would take you about 45 – 60 minutes, an excellent game! I also devoured the salted caramel brownies they are delicious and you should try them.
Service is excellent. The staff would come up and teach you the game rules if you’re unsure. Draughts located in the arches of the Overground bridge — so it’s spacious, albeit dark (which adds to the ambience)
The cover charge is £5 per person and you can stay as long as you like, playing as many games as you like. I’m definitely going back there again!

So glad to have found this place! It’s awesome and there really isn’t much of a credible way to dispute that. £5 to play whatever board games you like — and there are hundreds of them — for however long you’d like, with recommendations and lessons included if you want.
We went on Saturday around 11:30 am because they don’t take reservations on the weekends and we didn’t want to risk going later and waiting around. There were several tables still available at the time. We stayed until 3 pm (they have a 4 hour limit when there is a line) and it was full by then. Ben helped us out after we grabbed a table. He spoke with us about what types of games we like generally and what we feel like playing and gave us some recs for things we’d never heard of. He even thought us how to play them (because we wanted him to). Then he left us to play, checking in once or twice to see how it was going.
They also have food and beverages. We got a crushed avocado open-​faced sandwich, but swapped the ham for halloumi which they were cool with. Sandwich was good — lots of avocado. Got two coffees as well, one flat white the other an American with whole milk. Tap water upon request. They bring the food to you and will also take your order at the table as well. No need to go up to the counter. They also serve beer, wine and a few cocktails if you want.
The room is spacious and they have two comfortable sized bathrooms for use. Will absolutely be back! It’s a fun time for two people or a whole group.

Why have I not reviewed Draughts yet? I have zero idea, because it’s a space I truly love.
My story with Draughts goes back right to the start. I had been in Boston and New York and actually stumbled into board game cafes in both cities, and was lamenting the fact that we didn’t have one here in London. And as soon as I put it on Twitter, my friend goes, «Wait, didn’t one just open?»
Yes, it did, days before. And it was glorious.
Draughts is bigger, prettier and better staffed than any board game store I’ve ever been too. It also has a nice selection of sweets and drinks to do with the games.
But it’s all about the games, and the games are good. There’s a giant wall of games in the back of almost everything you could want to play, from your basic Monopoly to the insanity of Firefly, the Board Game. More than that, they have a staff of serious experts. Not sure what to play? They’ll help you pick it. Picked it and not sure how to play? They’ll teach you. (We played a game called Jamaica yesterday which was awesome — a pirate racing board game. Had no idea how to play at all but it was easy enough to learn and then a blast to sit there for an hour+ and finish it up.)
It’s £5 to play unlimited games that night and damn, it can be packed in there. We got there about 8:30 on a Wednesday night and there wasn’t a table to be had. Luckily one opened but if you do want to play, go early and stay for a while. Have fun!

Great to see London finally having a dedicated board game café! Great selection of games, good atmosphere and friendly staff :)

My wife, son and I were visiting from the San Francisco Bay Area and decided to drop by Draughts this Tuesday. I am a huge board game nerd and was looking forward to trying a board game café during my London holiday. None of us were disappointed!
The cider, juice and brownies were all very good! My wife marveled at the architecture of the place. My son and I did a bit of research ahead of time and started out with a gateway game, Survive! With some great help from Ezra the game guru, we were off to the swimming, conniving, boat flipping and meeple-​eating wonders of that particular game! I was suitably trounced by my son and wife as many of my meeples were consumed by the creatures of the depths!
We played Survive twice, and Khet 2.0 once. Both games were in great condition and believe me — I’ve been to a pub where this wasn’t the case and it put a damper on the evening…
We all enjoyed London during our stay, but I ADORE Draughts!
Take note, Snakes and Lattes (Toronto) and the soon to open EndGame Café (Oakland) — this is how you do a board game café RIGHT!

Didn’t even know this place existed, wow, a massive collection of games along with guided knowledge from the staff, couple that with great looking/​sounding food food ‘and’ Gentleman Batista coffee, what can I say. Socialise with a beer/​wine/​coffee, bite to eat, playing some game you thought was extinct, even saw Kerplunk! Blast from the past. Quite a few tables, £5 each per session for gaming, not compulsory to play though. Worth a visit.

