Playing Board Games at Draughts Café

Jess, aged 14, writes: I'm always looking for new places to visit in London with my friends, and I was very excited when I found Draughts online. It's a regular café with a difference: people go there to play board games. There are shelves and shelves of the café filled with every board game I could imagine - family games such as Hungry Hungry Hippos to more adult games such as Cards Against Humanity, and simple card games to complex ones which take hours to play.

[caption id="attachment_3589" align="aligncenter" width="599"] The café from the outside[/caption]

Draughts is situated right in the middle of Hackney and is really close to an Overground stop: Haggerston. I had booked a table in advance, which was lucky as the shop was very busy (though luckily not too loud). It is £5 per person to play an unlimited amount of games and to stay for quite a long time (10-5 or 6-11 on weekdays, and up to four hours on weekends), which I thought was good value as we stayed for ages! My friend and I quickly rushed over to the game area and spent ages deciding on which game to try first. We decided on Escape: The Temple Curse - a complicated game where players work together to escape a temple.

The games are all categorised which I thought was a good idea. This stopped us from picking up games which take hours and hours to play!

[caption id="attachment_3587" align="aligncenter" width="1188"] Draughts was full of lots of different games, which we really enjoyed playing.[/caption]

Although we spent about twenty minutes setting the game up and understanding the rules, we played the game for about half an hour and it was really good fun. Despite the fact that we failed miserably, I loved it and could have played again and again.

Over the course of four hours, we played countless games of Bananagrams, Scattergories, Othello, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Hive, and Snatch (a particular favourite of mine where you quickly form words and steal them from your opponent). There was such a range and next time I visit, I'll be sure to play some longer, more complex games. I wanted to play the Ghostbusters game but my friend unfortunately decided it would be too difficult to understand... Luckily, there are staff to ask for help with complex games.

[caption id="attachment_3586" align="aligncenter" width="1178"] The café served delicious looking brownies among other things![/caption]

Draughts also serves a variety of food and drinks, and I ordered a mango and ginger drink, and some chocolate mini eggs. These were very nice and reasonably priced, although I was glad I didn't order food as the portions looked quite small.

Overall, Draughts in Hackney is a place I wish I discovered sooner. Everyone was really kind and friendly, the atmosphere was lovely, and the abundance of games were all in very good condition. I paid £8.50 total for four hours of board games, a drink, and snacks, which I thought was good value. I will definitely return!

All pictures on this post were found on Draughts' website or instagram.

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[caption id="attachment_2006" align="alignnone" width="940"] Robert playing SET[/caption]

Jess, aged 13, writes: Our family loves to play board games and we have a lot of them. We are fiercely competitive, especially with our favourite: Articulate, where Mum is almost always on the winning team! Whenever our family goes on holiday, we always make sure to bring lots of games with us - not only are they small and easy to carry around, they are so much fun and make a change from our electronic devices and books. Plus, they make for great Christmas presents! Here are our suggestions for the best family games to take on holiday...

[caption id="attachment_2007" align="alignnone" width="940"] Bananagrams[/caption]

Bananagrams

Bananagrams is a particular favourite of mine, as it involves thinking quickly and strategic planning. Although this game uses tiles (so it cannot be played on a plane), we take it on almost every holiday, as it is so much fun and extremely portable (it comes in a banana-shaped bag). The objective of the game is to form a crossword using all of your letters. You can "dump" one and put it back in the pile (but you have to pick three back up), and when someone has finished their crossword, everyone has to pick up one more until the counters run out. It gets very difficult at the end when you have to fit a Q into your otherwise-perfect crossword!

I adore this game (possibly because I am very good at it!), and recommend it to families with children aged 8+. We play it a lot, and find it really stimulating and exciting. It costs around £12.

[caption id="attachment_2008" align="alignnone" width="940"] Some of our favourite games to take on holiday with us![/caption]

Donkey

Donkey is a card game which can be played by younger members of the family, but this didn't stop me from playing it with my 13 year old friends on a plane! The objective is simple; pick a card from the person next to you and try to get a pair, but don't get the donkey card. The person with the donkey at the end of the game is the loser.

This game is perfect for all the family, and gets surprisingly tense and exciting. We have played it almost everywhere as it is small and portable, and it can be played in five minutes. It also cost us just £1 (Mum bought it from a stationery shop when were in Bristol).

Word A Round

Word A Round is my favourite game by a mile, because it is fast paced and exhilarating. There are cards with words on them, but you cannot tell where they begin and end. The object of the game is to work out what the word is before your opponents, thereby winning the card. The first person with 10 cards wins, although we often play with the whole set.

This game is probably for people aged 8+, and I cannot stress how brilliant it is. It costs between £10 and £12.

Dobble

We haven't owned Dobble for as long as the others, but think it is perfect for taking on holiday - all the cards come in a small tin. There are loads of different ways to play it, and our version is very fast paced. The cards are split between the players, and there is one in the middle. The objective is to find a symbol on your card matching the card in the middle before the other player, and the winner is the person with no cards left. I love this game as it is fun, exciting, and stimulating, albeit stressful! It has a recommended retail price of £12.99.

Set

Set is a genius and brilliant game, which our family have played a lot over the years. The objective is to create a "set" of three cards which either have similar or all different properties. For example, the cards may all be green, are each different shapes, and are all striped. This is difficult the first time you play it, but it gets progressively easier the more you play it. We all love it, as it really makes you think. It costs between £10 and £12.

I can't finish this post without recommending some other games as well. We always take Happy Families with us, and we all love a good game of UNO and Robert really likes Top Trumps (he has lots of different types). I really like Smart Egg, a puzzle which is essentially a 3D labyrinth. You have to get a stick in one side and out of the other, and it's perfect in situations where you can't really get a whole game out of your bag and costs just £5.99 from Waterstones and online.

We love all of the games in this post and play them a lot - I recommend them 100%.

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