Growing up on a farm in St. Charles, brothers Erik and Lawrie Van Beek and their four other siblings often amused themselves by playing board games.

Growing up on a farm in St. Charles, brothers Erik and Lawrie Van Beek and their four other siblings often amused themselves by playing board games.



Given this early interest, Lawrie's visit to Snakes and Lattes Board Game Café in Toronto was something of an epiphany. Upon returning home, he gave Erik no peace until he agreed to partner with him in opening a similar café in Sudbury.



The result is the Let's Scrabbalatte Board Game Café, which opened Nov. 26 at 66 Elm St.



For a $6 admission fee, customers can browse through the cafe's more than 300 board games and play them to their heart's content. As the business' name suggests, there's also an on-site café offering refreshments to players.



The young business owners — Erik is 27 and Lawrie is 22 — say board game cafés are hugely popular in the United States and the United Kingdom, and they've also been popping up across Canada lately.



“At Snakes and Lattes, on a weekend, you have to reserve a month in advance, even though they can seat over 200,” Lawrie said. “It's huge, actually.”



With so much emphasis on Internet gaming and online activities in general, Lawrie said Let's Scrabbalatte aims to bring back face-to-face connections.



They've intentionally kept their wireless Internet under password to limit screen time for those visiting the café.



“You realize life becomes depressing behind a screen, and then you do something like this, and you see how it brings people together,” Erik said.



But there's actually a counterculture of people who enjoy board games, Lawrie said.



This group encompasses those who like traditional games such as chess, checkers, Monopoly, Scrabble, or the more elaborate fantasy role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons.



Let's Scrabbalatte brings them all of these gamers together, he said.



As the café currently isn't licensed — the brothers are still trying to decide whether they want to sell alcohol or not — it's also a place for people to go if they want to have fun without drinking.



Board game cafés have also become a popular place to go on dates, Erik said.



“Ultimately the experience you're going to have here is unlike anything else that's in Sudbury right now,” Erik said.



Sisters Blayne and Kristen Cavanaugh certainly seemed to be enjoying their time at the café at a pre-opening evening hosted by the Van Beeks. At 9:30 p.m. they'd already played three different games.



“I think it's awesome,” Blayne Cavanaugh said. “I would definitely come here. I love board games.”



Let's Scrabbalatte is open 3-11 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday, 3 p.m. to midnight on Friday, noon to midnight on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Sunday. The café is closed on Monday.



For more information, phone the business at 705-674-8888 or search Let's Scrabbalatte Board Game Café on Facebook.