If you enjoy playing board games or cards and have tired of your own collection, then you need to know about OKC’s board game lounges. These stores carry a library of games and you can sit and play at a minimal cost. It’s a great way to try out new games before buying them or to just go out and have a fun night with family and friends!
I’ve visited two of the multiple lounges popping up around the metro area: Edmond Unplugged and PB&J’s. Both stores offer an unlimited night (or day) of play for $5 per person.
Located in downtown Edmond, Edmond Unplugged has a fun trendy atmosphere with festive lights strung over its wooden tables. They serve alcohol (wine, beer) and craft sodas, along with concession-style food to their board game lovers. You can definitely see this spot being popular with college students, but all ages will enjoy it!
Got to love the name of this lounge – it’s inspired by a hope to bring people off their cell phones and back to actually interacting face to face!
For Dungeon and Dragon enthusiasts, Edmond Unplugged offers special nights to play the role-playing game regularly with others in the community, as well as games like Star Wars, Magic-Modern, and Warhammer. But you can drop in any night of the week to play a wide variety of games with your own friends or family. In fact, they offer nearly 300 games in their library to try out, plus they sell a selection of games.
You’ll find family-friendly classics like Candyland beside gamer-enthusiast options. Ages 6 and under play for free!
My friends and I tried out the card game called Exploding Kittens: A Card Game for People Who Are Into Kittens and Explosions and Laser Beams and Sometimes Goats. We just couldn’t resist it with that name! It was a great way to quickly get everyone into playing. Then we played a little of Bohnanza, followed by Codenames. I think we even snuck in a 4thgame, though I can’t remember what it was.
That’s the great thing about a place that is open till midnight on the weekends (Thursday-Saturday) – plenty of time to delve into multiple games! There were a wide range of board games, as well; we just specifically wanted to play shorter games for a large group of people.
Located in northwest Edmond, PB&J Games is bright and open, creating a family-friendly vibe. There are hundreds of different games for sale, in addition to their game library, which is a smaller selection of their overall stock, but still a nice assortment.
I was impressed with the employee working there, who not only explained how to play the games, but also even played a round with us to help us out. He was a great salesperson, because of his passion for the different games!
His advice was particularly helpful, because I tried out Bohnanza again with a different group of friends. It’s a more involved game and it was really nice to have someone explain it, rather than trying to decipher the many pages of directions. Worth the $5 in every way!
PB&J Games has options beyond just the $5/day pass. You can also purchase individual passes for 1 month, 3 months, or a year that include a few day passes for friends. Or you can purchase family passes, which have no limit on the number of family members.
The really cool thing is that they will apply the amount you pay for a monthly or annual pass as store credit toward any game you want! Check out PB&J’s blog online for game suggestions for different scenarios (i.e. games for 2 people)!
PB&J’s event calendar currently includes $2 Tuesdays, and a weekly board game morning for homeschoolers at a discounted rate. They also host Pokemon, MTG, and D&D nights for the enthusiasts and kids.
Looking for a group of people to play with? The Oklahoma Board Game Community welcomes people to join them for their weekly and monthly meet-ups! Their volunteers teach new games, as well. They meet in restaurants around the metro area, but members of their community get free play times on certain days at board game lounges including PB&J and Edmond Unplugged, as well as Loot & XP in Norman and The Boarding House in Guthrie! (It is free to join the community meet-ups, but for free play time in the lounges, you must buy and wear the $30 community shirt.)
My friends and I had a great time at both lounges – go check them out for yourself!
- Edmond Unplugged: 117 S Broadway, Edmond, OK 73034
- PB&J Games: 1201 NW 178th St #117, Edmond, OK 73012
Don’t live near Edmond? Board game lounges around the metro include:
- Loot & XP in Norman: 2228 West Main Street, Norman OK 73069
- GameFace in Yukon: 10 W Main St, Yukon, OK 73099
- The Boarding House in Guthrie: 124 W Oklahoma Ave, Guthrie, OK 73044
Have you been to a board game lounge in OKC? Share your experience in the comments!
Not Bored in OKC 