Guillaume Dominguez, edited by Yanis Darras 08:26, January 06, 2023

The craze has not waned since the first confinement in 2020. Board games continue to attract the French public, to the point of making France the leading European market.

So, to combine competition and outings, more and more game bars are emerging.

Around a drink and a tray, customers can have fun at low prices. 

It is a sector that displays insolent health, especially since the Covid-19 crisis and its confinements.

Board games are so popular in France that France has become the leading European market.

So, several bars have seized the opportunity and offer to have a drink while playing Monopoly, or Uno.

In Paris alone, around thirty bars have sprung up.

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So, to the "bad players", many of them take advantage of the concept.

"We play 'Mission Not Possible'. In fact, you have to fill all the mission cards with the dice that we roll each in turn", explains Josh.

Around the blue tray where the playing cards are lined up, and accompanied by a charcuterie board, Josh, Sylvain, Thomas and Alexandre compete.

These bar regulars meet here twice a week.

Explosion of the game offer

"It allows you to discover games that I don't necessarily know. I find it friendly, there are lots of people playing around", underlines Josh.

With over a thousand games available, the place is ideal for those fans of living room games.

"In a classic bar where we go for a beer, we will talk a bit about everything and nothing. Here, at the end of the evening, we have the impression of having spent a more playful time playing games “, explains Sylvain, who now prefers these evenings to the more “classic” ones. 

For the owner of the establishment, this craze around this type of bar is explained above all by the explosion in the supply of board games in recent years.

"Since 2018, they have started to release a lot of party games aimed at the general public with quick and easy to understand rules", thus democratizing their practice, he explains at the microphone of Europe 1. And to come and make a part, nothing could be simpler, you just have to consume on the spot or pay a participation of 4 euros per hour.