roberts.claire•24d agoProlific Poster

I was at the game cafe in Springfield and saw something that made me worry.

I went to The Rolling Dice cafe last weekend to check out their new game library. In the back corner, they had a huge, open shelf with about 200 board games just stacked loose, no sleeves on any of the cards. I picked up a copy of a popular legacy game and the box was just full of loose components, no baggies or organizers. The owner told me they 'let people figure it out' to keep things moving. Has anyone else seen a public collection treated this rough? How do you even start fixing that?

3 comments

3 Comments

andrew_kelly24d ago

The Rolling Dice cafe has 200 games. If they bagged every piece in every box, they'd need a full time employee just for sorting. Saw a cafe in Portland try that system. They closed in six months because staff was always in the back counting chits instead of running drinks. A public game copy is a tool, not a collectible. You use it, it gets some wear, you put it back for the next group.

aaron_ellis421d ago

Springfield's Rolling Dice cafe has 200 games. How many missing pieces does it take before a game is just unplayable and a waste of shelf space? Their system seems like it would create more customer complaints than it saves in staff time.

taraw1624d ago

The Rolling Dice cafe has the right idea honestly. If they bagged every single piece for 200 games, staff would spend hours sorting instead of serving customers. Most people going to a cafe just want to play, not deal with a museum. A few bent cards or a missing token in a public copy is normal wear, not a crime. Their system gets games to tables faster, which is the whole point of the business.