Like all good board game shops, The Boarding Home feels like a warm campfire- a place to tell stories and relish communal company. Far from the sterile and frustrating tables where uncs teach nephews Monopoly, Boarding Home wants to put front and center the creativity and joy that have been central to board gaming's boom over the last decade. It's evident in the well curated collection of retail items- classics like Rummikub, to the incredible one page dungeons that Grant Howitt publishes. The severity of this intention reaches into the play space which is just breathtaking. A lot of ink has been spilled over Mothership's manicured star ceiling- Boarding Home answers back w/ the antediluvian wall. Fans of Requiem in Anaheim will see a similar if not more subdued vibe- namely this is a place which does the work of transporting the guest to a place where it is okay to love board games. While I don't have any kids of my own, this is the kind of place I would bring kids if I wanted them to fall into the hobby. Using the vibes and sugary drinks to disguise their doing math to figure out how horrible a turn they're going to have. Of course this is all for naught if the location didn't function as a cafe- they of course nail this too.
They have a remarkably creative collection of drinks- it did not need to be like this. Of all the things they do well, drinks could have just been another revenue stream- the kind of place that does two pumps of hazelnut in a latte. Instead we get drinks like the lich-ata, a combo of sassafrass and horchata. The Natural 20, Booster Pack, Victory Points, all themed and interesting drinks.
But can I tell you a secret- whoever I was speaking with wanted the place to be a TTRPG place (think Dungeons & Dragons), but pivoted to board games because its a niche within a niche. If this place finds the support to be a community fixture and the owners find the confidence to let the store's gaze drift to roleplaying games this will become one of the best places in San Diego full stop. If you have not experienced the transformative power of doing silly voices in make believe worlds with your friends- please find a copy of For the Queen and take a chance.
My read on this place is that the firmament is rich with potential- a place whose richness is well established, but is infinitely configurable based on their library. Right now, they are nascent. A place in search of confidence. Their library of games will grow, their menus will blossom with more signs of creative aji, and the owners who took a big risk will find confidence to share the best of what this hobby can deliver. My beloved Off the Shelf games in El Cajon has delivered a flavor of this already, it is my hope that Boarding Home can do something just as spectacular for Carlsbad. It is with no reservations that suggest spending an afternoon in idle joy at this small crack in the everyday veneer of lives lived for responsibility. I hope in gazing you too might find reasons to spend an evening amongst friends with smiles alight. read more