Jeremy Siegel: You're listening to Morning Edition and well, it might be the early morning, today, like every Tuesday this summer, we're going to talk about nightlife.
Siegel: Welcome back to nightlife in Boston, a reporting collaboration with Axios Boston, where we are looking at the city's nightlife identity, what makes it good? What makes it bad? And what you think could make it better? My co-host, Paris Alston, is away reporting this morning, but I am not alone. Axios reporter Steph Solis is on the line with me. Good morning, Steph.
Steph Solis: Good morning. How are you?
Siegel: I'm great. It's good to see you. And just a reminder to anyone listening that we want to hear from you at GBHNews.org/Nightlife, where you can fill out super quick survey and help shape our coverage of nightlife. And Steph, this morning we are actually talking about something that several people got in touch with us about: Nightlife that is not just late-night drinks or bars or clubs. Like Donovan, who told us that the late-night scene would be better if there were, quote, different options that cater to sober people, especially for the LGBTQ+ community. Another listener who wrote that we need more sober alternatives. Steph, you looked at one particularly — nerdy is the best word, and I mean that in a totally loving way — a nerdy alternative to the usual night out in Boston. Tell us about it.
Solis: Yeah, well, as a self-described nerd, I was very excited to report on this. We were talking about gamers. So those who like tabletop games, those who like Dungeons and Dragons, video games, and that's just one slice of nerdery. But I got to look at just how these options have been on the rise over the past decade.
Siegel: Yeah, I mean, there's been an immense rise in these things, especially even in pop culture, like I'm thinking of Dungeons and Dragons being featured in "Stranger Things," like right here.
Siegel: And then there's literally a Dungeons and Dragons movie this year.
Siegel: And so we've seen a bunch of these places that, according to your reporting, they're basically, they're like, if you took a bar or a club or something, but rather than people like, blasting music and getting drinks, it's meeting up and playing board games, right?
Solis: Absolutely. And there are a variety of events. But again, today we are focusing on those types of gaming options. You have Boston Gaymers organizing a lot of events. You have some meet ups here and there and some brick-and-mortars, from Tavern of Tales in Boston to Pandemonium in Cambridge. And a lot of those locations are definitely booming, just not in the way you might expect a live music venue or club to be.
Siegel: Well, yeah. What is it exactly like inside of a place like this? I mean, I know beyond, you know, just people being interested in the games themselves and things like Dungeons and Dragons or whatever, it's also a space where there's not the pressure to drink. There's not for what some people might be like, overwhelming or annoying loud music blasting, right?
Solis: Yes. Tavern of Tales has alcoholic options, but that's about the only one. Pandemonium and a lot of the other retailers, they'll host event nights based on a specific game and give people a heads up so that people interested in that game can then meet up. People who are intrigued but have never played before can check it out. And the organizers I spoke with said they tried really hard to foster a very welcoming space for people of all experience levels.
Siegel: Here is one of the organizers that you talked to in your reporting, Tristan Patino.
Tristan Patino: Very chill. Like, it is definitely loud. It definitely gets loud in there, because everyone's talking over each other, people are getting excited, things like that. But there's definitely like a general camaraderie among people. People are always very friendly, people come in together. A lot of people will like, either they'll go to bars or like a late-night food item in the area that people will go to together after. Something I really like about community that you can tell that people are friends and like, my favorite thing ever is when a new person shows up, and seeing them come back and get more comfortable and them talking to other regulars, like all becoming friends, is very special to me.
Siegel: So this is a growing community. It sounds like a lot of fun. I haven't been to a board game night like this, but now I really want to. Do you think we might see more of this in the future? I mean, during this series, we've talked about some of the barriers that exist for places. Like, liquor licenses can be hard to get. Obviously, you don't need one in this situation, but at the same time, you're losing out on the revenue that you might get from being able to sell drinks. Do you think there's a desire, an appetite and a means of having more sober or different late-night options like these?
Solis: Desire — yes. At least among the participants. Whether it's feasible, it really depends on whether you've got a business owner who has the resources and is willing to put it together. And Pandemonium Books and Games is a bookstore and game store primarily. They're willing to host these events after-hours. Tavern of Tales is a little bit different. But other than that, it seems very rare that you have a business owner who's willing to center their programing around these games, maybe because of some of the factors that you mentioned. So it's, I know there's demand. It's just a matter of whether people would be willing to make the investment on the business side.
Siegel: That is reporter Steph Solis of Axios, Boston. Steph, it was so great talking with you this morning.
Solis: You as well. Thank you.
Siegel: And a reminder that we will be continuing our nightlife in Boston series with Axios next Tuesday. And we do have a survey at GBHNews.org/Nightlife, where you can help guide our coverage during this series. People who commented in that survey helped inform our reporting that you heard today. Again, you can find that at GBHNews.org/Nightlife. You're listening to GBH's Morning Edition.
This story is co-published with Axios Boston as part of a collaborative series about nightlife in Boston.
The Boston area has seen a rise in nightlife options for gamers and other hobbyists in the last decade.
But members of the community say there's an even greater need for things to do in the city at night beyond bars and clubs.
An inclusive nightlife industry also speaks to locals who are into gaming, escape rooms, live action role playing, reading and other hobbies.
At least two gaming cafes have opened over the past decade: Knight Moves, a cafe in Brookline, and Tavern of Tales: Cafe & Bar in Mission Hill.
Swedish reality gaming company Boda Borg opened its first North American location in Malden in 2015, while others have launched arcade bars and escape rooms in recent years.
Pandemonium Books & Games in Cambridge hosts some of the longest-running nighttime gaming events in the area, featuring Dungeons & Dragons, Magic The Gathering, Blades in the Dark and other role-playing games, said Tristan Patino, the store's events manager.
"People are always asking about events and when they can come in to play games," Patino said.
And Boston Gaymers, a social group for LGBTQIA+ gamers, launched six years ago and hosts events at Knight Moves, The Alley and Club Café for video games and board games.
The group's online membership has grown to more than 3,000, board member Andi Morton told Axios.
When it comes to in-person board and card games, Morton said, "the demand was much more intense than we anticipated. We had to move to a larger space within Club Café, and the attendance has never dwindled at either event," she said. "People in the queer community really wanted a safe space," she said.
Patino of Pandemonium said he would like to see more existing bars and restaurants offer late-night board game options and quieter environments to broaden their appeal — particularly since many nighttime businesses have gotten louder in recent years.
"I think having social things for people who want to be social, but just in a different way than clubbing, is valuable," Patino said.
