Bored? Find the Best Places to Play Board Games in Grand Forks

Do you ever get bored while you are eating or you just want to play a game with your friends? Then this is the right article for you! Here are great places in Grand Forks where you can eat, drink, and play games that are freely available to anyone who stops in. Try new games and foods you don’t have at home, and bring your friends!

The Urban Stampede (or “the Urb” according to my parents who are old and had their first date there two decades ago) is a small and locally owned coffee shop with delicious coffees, pastries, bagels, and sodas. When you walk in the door, if you turn to your left, you will find a shelf full of fun board games. If you only have one friend with you, that is also the best place to sit with the sun pouring in the window. But be careful, because that table isn’t huge – so you wont want to pick one of the bigger board games!

Bully Brew has one location in Grand Forks and one in East Grand Forks, but they BOTH have a stack of games to play while you caffeinate (or eat baked goods). These locations have a lot of seating and space for larger groups to play games. After soccer games at Bringewatt, it is fun to go there with your family and have second breakfast while playing games. I like Skip Bo and Sequence.

To find the games at the Board Room, you need to head to the corner coffee table, and peak UNDER the table. There you will find a lot of fun games. The last time we stopped in, my mom and I played Upwords (her favorite). But it doesn’t seem fair because it is a spelling game, and she has been spelling for MANY more years than I have been. When picking your game at the Board Room, you have to consider what you will be ordering to make sure you have room on your table. I love to order the French toast flight if its earlier, or the ice cream flight if its in the afternoon. BUT, the flights take up a LOT of table space, so think about your food order when you pick your table size, and the game you want to play!

Half Brothers not only has a shelf full of board games you can play, but they also have tables with large Jenga, a claw machine, and arcade games that that are FREE to play. This place is fun to go with family and friends because they brew beer for the adults, but they also have really cool fizzy pop drinks in a million flavors that even come with candy in them. My favorite was the “Fins Up” which has blue gummy sharks in it.

You may have heard about Tea and Crepe in my past article, but did you know that they have a lot of board games you can play while you eat your ice cream, or drink your boba tea? They have a top shelf with a variety of games for you to play. My favorite is Mancala, but they also have a lot of other games like Jenga, Hi-ho Cherry-o, and dominos. If you have been there before, stop in again because they have a new location with a LOT more space for playing games.

There are other locations in town that have spaces and events for teens and adults who are interested in more organized gaming like Dungeons and Dragons or Warhammer. I am still interested in Trivial Pursuit, Sorry, Monopoly, Mancala, Uno, and Sequence, but it is great to know that if my interests shift, I can stop in places like DogMahal DogHaus/Ojata Records, Broken Sentry Games, and Grand City Games. The Grand Forks Public Library is also a great location to gather and play games and to watch for special game events!

If you are a competitive board gamer and like to flip the board when you are losing, you should probably stay home to play your games. But if you want to try new games you do not have at home and you want to enjoy delicious food and drinks with your friends while you play, check out these locations in the Grand Forks community . . . unless you would rather sit at home and be “board”.