David Quin opened a board-game pop-up bar last year at Stop 17 cafe in Collingwood after close on Thursday and Friday nights. When Stop 17 shut permanently, Quin and his team opted to make the board-game cafe a more permanent fixture, and took over the Smith Street space. Queen of Spades, which is open seven days a week, isn’t your run-of-the-mill cafe that just happens to have a Jenga or Connect Four set.

“We have a broad range of board games, ranging from the staples that are going to be easy to play and learn in 30 seconds, to more intricate board games where you can have hours of fun,”says Quin's marketing director Pierre Ducout. “Over the past 10 years, board games have evolved so much.” This evolution, he says, has happened as more elaborate board games have made their way onto the scene and into family game cupboards. Queen of Spades’s stash includes Guess Who as well as more complicated and elaborate options, including Mysterium and Betrayal at House on the Hill. If the included manuals aren’t cutting it, trained hosts are on-hand to explain the rules of the more involved games.