The club has no shop and no library. It has a shelf: the owner's private collection, brought to every evening by the host and taken home again at the close. It now lists 183 items. This is a guide to what is on it and where to start.
What the 183 items are
- 142 base games. The games you can open a table for on their own.
- 23 expansions, accessories and pledges. Played together with their base game.
- 9 card-game decks and sets, including KeyForge decks, Magic: The Gathering Commander decks and a Cyberpunk trading card game bundle.
- 2 miniature armies for A Song of Ice and Fire.
- 7 boxes still being identified. They are listed, but held back until it is clear exactly what is in them.
Most of the shelf is in English. Some boxes are Polish or other editions; each game page says which. Whatever the box, every game is played in English at the table.
The centre of the shelf: long strategy
The heart of the collection is the long game: economies, territory, armies.
- Scythe. Farms, factories and giant walking machines across a 1920s Europe that never was. 1 to 5 players, around two hours. Most of the game is quiet building; fights are rare and short.
- Scarface 1920. Prohibition Chicago, four gangs and a city to take. 90 to 150 minutes.
- Daimyo: Rebirth of the Empire. Rebuild a broken empire one drafted die at a time. 1 to 4 players, 60 to 90 minutes.
- War Room. The Second World War on a world map, fought with written orders. Two to six hours, so it waits for a group that wants a full day.
Duels: a table for two
A good part of the shelf is made for two players facing each other.
- Senjutsu: Battle for Japan. Two samurai on a hexagonal field and a single card chosen in silence each turn. 15 to 20 minutes.
- 7 Wonders Duel. An ancient civilisation built card by card against one opponent. About 30 minutes. Its Agora and Pantheon expansions are on the shelf too.
- Hive Pocket. Insects for pieces, no board, and a queen to surround. About 20 minutes.
The lighter end
Around the long games sit quick, sociable ones for the start or the end of an evening.
- King of New York. Giant monsters and six dice. 2 to 6 players, about 40 minutes.
- Here to Slay. A party of heroes, three monsters, and a roll at the right moment. 2 to 6 players.
- Exploding Kittens. About 15 minutes, 2 to 5 players.
- Unstable Unicorns. A stable of unicorns your friends are trying to take away. 2 to 8 players.
For a bigger group
- Feed the Kraken. A ship, a crew, and nobody sure who wants to go where. 5 to 11 players.
- 6 nimmt!. 104 numbered cards, four rows, and the sixth card nobody wants. 2 to 10 players.
- BANG!. The Sheriff knows who he is; nobody knows who the outlaws are. 4 to 7 players.
How to search it
The shelf can be searched by name and filtered by number of players, playing time, type and language. Each game has its own page with a short account of how it plays, who it suits, the main facts and, where one exists, a link to its BoardGameGeek entry and a how-to-play video that loads only when you press play.
When you find one you want to play, the button on its page opens a table for it in the members area.