About a week before I came to Beijing, I went on Board Game Geek and asked in the appropriate sub-forum about gaming groups and stores that might be around in the city. Unsurprisingly, I got a few replies, and more surprisingly, I've already had a chance to meet some new gaming partners and visit one of the places that was recommended.
Closer to the middle of the city, a short walk from the Dongdaqiao subway station, is what I can only describe as a strange sort of mall, filled with storefronts and restaurants, all at weird angles to one another. On the fourth floor, just at the edge of a sky-bridge to another tower of the building, is Empire Penguin Games... or, what translates as "Empire Penguin Games" in Chinese. I'm not entirely sure why it's called that, but I suppose I'll get around to asking the owner at some point.
It's not a big space. In fact, it's packed so full of games and tables that when they open on Sunday afternoons to make space for gamers, everyone spills out into the hallways around the shop. Yesterday, there must have been at least 40 people, all trying to game in an area about the size of a living room... I'm told the store doesn't normally attract so many people. I've also been told that the handful of security guards that forced everyone to rearrange and cram together don't normally come by at all.
Despite the compactness of the place, there are a staggering number of games available for purchase or for play. Most of them are Chinese language editions of games, but for things like Carcassonne, The Resistance, or CV, language barely matters anyway. Along the back wall, behind the counter where the owner makes transactions, is a precarious stack of games that are so well-played the cards and tokens have been rubbed to an almost unreadable state. One corner of the store has a couple of plush couches around a low coffee table, and there are a dozen or so small folding tables that are pulled out and set up more or less anywhere there is room when people come to play.
I've been in game stores before where people came in to play games. In fact, one of my (formerly) favorite stores had a huge back room with tons of space... Friday nights were for Magic players who might have needed a bit more familiarity with deodorant than they had with white instants that clear out their opponent's enchantments or black sorceries that force unpleasant discarding. I say it was "formerly" one of my favorite stores because the owners really didn't sell very many games, and eventually went out of business. When we talked to them about the space and how many people came in all the time to use it, they said they didn't want to charge a cover fee because they wanted to foster a community. I guess that's one way to run things.
Well, Empire Penguin does charge a cover. Ten RMB per person per hour, up to a maximum of 40. That's not much money at the current exchange rate, but he seems to be doing fine. Being able to play games with a variety of people, to try things out without having to make a purchase, and to feel comfortable... that's worth $1.50 an hour. Probably more.
We've been twice. The first time, most of the English-speaking regulars were out due to a variety of reasons, but we did manage to get an extra-long game of Small World in. The second time, I was a little overwhelmed with the number of Mandarin and English speakers, and I learned to play Keyflower, which Susie sat in on a game of Le Havre. Other goings-on included a raucous Battlestar Galactica game with many accusations being thrown around in Chinese, a couple of learning games of Lords of Waterdeep, Ticket To Ride (another language independent game), and a few things I didn't recognize.
We'll definitely be going back. Staying so long in isolated places, you almost forget that people get together in stores/cafes like this. I'll take advantage while I can.
