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25 September 2017

Exposed Magazine

People generally associate board games with something to do when you’re bored. Ruth and Andy have decided to turn that concept on its head and show Sheffield how fun they can be! Here’s the low down on what’s in store for us and how everything works.


“Nowadays I think we spend more times on our phones and less time actually talking to each other, this is a way of getting people to do exactly that, even if it’s looking each other in the eye and lying to each other, it’s still something! It’s all about interacting with each other and getting to know one another in an engaged way,” says Ruth.

How it works

  • A small cover charge of £5.00 per session for adults, £2.50 for children under 12, this gives you access to the board games library for 4 hours.
  • Membership costs £25 for the year which gets you a free first session and subsequent sessions for £2.50.
  • During the day, you can visit the Treehouse like a normal café. However in the evenings and on weekends, the cover charge is compulsory.
  • If you have a NUS card, you can play the games for free up to 7pm on weekdays.

Treehouse Board Game Cafe

The games

  • An extensive library of over 300 board games with new titles arriving each month.
  • Friendly game gurus to help recommend games and explain the rules.
  • Games of all sorts – luck, strategy, word, trivia, party. Competitive or co-operative? Try your hand at social deduction games such as Cluedo, which can reveal new aspects of your friends. Reignite your love for classics like Monopoly and Scrabble. Discover new favourites like Jaipur and Flamme Rouge.
  • The wall of games doesn’t have a system YET but they will be organised by theme with a sticker system to give indication of the complexity and to pick out ones that work well for 2 players.

Food & Drink

  • Food and drink served direct to your table, so you don’t have to miss your turn to get a new drink.
  • Expect things like bagels, grilled cheese, sharing plates, cakes, bar snacks and frittatas.
  • Focusing on local independent suppliers such as Seven Hills Bakery, Birdhouse Tea, Fraser’s Coffee Roasters, Tower of Bagel and Waterall.
  • Plenty of beer, cider and wine to choose from, including a range of craft beer on draught.

    Treehouse Board Game Cafe

What’s to come

  • Regular events like the monthly one they held at The Showroom called ‘Across the Board’ which was all about getting the keen board-gamers to interact with the newcomers, turn up with friends or by yourself, it’s the chance to just dip your toe in and see how it goes!
  • They will be introducing the ‘board game tasting menu’ soon which are tailored for every group size. Begin with some super quick ‘appetizer games’ to get the ball rolling before settling down for a lengthy ‘main course game’. Then finish off with some party games which can bring out your silly side and tend to work a bit better after a few drinks!
  • Possibly looking into roleplaying games in future.

Open everyday except Mondays from 10am-11pm, on Sundays it will close slightly earlier at 10pm. Check out their website here for more details.