Hi there,

Out here in New York we've started up a new way to gain exposure and meet folks new to indie role playing games--and perhaps even new to role playing games in general.  Cafe Game Exchange has been launched this weekend at three cafes in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

This brings indie games, with their beautiful book design and intriguing concepts, to cafes throughout the city.  The games are displayed for browsing in the reading area of the cafes. Each game has a sticker that sends the readers to the website where they can learn more about the games, and other cafes where they can be found. The cafes are chosen for their interest in promoting the arts and community events. One of the first cafes is the site of a regular board-game night organized by NerdNYC, a local indie/gaming community.

The people at the cafes were very supportive of putting the games out for viewing. The potential for reaching non-"gamer" audiences at venues like that is huge.  I'm curious to see what kind of dialogue we can build between the indie gaming community and people who would not normally be exposed to any kind of non-mainstream games.  In our games, we are doing different things, charting new directions. Time to start making bridges with people who might walk away from hobby games, sight unseen.

best,
Emily

Fantastic.

Em, what kind of approach did you take toward the cafes? Because I'm thinking about all the better coffee shops scattered through Chicago and the near burbs, each with its bookshelves and general home-y feel, and this seems like a good idea to implement here too.

I'm OK with simply asking in a straightforward way, but since you've been successful with it, I'm interested in how you presented the games, who you asked for permission, and what you basically said.

Best, Ron

Hi Ron,

Turns out that the straightforward path seems to be the surest so far. I went out to the cafes with Eppy (who had this brilliant idea and is spearheading it:). We first got a cup of coffee or food at each place, and then Eppy simply asked the people at the desk what their policy was on putting books out on their book shelves, or who he should talk to about it. Once that was established we just outlined what the idea was and asked to put them there too.

They were receptive at each place. Usually the manager on-shift was asked to make the call or to give us information. But since they already had a place and policy to receive books for browsing, putting game books up there was non-controversial. Sometimes we showed them the books, sometimes they just said "Go ahead!" I think an important part of placing the games is choosing the right cafes. If they don't have display space, or aren't oriented towards working with other groups and artists in the community, it would be a harder sell. But many places see the benefits of this, so finding fertile soil shouldn't be too hard.

Eppy will be posting information for people who would like to start doing this in their area on the Cafe Game Exchange site soon. It should be fairly simple (since the plan is to keep the whole shebang from having a high investment of time and energy, much less money), requiring some writing up of games and cafes on the site, making contact with publishers who want to donate their games to be circulated, and checking in on the games and rotating stock now and again. 

It seems like cafes are a natural site for gaming to happen. Board gamers already do a lot there everywhere I've been. I haven't done so, but do other folks roleplay at cafes? The games at Cafe Game Exchange are mainly intended to be there for anyone to browse, not necessarily for people to be expected to pick up and play cold. But it seems to me that doing some active gaming at the cafes would be a great follow up to having the games present.

best,
Emily

Ron, it strikes me that Spione would be a great game to put out at a cafe. :)

There was just an article in the Red Eye about Chicago boardgaming at bars and cafes, with a map listing all the local venues that at least allow it. Some of them have dedicated game nights, too. I have a friend who just started as event coordinator for the Mercury Club downtown, maybe I'll see if she's interested in something similar...

What great coverage, Dave. Eppy is planning to send out a press release when the games are in a few more cafes. Is there a link to that article on line by any chance? I'd like to see the map.

Also, Ron & Dave, and all else who may be interested, the field is open now for other cities who want to start up their branch of CGE.  The hows and whats have been written up here.  It's a pretty low time investment. Say the word and Ep will send you a bunch of stickers. Find some friendly cafes and go. The biggest task is writing up the cafes and games, but it's satisfying. 

The complete PDF of the issue including the article is at http://redeye.chicagotribune.com/media/acrobat/2008-12/43723470.pdf. It's a pretty huge download, though, even if you're just pulling it up in your browser.

I have cut and pasted the article into a 2 page PDF, which unfortunately I have nowhere to host. Anybody want to pony up some webspace for that? Email me and I'll send it over.

Ok, I got some online storage space, cuz it's about time I started hosting my own crap, right? And I'm already using wikispaces, so what the heck took me so long?

Aaanyway.

Here's the link, the file is under the Miscellaneous Files header, and is clearly labeled "Chicago Cafe Gaming Article from Red Eye . pdf".  (You'll want to download it rather than try to browse it, cuz that doesn't seem to work).

Enjoy!

Yar, I are stupid and forget link. Go me.

http://vaultofshadows.wikispaces.com/#MISC

I also put up all my quick reference and character sheets for other people's games, which several folks have been kind enough to host for me over the years. Thanks to all of you, I'll stop being such a mooch now. Although anyone is free to use/download/host/share/whatever any of the files; I make no claims of ownership.