Board games are a big part of my life. Guests to my home often find themselves sitting at my table staring at pieces of cardboard or little wooden game pieces, so as a seasoned board gamer I love it when a new shop opens as one can never have enough board games or places to play. Saturday, May 17th was the grand opening of Meeples Games, a gaming store and cafe in West Seattle and I stopped in to check it out.
First impressions: Meeples is a bit out of the way on the second story of a business complex. The location actually reminded me of the board game cafes in Asian countries such as Japan and Korea, as they were often tucked away on an upper level of buildings, accessible only through side-streets and cramped elevators. Thankfully, Meeples is easy to access and the size of the space is larger than you'd expect. All of the staff I encountered were extremely cheerful and helpful, despite the hustle and bustle of the grand opening.
The important part of a game store is of course the selection of games they offer and Meeples did not disappoint. They had a wide variety of both classic and recent games for sale, and I appreciated their organization style of grouping similar games together by theme or category. This makes it easy if you know of one game you really like and want to find others that you might enjoy as well. I should also mention that behind the register Meeples featured a myriad of games to check-out and get a feel for them before buying.
Meeples is not just a game store, they have a cafe as well which serves a wide range of snacks and beverages, including espresso and beer for the adult patrons. The cafe side of Meeples is off to the right when you enter and I must say it exceeded my expectations. I ordered the brie, apple, pesto and prosciutto sandwich and it came with a side of potato chips. It was simply delicious and I highly recommend it!
I ended up staying for a Magic: the Gathering draft and was able to check out their gaming space, which is on the other side of the store from the cafe. The gaming area had many tables and comfortable chairs, and unlike other game stores I've been to it didn't get unreasonably hot when full of people. That was definitely a plus.
I was very pleased with my experience at Meeples and if you’re a gamer and find yourself in West Seattle, this is definitely a place worth checking out.
Check them out at: http://meeplesgames.com/
3727 California Ave SW
Suite 2B
Seattle, WA 98116
Hours: (per the website, last checked on 5/20/2014)
Sunday - Thursday 10:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Friday - Saturday 10:00 AM - midnight
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