What we’re about
Seattle Board Games supports a vibrant and inclusive community of board game enthusiasts in the Seattle metro area. Our events and gatherings offer opportunities to have fun, make friends, and deepen our appreciation for the art, design, and strategy of board games. We seek to make games more accessible by removing barriers to enjoying and learning from them.
We host all types of boardgames, from lighter games such as Settlers of Catan and Lords of Waterdeep to heavier Euros like Brass Birmingham, Dune Imperium, and others. We also play thematic games such as Battlestar Galactica, social deduction games like Blood on the Clocktower, Magic the Gathering, card games, and party games. If it's on BoardGameGeek's list of over 25,000 games, we might be playing it!
We have a Discord! Connect with hundreds of other local board game fans, set up game sessions, play online, and be the first to know about some events before they're announced on Meetup! This link will lead you there!
Anyone can become an event organizer and host events - either specific games or open gaming sessions. If you are interested, please contact the primary organizer.
We are member and organizer driven, and welcome suggestions for improvements and new directions.
Upcoming events (4+)
See all- Let’s Play Race for the Galaxy!! @ Phoenix Comics & GamesPhoenix Comics & Games, Seattle, WA
Explore, Settle, Develop, Trade, Consume, or Produce? Which will assist you in flourishing and put you ahead of the competition? You are one of Earth's former colonies competing for space (literally) now that JumpDrive exists and who will discover the secrets of the mysteriously vanished Alien Overlords?
Race for the Galaxy, uses Engine Building, Hand Management, Action Following, & Variable Phase Order to assist players in building a galactic civilizations by playing cards representing worlds or technical and social developments. Each round, players secretly and simultaneously select an action card corresponding to one phase of a round. These phases let players draw cards, play cards, add goods to worlds, or consume goods for VP. Only the phases chosen will occur that round. Every player may act in a phase that occurs, with the players who chose that phase getting a bonus. Game end is triggered either when a player has built a civilization of 12 cards or when the pool of VP chips is exhausted with the most VP winning.
New players are welcome, and the host is happy to teach if you haven't played before.2 - 4 players
30-60 minutes expected play time, depending on turnout and player familiarity.
BGG Link
3-min How-to (Three Minute Boardgames)A few important details:
- This event is scheduled to start at 10:00 AM PLEASE be on time!
Please factor traffic & parking into your commute and if you will be late post in messages or the Discord. - Speaking of… It's Cap Hill, so parking can be a challenge. Sorry, it's a walking neighborhood! Phoenix Comics & Games is only about a block from the First Hill Streetcar (Broadway & Denny stop), less than a block from the Capitol Hill light rail station, and very close to several bus lines, though.
- Purchasing something isn't a strict requirement, but it's nice to do since we're using the space. Please support the business if you can!
- If you need to cancel please do so as soon as you know. People on the waitlist and playing that day will appreciate it!
- Signing up for this event means other people are counting on you to attend; board games have both a minimum and a maximum player count, so with a limited number of seats available at the table, I want to be sure for everyone's benefit that those seats actually have people in them when the session starts. Last-minute cancellations (less than 12 hours), no-shows, and late arrivals (more than 15 minutes) without good reason will be marked as no-shows for the event and should expect to be automatically moved to the waitlist for any and all future events they join which are hosted by me.
- I open signups for most of my events 1-3 days before pressing the "announce" button here on Meetup; if you want to know about that when it happens and have the opportunity to claim a seat before others, you can join the Seattle Board Games Discord server, where I'll post to let users there know as soon as RSVPs open as well as posting polls for future meetups!
- This event is scheduled to start at 10:00 AM PLEASE be on time!
- Let’s Play Kokopelli! @Phoenix Comics & Games!Phoenix Comics & Games, Seattle, WA
Kokopelli is a hand management game where each player starts with a 4-space village & a deck of cards, composed of ceremony and Kokopelli cards. Cards may be played anywhere in your play area, which includes your Village and two spaces of your neighbor’s village as well. Each ceremony you opened grants the owner a powerful ability as long as the ceremony remains in play. Ceremonies have a range of abilities which will grant new ways of scoring points or expand the player’s options on how to best play their cards. The game ends, when one player has no more cards left in their draw pile or a certain number of ceremonies have been finished with the high score wining.