Board games, beer and decent food.
Came with a few mates (I recommend at least 4 of you to maximise board game utility) and its epic. Really don’t know why there is only one!
Games are REALLY FUN. Drunk Rich, my alter ego treated me to snake oil cos it was so much fun to play (ever tried selling someone a corpse beach? I’ve seen it done).
The drink is good too. I really like meantime and they have a good range of it. Others too but I would be lying if I said i could remember what they are…
The food is also decent. Quite light. Kind of perfect for the situation…
I 100% recommend coming here for drinks with mates, family, dates… It’s just good fun.

Loved it! Went with a large group of friends and stayed all day and it was all it was hyped up to be.
They have a great selection of games, including most of my favourites, sorted by type and amount of players. Their tables are purpose built with space underneath to store the boxes and personal stuff that has no room on the table. The staff is mostly very friendly and knowledgeable about the games and the atmosphere is great.
I’m only deducting a point for their food choices. There’s not a lot to choose from apart from snacks, so if you’re planning a long gaming session, you better come prepared with a full stomach. A few substantial meal offers would be nice.
Other than that it’s a great place, definitely recommend it for gaming fans!

We came here for a Unilocal event and it was an awesome night. There are SO many boardgames.
Probably the best thing was the game gurus who teach you rules to new games and can recommend games based on what you’re in to.
I really like what they’ve done with the space; it’s under one of the Haggerston railway arches and they’ve made it look pretty cool. Large space too.
When I found out it was £5 entry I was a bit miffed but actually when playing games for hours you can easily forget to replenish your drinks, or not want to leave the game to go to the bar. So the guys have to make their money somehow!
There are some snacks and sandwiches on the menu. We got tasters of the two food boards at the Unilocal event. They were good but you’d need a few to share to get full. Drinks prices were quite expensive.
BUT it’s clean and tidy inside, and the games are well looked after. Nothing worse than sticky boardgames that smell of stale beer!
I want to say that I will definitely come back again but from the looks of their reservation system it may be a long time…
— Bookings are available on weekdays BEFORE 7pm for groups up to 8.
— On Sat and Sun it’s first-​come first-​served.
— There are a small number of unbookable seats which are filled on a first-​come first-​served basis.
This places gets REALLY busy, really fast so I imagine it’d be a queueing situation which, let’s face it, does not look too good with games such as Dominion and Settlers of Catan which can last for hours…
If you can get a table, go for it!

I’ve been to board game bars in other cities and it’s wonderful to finally have an equivalent in London. Draughts has a huge selection of games, probably well over 100 different titles. Some of these games you’ve heard of, but there are guaranteed to be new titles you can discover and test out here before buying them for your home game nights. They even have expansion packs for some of the larger games, providing additional variants of gameplay for your favorite games.
The game gurus who work there are friendly, helpful, and super knowledgable about all of the games. Sit down with a new game and they’ll walk you through the game dynamics and some basic strategy.
The flat fee for all-​you-​can-​play is awesome and a superb deal! The food, snacks, and drinks are tasty and reasonably priced. The décor is fun and hip. I’ll be coming back here often!

This place is full of win!
I missed out on a Unilocal event here due to work commitments, so when Gaz; one of my board game-​loving pals came to London I was determined to finally give it a try!
We arrived just after midday and were seated at one of the last remaining tables they had. This place really gets busy quickly!
Ben, our friendly games guru spent a good hour of his shift with us, finding out what type of games we like, recommending new ones for us to try, and then explaining in depth how to play them.
In the 5 HOURS we were there, we played Five Tribes (my new favourite) and two other games that I can’t pronounce, let alone spell.
It costs £5 per person to play for as long as you want, which is really quite reasonable if you make a day of it. The food choices are limited but good, we shared a mezze platter, (falafel, humous, tzatziki, pitta bread and sundried tomatoes), and each had a sandwich; my salami, cheese and rocket was nice enough, but lame compared to Gaz’s pesto and haloumi bad boy! We also had a few beers each throughout the afternoon, and once they sorted our bill out, (they mistakenly tried to charge us just shy of £90 for all sorts of stuff we didn’t have) it all came to £45.
£9 per hour for fun times with a pal is good value in my book!

