Do You Want To Setup A Board Game Cafe Business Or Just A Cafe With Board Games? Is It A Viable Business?

According to popular news aggregation website Global News Wire: The Global board games market is valued at US$ 13.75 billion in 2021. It is expected to reach a value of US$ 30.93 billion by 2028 with a CAGR of 13.70% over the forecasted period of 2022 to 2028.

A double digit CAGR growth in any industry is considered an extremely positive outlook for that industry. It is to be noted also that a 12% CAGR is considered an extreme rating already and not many industries or companies reach this CAGR rating.

By having a CAGR of 13.70%, this just means that board games as a product are very profitable. This profitability might also extend to other board game related businesses such as board game cafes.

According to meeple mountain: the ultimate guide to board game cafes, a board game cafe itself and an online board game resource, there are about 848 board game cafes around the world as of 2019. This listing might not be complete though as board game cafes come in many forms.

As the name implies: it’s a cafe that primarily uses board gaming activities as a draw to attract customers. Being a cafe, it serves refreshments such as food, drinks and even alcohol. It may also have a retail space dedicated to selling board games.

Some board game cafes even have a dedicated dining area in case customers want a total break from their board gaming activities to do only dining activities. There are even board game cafes that are full-fledged dining restaurants.

They have a complete dining menu which includes breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner menus. This is because patrons of board game cafes usually stay for long periods of hours. Some even stay for up to the entire day which is eight hours.

It is very clear that unlike other types of cafe establishments, the patrons of board game cafes are fewer but stay for longer periods of time. This just means that the board game cafes have more chances to make more money with each patron as compared to a traditional cafe.

There are also other board game cafes who beside selling board games, also sell other merchandize. For example there are those that sell t-shirts, caps, mugs and related merchandize that is related to the brand of the board game cafe.

As what the meeple mountain have reported, there are already 848 well established board game cafes around the world of which many of them have existed for several years already. The very fact that they exist is proof that a board game cafe business is entirely viable.

Of course, how profitable a board game cafe is largely depends on the number of paying customers they have. In truth, business as a whole is a case to case basis. What works for one company might work or not work for the other.

Here is an insightful video from Meepleville Board Game Cafe titled: Small Business Chronicles - Board Game Cafe?. In this video the owner of the videogame cafe gave us a simple glimpse into the economics of operating one.

For example, the owner stated that his profits came from three almost equally sources of revenue: 1) Selling the board gaming experience; 2) Selling and Serving food and drinks; and 3) Retailing board games.

He also stated that although he owns a board game cafe business, a disproportionate amount of his income is into selling and serving food and drinks. In short, his business is essentially a dining establishment which happens to offer board gaming activities.

It almost seems a paradox that despite the popularity of videogames, the board game industry as a niche of gaming is growing at a faster rate. Afterall, board games are the grandfather of videogames.

But board games have a different appeal to them. They give humans tactile pleasure in enjoying a game. This is the same reason why despited the abundance of e-books and audiobooks, printed books are still selling well.

For example, the game of Chess is still being played using physical chess boards and chess pieces. There is not only a visual appeal in playing physical games, but physical board games are visually three dimensional unlike videogames which are one dimensional only.

Speaking of board game cafes, they are appealing because it allows the board game players to just enjoy their board games without having to worry about anything else. For example, they don’t have to clean up or cook food while playing board games.

There is also the advantage of having the opportunity to interact with someone who might begin as a stranger playing board games with someone to actually later on becoming someone’s regular board game buddy and friend.

One of the most obvious disadvantage of running a board game cafe business is the physical and financial maintenance involved in the upkeep of the board game library/inventory. Most board game cafes have hundreds even a thousand board games stock at any given time.

Just imagine you are a board game librarian/stock manager who besides having the duty to ensure that the board game inventory is properly stocked also has to ensure that each board game is still in working order.

For example, almost everyone knows the game Monopoly. It has a lot of paper and plastic pieces. For example, for paper there is paper money, the rewards and punishment cards and so on. For the plastic parts there are the plastic houses and tokens.

Customers are not likely to care about the upkeep of these board games because they just “rent” it and don’t own it. They wouldn’t care if a part whether paper or plastic becomes damaged or becomes missing.

But a damaged or incomplete set can make a board game totally unplayable. You can’t play the game of Chess if a few of the chess pieces are missing right? This might mean that you have to buy a totally new Chess board game which could be expensive.

You don’t see fast food restaurants having board gaming facilities right? This is because if they do offer such facilities, they could lose profit on a per table to customer basis. This is because fast food customers come to fast food restaurants to buy/eat food than to play board games.

The same is true for videogame cafes. Customers come to videogame cafes with the expectation that they would only be playing videogames for a limited amount of time and then move on.

In short, while videogame cafe’s revenue model is based on a customer spending lots of money for a short time by serving videogame entertainment activities, board game cafes earn more money the longer a customer stays.

So if you’re deciding between opening a board game cafe or a traditional cafe, restaurant or fast food, know early what kind of customer your cafe location would likely attract. The advantage of board game cafes is that they are not as many as traditional cafes/restaurants.

But it must be said that not all business decisions are based upon money. For some board game cafe owners, they are in business because board games are their passion and they want to serve their fellow board gamers and board game community.

As has been said, there are board game cafe owners who are not solely in the profit to be made with such a business. There are board game cafe owners who opened board game cafes to accommodate their board gamer friends and communities.

This is actually a good way to begin your board game cafe business: with ready customers. These board game cafe owners already know there is a demand for their business and knows who the customers are.

Some of these board game cafe owners even started their business right in their very own homes where they hosted board game activities and then later on marketed their idea to their friends who might have become later on their customers, partners and advertisers.

You might even start by first setting up board game tournament/meetup events and renting out cheap empty spaces. You can serve refreshments and even sell board games while doing so. This way, you won’t be saddled with the downsides of owning a full-fledged board game cafe.

Once your tournament/meetup events become successful, you might then consider going into the board game cafe business on a full-time basis. Just remember that a full-time board game cafe business will tie you down unlike just setting up irregular/regular meetup events.

From sports to videogames, the gaming industry is growing. This includes board gaming which is growing at an explosive rate. This is probably because of the tactile pleasure board games give its players.

You can be a full-fledged board game cafe business or just a cafe with some board game facilities as a source of minor entertainment. This would largely depend on the foot traffic you get in your location.

Are your foot traffic more concerned with buying and eating food and not necessarily with playing board games or any other activities?