New players are welcome, and the host is happy to teach if you haven't played before.2 - 4 players
60 - 90 minutes expected play time, depending on turnout and player familiarity.
BGG Link
5-min How-to (Roll for Crit)
(Don't worry, we'll go over the rules on the day, too.)A few important details:
- This event is scheduled to start at 1:00PM PLEASE be on time!
Please factor traffic & parking into your commute. - Speaking of… It's Cap Hill, so parking can be a challenge. Sorry, it's a walking neighborhood! Phoenix Comics & Games is only about a block from the First Hill Streetcar (Broadway & Denny stop), less than a block from the Capitol Hill light rail station, and very close to several bus lines, though.
- Purchasing something isn't a strict requirement, but it's nice to do since we're using the space. Please support the business if you can!
- If you need to cancel please do so as soon as you know. People on the waitlist and playing that day will appreciate it!
- Signing up for this event means other people are counting on you to attend; board games have both a minimum and a maximum player count, so with a limited number of seats available at the table, I want to be sure for everyone's benefit that those seats actually have people in them when the session starts. Last-minute cancellations (less than 12 hours), no-shows, and late arrivals (more than 15 minutes) without good reason will be marked as no-shows for the event and should expect to be automatically moved to the waitlist for any and all future events they join which are hosted by me.
- I open signups for most of my events 1-3 days before pressing the "announce" button here on Meetup; if you want to know about that when it happens and have the opportunity to claim a seat before others, you can join the Seattle Board Games Discord server, where I'll post to let users there know as soon as RSVPs open as well as posting polls for future meetups!
- This event is scheduled to start at 1:00PM PLEASE be on time!
- Let’s Play MEXICA!! @Anchorhead Coffee!Anchorhead Coffee & Bakery, Seattle, WA
"All right. Fine. After all, I'm sure you know the proper rituals for blessing a tribute. The holiest days on the calendar. Oh, and of course you know all about Xibalba. Okay, good luck! See you at the execution."
The year is 1325, and we have just discovered the original island, as foretold in the prophesy. We will once again construct Tenochtitlan, the future Aztec capital.
Each of us is a Pilli Mexica, a great noble. To make ourselves even more indispensable to the sovereign, we will construct canals to carve out districts -- calpuli -- of specific sizes, as commanded by the Emperor, and travel to these districts to found them officially before anyone else does. We shall build temples in the districts to demonstrate out spiritual supremacy over one another and gain favor with the Emperor.
Mexica is a medium-complexity abstract strategy and area majority/influence game with a high degree of player interaction and blocking. It also includes elements of tile placement, grid movement and action points. New players are welcome, and the host is happy to teach if you haven't played before.
2 - 4 players
90 - 120 minutes expected play time, depending on turnout and player familiarity.BGG Link
17-min How-to (Watch it Played)
(Don't worry, we'll go over the rules on the day, too.)A few important details:
- The event space is in the basement and there are only stairs (no elevator) if you have mobility issues keep this in mind.
- This event is scheduled to start at 10:00 AM PLEASE be on time!
Please factor traffic & parking into your commute. - Speaking of… It's Cap Hill/First Hill/Seattle U, so parking can be a challenge. Sorry, it's a walking neighborhood! Anchorhead is only a few blocks from the First Hill Streetcar (Broadway & Pike/Pine or Broadway & Marion stops are about the same distance) and very close to the #2 and #12 bus lines, though.
- Purchasing something isn't a strict requirement, but it's nice to do since we're using the space. Please support the business if you can!
- If you need to cancel please do so as soon as you know. People on the waitlist and playing that day will appreciate it!
