Amy Bartner

amy.bartner@indystar.com

A new spot on Mass Ave. lets gamers play something new or something familiar while enjoying a glass of beer or wine.

Players pay a library fee of $5. "Board game sommeliers" double as servers and game instructors.

Kingmakers opened in mid-February at 881 Massachusetts Ave., the second location for the Columbus, Ohio, company.

"We're excited to start the second one," Kingmakers general manager Rebekah "Sherm" Sherman said. "We opened in Columbus, and people really seemed to like what we were doing. Indianapolis and Columbus have a lot of things in common, so we thought that this would be the next logical step.

"Indianapolis is really growing, and there are so many things happening in this city right now."

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The $5 library fee gets gamers unlimited play time. The "board game sommeliers" will help customers select a game from the 500-game library based on skill level, mood and number of players.

"(They) are basically here to pick out a game, teach you a game if you don’t know it, so you don’t have to sit there looking through the rules," Sherman said. "We pair really well with the other restaurants around town. You go get something to eat and then you come over and play some board games."

The name "Kingmakers" is a gaming term given to a player who no longer has a shot at winning but is able to make a play that crowns another player of his or her choosing as the winner.

The well-lit room has a bar, gaming tables with mismatched chairs and a bookcase filled with colorful boxes of games: card games, Life, Settlers of Catan and more. The bar offers a number of local snacks and beer, wine and mead.

“We’re trying to give it a sort of a comfortable feel," Sherman said. "The different chairs is intentional."

Gaming has recently seen an increased — and broader — interest, Sherman said, making a place like Kingmakers fit well in a bar and restaurant district.

"Games are kind of for everybody, and because we have such a diverse library, you are always going to find something that will fit a different group," Sherman said. "It's sort of becoming cool again. It's just not something you do with your families, but you could do with your friends. It's just that nostalgia."

But it's not the late-night drinking place, she said.

"We liked the feel of Mass Ave.," Sherman said. "We had originally looked down more towards the other end but felt like we kind of fit down on this (northeastern) end a little bit more.

"We're more of a place to go where you can go have drinks, not necessarily to get drunk. It’s more about going out and having a drink with friends but being able to stay with the game the whole time."

Med student Aaron Hudnall, 26, came into Kingmakers one day in March with a few friends to play the card game Timelines.

"It's a welcome addition," he said. "There's something about hearing the person across the table from you."

Call IndyStar reporter Amy Bartner at (317) 444-6752. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.