Board games, especially the “German” ones, you know, the beautifully designed ones with the complicated rules and the funny names, have become more popular in recent years and many Greeks have been paying attention. Playce is a café that specializes in these kind of games and many more: from Catan to Scrabble, from Ticket to Ride to Tichu… This playce has got it all.

Even though there are two branches that I know of, I’ve only been to the one close to metro station Panormou from which it’s less than a 5-minute walk. It’s very colourful and the decoration is accordingly playful. Their collection of games is quite large and even though I’ve been there several times already, I can’t have played more than 5% of the games they have. There are game helpers who quickly and efficiently explain the rules of any game you might have chosen; their skills with the English language remains untested, however.

The prices for playing are quite reasonable, with unlimited gameplay costing just 1€ per person. Disappointingly, coffees, hot chocolate, waffles and the rest of the typical café selection is more steeply priced.

One thing that might annoy you as much as it does me is the loud music that is more apt for a club than for a loungy café, unfortunately a common occurrence in Greece. If that’s not important enough to stop you, please invite me for a game too: as I mentioned already, there are still tons of them I haven’t tried!