- Signing up for this event means other people are counting on you to attend; board games have both a minimum and a maximum player count, so with a limited number of seats available at the table, I want to be sure for everyone's benefit that those seats actually have people in them when the session starts. Last-minute cancellations (less than 12 hours), no-shows, and late arrivals (more than 15 minutes) without good reason will be marked as no-shows for the event and should expect to be automatically moved to the waitlist for any and all future events they join which are hosted by me.
- I open signups for most of my events 1-3 days before pressing the "announce" button here on Meetup; if you want to know about that when it happens and have the opportunity to claim a seat before others, you can join the Seattle Board Games Discord server, where I'll post to let users there know as soon as RSVPs open as well as posting polls for future meetups!
- Let’s Play Ghost Stories! @ Anchorhead Coffee!Anchorhead Coffee & Bakery, Seattle, WA
Many fell, putting an end to the reign of terror of Wu-Feng, Lord of the Nine Hells. The funerary urn housing his ashes was buried in the cemetery of a village in the Middle Empire. Years have elapsed, and the cursed legacy has been forgotten by the living. Hidden away in hell, Wu-Feng has forgotten nothing. His incessant search allowed him to locate the receptacle. The shadow of his former incarnation already extends to the villagers, who are unaware of the threat. Fortunately, the Fat-Si Taoist priests keep watch, guarding the border between the dead and the living. Armed with their courage, their faith, and their powers, they are dedicated to send the reincarnation of Wu-Feng back to Hell!
Ghost Stories is a cooperative game in which the players protect the village from incarnations of the lord of hell – Wu-Feng – and his legions of ghosts before they haunt a town and recover the ashes that will allow him to return to life. Each Player represents a Taoist monk working together with the others to fight off waves of ghosts.
The players, using teamwork, will have to exorcise the ghosts that appear during the course of the game. At the beginning of his turn, a player brings a ghost into play and places it on a free spot, and more than one can come in at the same time. The ghosts all have abilities of their own – some affecting the Taoists and their powers, some causing the active player to roll the curse die for a random effect, and others haunting the villager tiles and blocking that tile's special action. On his turn, a Taoist can move on a tile in order to exorcise adjacent ghosts or to benefit from the villager living on the tile, providing it is not haunted. Each tile of the village allows the players to benefit from a different bonus such as reviving Taoists or recovering resources. It will also be possible to get traps, move ghosts or un-haunt other village tiles.
Taoists must exorcise ghosts by rolling dice and getting the correct combination of colors and amounts. If your die rolls fall short, you can also use Tao tokens that match the color to augment your roll.
To win, the players must defeat an an incarnation of Wu-Feng, who arrives at the end of the game. There are also harder difficulty levels that add more incarnations of Wu-Feng, and to win, you must defeat all of them.
There are many ways to lose, if three of the village's tiles are haunted, if the draw pile is emptied while the incarnation of Wu-Feng is still in play, or if all the Taoists are dead.
New players are welcome, and the host is happy to teach if you haven't played before.2 - 4 players
60 - 120 minutes expected play time, depending on turnout and player familiarity.
BGG Link
6-min How-to (Roll for Crit)
(Don't worry, we'll go over the rules on the day, too.)A few important details:
- The event space is in the basement and there are only stairs (no elevator) if you have mobility issues keep this in mind.
- This event is scheduled to start at 1:00PM PLEASE be on time!
Please factor traffic & parking into your commute. - Speaking of… It's Cap Hill/First Hill/Seattle U, so parking can be a challenge. Sorry, it's a walking neighborhood! Anchorhead is only a few blocks from the First Hill Streetcar (Broadway & Pike/Pine or Broadway & Marion stops are about the same distance) and very close to the #2 and #12 bus lines, though.
- Purchasing something isn't a strict requirement, but it's nice to do since we're using the space. Please support the business if you can!
- If you need to cancel please do so as soon as you know. People on the waitlist and playing that day will appreciate it!
- I open signups for most of my events 1-3 days before pressing the "announce" button here on Meetup; if you want to know about that when it happens and have the opportunity to claim a seat before others, you can join the Seattle Board Games Discord server, where I'll post to let users there know as soon as RSVPs open as well as posting polls for future meetups!