Draughts (board game café)

Restaurant in London, England

Draughts

Restaurant information
Established| 2014
Food type| Craft beers, coffee, snacks
Dress code| Casual
Street address| 41 Kingsland High Street;
16 Leake Street
City| London
Postal/ZIP Code| E8 2JS;
SE1 7NN
Country| United Kingdom
Reservations| Yes
Website| www.draughtslondon.com

Draughts is a board game café business based in London, and the first board game café in the city.[1][2] As of October 2022, the business owns two cafés, one in Hackney and one in Waterloo. The establishment serves craft beers as well as coffee and snacks.[1] A library of board games are available at both venues, and customers may also buy games from the café.[3]

Its clientele includes board game hobbyists as well as families, young professionals, and couples.[4] Draughts hires staff with hospitality experience to serve drinks and teach customers how to play the games.[4]

## History

[edit]

The business was first founded under a railway arch in Haggerston, Hackney by Nick Curci and Toby Hamand in 2014, aiming to stock 500 board games on its premises.[1] The creation of the cafe was funded by bank and government loans,[1] as well as a Kickstarter campaign.[5][6][better source needed] It initially charged a flat rate of £5 for a full day, with a reduced fee of £3.50 for members.[1] It followed Thirsty Meeples, the first board game café to open in the UK,[2] and was inspired by the Canadian board game café Snakes and Lattes.[4]

Draughts in Haggerton in August 2019, before moving to Kingsland Road

The Waterloo café opened in 2018, located underneath another railway arch on Leake Street.[7] At this time, the Hackney location was host to over 800 board games.[4]

In October 2019, the Hackney café moved from under a railway arch in Haggerston to a building on Kingsland Road in Dalston, a venue that was twice the size of the previous establishment, able to house 180 guests and over 1000 games.[8][better source needed][9] The entry fee for non-members had been changed to allow four hours of gaming, instead of a full day.[9]

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e "London's first board game cafe to open in Hackney". the Guardian. 2014-07-16. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
2. ^ a b Master, Nazneen (2014-07-21). "London's first board game cafe set to open in Hackney". www.eastlondonlines.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
3. ^ "London's quirkiest cafes: mapped". The Telegraph. 2018-01-25. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
4. ^ a b c d Donovan, Tristan (2018). It's All a Game: A Short History of Board Games. United Kingdom: Atlantic Books. pp. 1–4. ISBN 1-78649-453-1. OCLC 1035301951.
5. ^ "Pretentious Shoreditch venues that will make you despair". The Telegraph. 2016-04-05. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
6. ^ Rosehill, Harry (2017-11-09). "The Quirkiest Things That Lurk In The Overground's Arches". Londonist. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
7. ^ Manzoori-Stamford, Janie (2018-06-13). "Operators named for Waterloo railway arches following major redevelopment". The Caterer. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
8. ^ Smith, Victoria (2019-10-22). "London's first board game café is re-locating to Dalston". www.eastlondonlines.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
9. ^ a b Splarn, Dan (2019-11-12). "Nick Curci: 'Hackney is a hive of creativity – it's a perfect fit for Draughts'". Hackney Gazette. Retrieved 2022-10-10.

## External links

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* Official website