We start with Pengaloo and I fall in love with the wooden, perfectly hollowed-out penguins, inside each of which are globular coloured balls that I assume to be eggs. Pengaloo is a memory game and the idea is to win as many penguins as you can on to your side of an iceberg. The first to have six penguins wins. My 12-year-old son does that and we now have to bear his smirk for the next hour, at least. But we allow him his moment under the sun and choose a card game next, after my daughter and I vote against playing a strategy board game once again.

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A pair of young men enter, followed by a family of five, and it is so cool that they head here to play board games at a time when people are getting increasingly glued to their phones. The staff is there to curate games for you and they do this after a small conversation with whoever walks in, to get a sense of the kind of options that people are looking for.

One of the games Pradnya shows us stresses me out after we have played only one round. So, she packs up the game sportingly and brings out another one. Later, almost panting in excitement, we realise that there isn't too much time left to play anymore — there are only four minutes left of our allotted hour. But Pradnya has just the game that fits that time frame and we play for a little longer. Riddhi, the owner of the place, serves us food in the meantime, and then moves to the next table to understand what they are looking for. The staff members here are hands-on and clearly know everything about all the games that the place stocks. 

We play six games in one hour. The fact that we sat at a table, goaded each other, laughed — in fact, looked each other in the eye and laughed — was totally amazing. I want to do this again. It looks like I had been missing out.

Fact file

Where: Ground floor, New Excelsior Theatre, Wallace Street, Fort.
Best for: Girls and boys who enjoy board games, six years and above
How to reach: Get off at CSMT station and walk towards New Excelsior
Timings: Monday closed, Tuesday to Thursday from 12 pm to 10 pm, Friday to Sunday from 12 pm to 11 pm
Budget: '250 for those 16 years and below on weekdays, and '280 for under-16s on weekends
Food: Yes, and delicious
Water: Yes
Rest Room facilities: Yes, but not great
Where else to go: You are in a heritage precinct. If you are here during the weekend, plan it such that you can join a heritage walk. Or simply just walk around.

Parent Poll: Go because board games are a fun thing to do. Plus, it is a wonderful way to build team spirit
Rating: 
Kids' Poll: Loved the range of games and the milkshake
Rating: 

What's Good: The staff made for wonderful board-game curators.
What's Not So Good: The washroom

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