Coimbatore’s Board Video games Hub is a spot for enjoyable, frolic, and meals

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On a Wednesday afternoon, Board Video games Hub at Saibaba Colony, is near-vacant. Its founder, Prakash Nagalingam, and his employees are engrossed in a sport as we enter. The most effective issues about operating a board video games cafe is that your work entails enjoying board video games on a midweek day. Going by the empty tables, it’s honest to say not many share the identical fortune.

Prakash interrupts his sport to speak about his six-month-old enterprise and boyish pleasure for board video games. We select a four-seater picket desk that faces a painted wall with board sport components like cash and characters and the phrases ‘Recreation On’ within the center.

Hailing from Tiruppur, it hardly surprises us to know Prakash obtained into textile export. However how did this textile businessman arrange a board video games cafe in Coimbatore?

“Board video games is greater than a enterprise; it’s ardour,” he says. His mom launched them to him throughout his boyhood years — between mid-80s and early 90s. “By seven, I already owned round 15-20 board video games. They have been my major supply of leisure because it was nonetheless early days of TV and no web, too,” he says. He remembers summer season holidays spent enjoying video games like Enterprise, dhaayam (cube), and Scotland Yard together with his cousins, aunts, and mother. “Typically we’d be up till three am enjoying them.”

Board video games grew to become a convention throughout household gatherings. However after college, training took priority. There was a little bit of a hiatus. Then, whereas working in Chennai, Prakash and his household rediscovered their ardour for board video games via The Board Room, a board video games cafe in Mylapore and Anna Nagar. “We have been excited by the varied assortment of video games. We’d spend hours there with household, together with my five-year-old.”

He wished to tug his mates into it as nicely. “They reluctantly agreed to return for half an hour and ended up being there for 4 hours!” he says, chuckling. That’s when his mates requested him to start out his personal board video games cafe. Prakash’s textile enterprise, at that time, was stagnating. So, he thought he would give it a shot. “The Board Room was an inspiration,” he provides.

He opened Board Video games Hub in Coimbatore in Could this 12 months. Why Coimbatore and never Chennai or Tiruppur — the locations he has lived?

“Chennai already had The Board Room and different board video games cafes. And, Tiruppur, I believed the market was not there for it but. Coimbatore has an inflow of younger, working inhabitants. It isn’t removed from Tiruppur.”

The choice to monetise his ardour has paid off. “I believed I wouldn’t get any crowd for the primary six months. However it’s significantly better than I anticipated. I get a footfall of 120 each week — over half of that on the weekends. We additionally get bulk bookings like birthday events, workplace staff occasions, and kitty events.”

Board Video games Hub has a group of over 350 video games catering to totally different sorts of gamers. The favored ones embrace Splendor, Azul, Catan, Century: Spice Highway, and Ghost Blitz. Relying on the group’s dimension, and the kind of video games they need to play, Prakash or his staff will suggest a sport. 

Board Video games Hub presents the same old Indian cafe regulars like fries, sandwiches, and shakes
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“Initially, we centered on enjoyable and icebreaker video games, then moved on to strategy-based and stacking video games. The purpose is to information gamers from enjoyable video games to extra complicated ones,” he says, “A few of our promotions intention to introduce gamers to technique video games as a result of they provide the true gaming expertise. There was an occasion when a bunch of 4 stayed up until 2am, enjoying a technique sport referred to as Wingspan. Greater than promoting video games, we need to construct a neighborhood of board sport fanatics.”

Board Video games Hub presents meals, too. However nothing fancy. The same old Indian cafe regulars like fries, sandwiches, noodles, pasta, and shakes. “We wished the emphasis to be on the video games. There are near 50 cafes on this space alone. So, we didn’t need to get into that competitors. Plus, including gravies or curry-based issues provides to the danger of the video games getting soiled or broken,” explains Prakash.

We ask him why one ought to play board video games. He solutions, “Board video games are a journey to a very totally different world, the place you immerse your self with out serious about anything. Books try this, too. However you go into it alone. Right here, you go together with different folks.”

“In in the present day’s digital age, we’re all hooked on screens. My 10-year-old was, too. However after I launched board video games, he was extra eager on enjoying with us. It helps enhance social interactions, which is crucial not only for children however for adults, too. The truth is, 65% of my prospects are adults. I feel it’s excessive time we took a break from our telephones and our each day stress.”

Board Video games Hub is at Saibaba Colony, Coimbatore. Verify them on Instagram at boardgameshub.

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