I visited Draughts in a group of six people on a Friday evening– we were all aware of London’s new board game café through word of mouth and its highly publicized quirkiness in blogs and social media. The primary concern was that we could guarantee getting a table for a group, as lengthy waits and snaking queues are to be expected with this ilk of trendy London venue. Draughts only takes reservations during the week, so we ditched our original plan to meet up for a Sunday afternoon of retro games. Instead, we made the latest possible reservation on a Friday, which was at 19:00. We had a table waiting for us and we remarked that there wasn’t an empty table for the duration of the evening, so I would avoid chancing it. The café actually can’t sit that many large groups– maybe about 20 in total– and the nature of the activity on offer encourages people to arrive and stay until closing time.
The café is open and there’s a fair amount of space between tables, which is advantageous for groups who opt for games that require concentration. However, we did remark the strange tone in the room for a Friday night, as there were many groups who had committed themselves to role play/​strategy games that were not as social as the games that we happily engaged in (yes, there were no fewer than three rounds of Hungry, Hungry Hippos and Moustache Smash respectively). Our revelry was met with stern expressions and disgust from one table of very serious looking hipsters.
The café works like this: there is a wide selection of board games, ranging from tried classics to esoteric curiosities (Salmon Run or Cards Against Humanity– tough call). Games are displayed on shelves in the back of the café, categorised under sections such as ‘family’, ‘strategy’ and ‘group-​friendly’. The staff mingle around and will offer to help you find exactly what you’re after– a board game crack dealer if there ever was one– and they bubble over with boundless enthusiasm over each game.
You pay £5 as an entry fee (our fees were just applied to our table’s tab) and there is a bar with some good local beers– Camden Brewery and Meantime are represented and Crate cider was a nice local touch. There are small dishes– mostly compact but appealing sandwiches for about £5 each or a meat or mezze sharing board that looked appetising. Be aware, though– between entry fees and about three drinks each, we managed to spend about £50 between two people!
It was novel and we did have a great time– the nadir was the fact that the version of Mousetrap on offer was alien to our entire table and looked like a cheap knock-​off of the version we played as children. We were very curious about the games that other groups were playing and I feel that a second group outing is warranted for more adventurous choices.
It’s maybe not as cheap for a night out– outside snacks are discouraged, for instance– but everyone should spend a soggy afternoon here. If they could improve the Friday night ambiance, it would be even better for a bit of silly fun after a long working week.
It’s just a shame about weekend reservations!

This place is like a toy shop where you get to play with all of the toys. Which all happen to be board games. And where you get to get slightly drunk at the same time. With table service. If that sounds good, you will not be disappointed.
The range of board games is impressive, as is the level or organisation. They games are arranged by ‘style’. There are sections for the serious games, arranged by level of seriousness, and then other areas like two player games. They have silly games like Hungry HIppos, there are a few types of Jenga, and there is probably everything in between.
It’s set in a railway arch and there is a fair amount of space with lots of tables for playing games on, it’s a good setup. I have to admit that I didn’t take much of a look at their drink selection because I saw that they have Yakima Red and I needed to look no longer, but reading it online now, it seems to tick all of the boxes well. I didn’t eat, but I looked longingly at the mezze and charcuterie boards and would have definitely indulged if I wasn’t totally absorbed by the games.
The keen staff are on hand to recommend games for you and to explain the rules, which is much more fun than studying them yourself. I learned about a few fun games in just a couple of hours. I have no criticism of this place.
Apparently it gets very busy and you can now book — take a look at the website.

Wow what a gem! I absolutely love this place. I visited for the first time earlier today and can genuinely say it’s one of the funnest 6 hours I’ve spent in London.
So what’s good about it? The choice of games is amazing, there’s so many to choose from. There’s literally something to suit everyone. The staff are really friendly and are on hand to advise you of which game to go for.
There’s a cover charge of 5 pounds per person, which may seem excessive, but when you consider you’ll spend a good few hours there, seems quite reasonable. Drinks and snacks are standard coffee shop prices and water is free.
All in all, it’s a must visit for anyone who wants something fun to do with friends, that involves being indoors and isn’t too pricey.