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, Magic the Gathering, card games, and party games. If it's on BroadGameGeek's list of over 25,000 games (https://boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgame?sort=rank), we might be playing it!
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 Forum Trajanum!! @Anchorhead Coffee!!Anchorhead Coffee & Bakery, Seattle, WA
Emperor Trajan plans to have a monument built for eternity: the Forum Trajanum. It is supposed to become the biggest and most glorious Emperor's forum that the Roman world has ever seen — not only in order to demonstrate his success as Princeps Optimus in an imposing manner, but also to foster the well-being and the fame of the honorable citizens of Rome.
Forum Trajanum, is an City Building, Puzzle, Tile Placement, Variable Player Powers game where each player governs a Colonia, founded by Trajan himself, and thus is the head of one of the highest-ranking cities in the entire Roman Empire. While the players try to optimally develop their own Colonia, they should not fail in supporting the Emperor's building project to the best of their abilities at the same time. The player who is most successful in doing so will — after expiry of their term of office — be admitted to the small circle of illustrious and mighty personalities surrounding the Emperor.
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
7-min How-to (The Game Pit)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 10:00PM 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/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!
- BLOOD ON THE CLOCKTOWER @ U Wine Bar (21+, new players welcome!)U Wine Bar, Seattle, WA
"Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see."
During a hellish thunderstorm, a scream echoes through the sleepy town of Ravenswood Bluff. The citizens rush to investigate, and find the beloved local storyteller has been murdered, their body hanging limp from hands of the clocktower in the town square. As blood drips onto the cobblestones below, a realization slowly dawns… a demon has been unleashed, killing by night and taking on human form by day. Can good find the demon in time? Or will evil overrun this once-peaceful town?
Blood on the Clocktower is a bluffing game of murder and mystery, lies and logic, deduction and deception, for five to twenty courageous players and one devious Storyteller.
A social game played in person, seated in a circle, each player receives either a "good" or "evil" token with their unique character on it. Good players share information to solve the mystery, while evil players lie about who they are and what they know. The good team wins if they can piece together their knowledge, trust each other, and execute the demon. The evil team wins if the demon can sow distrust, evade detection, and wipe out the village.
Blood on the Clocktower is a medium-complexity team-based hidden role and murder/mystery game involving a mixture of social deduction and logical deduction, in which a Storyteller hosts and moderates the game to ensure a balanced and rewarding experience for all participants.
New players are welcome, and the hosts are happy to teach if you haven't played before.
5 - 15 players (and one Storyteller) per game; if a waitlist forms we'll try to recruit another Storyteller to run a second game
60 - 120 minutes expected play time per game, depending on turnout and player familiarity; we'll probably be able to play more than once. While the event is scheduled to end at 5:00 PM, our "hard stop" time is 6:00 so we need to be finished up by then no matter what.Blood on the Clocktower on Board Game Geek
Game overview: How to Play from The Pandemonium Institute (Don't worry, we'll go over the rules on the day, too!)A few important details:
- U Wine Bar is a newly-opened board game store and wine bar in Fremont/Wallingford. This is not a pub; it's a vibrant community space that strives to provide the best experience possible for its clientele, so please be mindful of the setting and conduct yourself with courtesy and civility. We want everyone to feel comfortable and welcome, so let’s bring our best selves -- dress appropriately, be considerate of others, and treat the venue and staff with the respect they deserve.
- U Wine Bar is a 21+ establishment. Bring your ID! They also serve beer, cider, mead, hop water, dealcoholized wine, and they're a board game store too! Purchasing something isn't a strict requirement, but it's nice to do since we're being allowed to use the space. Please support the business if you can!
- 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!
- Let’s Play Trajan!! @Anchorhead Coffee!!Anchorhead Coffee & Bakery, Seattle, WA
110 AD - the Roman Empire is at its height of glory, ruled by the Emperor "optimus princeps" Trajan. All borders are secured and people can focus their attention again on the empire's internal matters - ROME. Take your chances and boost your power! With proper tactics, you may outmanoeuvre your opponents and eventually claim victory.
Trajan is a development game in which players try to increase their influence and power in various areas of Roman life such as political influence, trading, military dominion and other important parts of Roman culture.
The central mechanism of the game uses a system similar to that in Mancala or pit-and-pebbles games. In Trajan, a player has six possible actions: building, trading, taking tiles from the forum, using the military, influencing the Senate, and placing Trajan tiles on his tableau.
At the start of the game, each player has two differently colored pieces in each of the six sections (bowls) of his tableau. On a turn, the player picks up all the pieces in one bowl and distributes them one-by-one in bowls in a clockwise order. Wherever the final piece is placed, the player takes the action associated with that bowl; in addition, if the colored pieces in that bowl match the colors shown on a Trajan tile next to the bowl (with tiles being placed at the start of the game and through later actions), then the player takes the additional action shown on that tile.
What are you trying to do with these actions? Acquire victory points (VPs) in whatever ways are available to you – and avoid being punished. At the Forum you try to anticipate the demands of the public so that you can supply them what they want and not suffer a penalty. In the Senate you acquire influence which translates into votes on VP-related laws, ideally snagging a law that fits your long-term plans. With the military, you take control of regions in Europe, earning more points for those regions far from Rome.
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 (Boardgame Blitz)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!
I will already be on-site due to an earlier game. 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/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!
