Mackensy Lunsford

mlunsford@citizen-times.com

ASHEVILLE - Those who remember pre-Internet days, a time even before Atari's comparatively prehistoric video games, remember a time when board games served as premier indoor entertainment.

The halcyon years of Monopoly, Hot Pockets, Lunchables and life before Facebook will be revived in contemporary fashion at 58 Wall Street this weekend. That's where Cortland Mercer, Steve Green and Kevan Frazier will open Well Played, a cafe with hundreds of games requiring no electricity.

Board game cafes are a phenomenon right now, due in part to a technology-fatigued populace looking to unplug from the the 24-hour social-media stream.

"People are yearning to connect in real and meaningful ways," said Mercer, who praised the power of games to force people to put down their phones and engage.

Even if board game cafes are trending, many consumers have become disengaged with games on the market, which is where Well Played's employee “Gamemasters” come in.

They'll boast encyclopedic knowledge of the venue's hundreds of available titles, including classics like Backgammon and Parcheesi, also represented in murals on the bathroom walls.

From there, it's all about knowing what your gaming style is. "It depends what type of thinker you are," Mercer said. "Someone who's creative and abstract need something like Pictionary."

There will also be titles like Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne, the types of strategy games that have helped drive the resurgence in tabletop gaming, but can also take two hours to complete.

That's something the business partners took into account when renovating the building, most recently home to a bar. Adding an additional fire exit has allowed the business to utilize the entire space, which stretches from Wall Street to Patton Avenue and can comfortably fit 111 people.

That could spell a win for the space, which hasn't scored a tenant with staying power in years. And it's a good strategy for a model that all but guarantees low turnover.

The interior certainly invites lingering. Designed by Shelter Collective, Well Played is at once nostalgic, with its game-themed murals, and modern with a sunlit interior and spacious booths and tables.

The cafe's menu will riff on a comfortable after-school feeling, but with beer — six taps, with cans and bottles. There will also be wine, a coffee program, hot chocolate and tall glasses of chocolate milk.

Goldfish and M&Ms? They've got that. Chips and dips, too. There will be charcuterie, presented like Lunchables, and grilled cheese, of course.

"Does it get any more comfort food than grilled cheese?," Frazier said.

Well, yes. There will also be house-made hot pockets and house-baked cookies, cakes, pies and mason-jar puddings. But even though fresh takes on kid food abound, the owners said they are working to nurture an inter-generational appeal.

"We think board game cafes are incredibly powerful and wonderful because they bring together so many types of people," Mercer said.

IF YOU GO

What: Well Played, a board game cafe in downtown Asheville, opens this weekend.

Where: 58 Wall St.

When: Opening day is Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Regular hours will be 2-10 p.m., Mon-Wed; 2 p.m.-1 a.m., Thu-Fri; 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday.