Zimmerman said board games in bars introduce a whole new level of socialization. "There is this whole game culture beyond Monopoly and Parcheesi, and we want to try to hit every little part of that culture," Andrea Zimmerman said. The trend is starting to pick up throughout Central Florida, enough so that later this year a bar catering specifically to the board-game crowd will be opening in East Orlando, near the University of Central Florida, called The Cloak & Blaster.Īndrea Zimmerman, co-owner of The Cloak and Blaster, and her husband, Markus Zimmerman, decided they wanted to create a "geek" bar with a special focus on competitive tabletop games. "Instead of drinking, there is more of a purpose." "I think it's more of a conversation-starter," Hannah Hall said. Soon they asked a nearby group of people if they were interested in playing and a game began. One Saturday night, sisters Hannah Hall, 24, and Molly Hall, 27, quickly started playing with the set once a previous group was finished. Quarles said Molly's set has become very popular on busy nights.
Yard of Ale, a popular nightlife spot in the South Howard (SoHo) area of Tampa, is known for having several Giant Jenga sets to play both inside and outside the building. Molly's introduced its Giant Jenga set about nine months ago after bartender Mike Quarles played with a set in Tampa. These alternative games range from large-scale versions of board games people grew up with to competitive tabletop games and party game applications on smartphones. Two sets of people that you would not ever see together in the same bar playing with each other." "There will be one group of people that'll start playing it and another group will walk up and say, ‘Do you want to play?' and they'll get together. "You'd be surprised how many different groups of people have met just playing that," said Molly's bartender Adam Quarles.
Instead of people standing together at a bar, watching sports highlights or updating their social media status on their phones, these alternative games are giving people a new, yet familiar, way to socialize. Giant Jenga, or Drunk Jenga, is one of many board games and alternative games popping up in local bars. If you're thinking it sounds a lot like the kids' game Jenga, you're correct, only on a much larger scale and played by adults. With each turn, the stakes are raised as it's only a matter of time before the tower falls over. Men and women stand around a small table, watching a player remove a large wood block from a tower and then put that block on top to make the tower bigger. On a busy weekend night, you can find a crowd gathering at the back end of the bar at Molly McHugh's Irish Pub.
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