On any given evening, a small brick-walled bar in the heart of Biddeford echoes with excited chatter and the rolling of 20-sided dice. There are no high-top tables or rows of barstools here, only wooden dining room sets, most adorned with battle mats for role-playing games. Near the entrance is a nook with 300 card and board games, books and puzzles.

The Pint and Pawn, which opened in March, is the only dedicated board game bar in Maine, but it won’t be for long. Another Round is set to open on Portland’s Congress Street this summer, with its own 300-game library, draft beers and snacks. And this month, regional grilled cheese restaurant chain Cheese Louise added a board game library at its Portland location.

Bars, cafes and restaurants featuring game libraries, role-playing events and gaming tournaments first began to appear elsewhere in the early 2000s. Snakes and Lattes, which opened in Toronto in 2010 and later expanded to eight locations in Canada and the U.S., is credited with accelerating their popularity, and others popped up soon after in major cities like New York and Chicago.

With an increased interest in board games brought on by the pandemic, a renewed desire for social interaction post-COVID and the arrival of entrepreneurial gamers who noticed a gap in the market, the presence of board games in Maine’s bar scene is growing.

“COVID was the catalyst for the resurgence of board games over the past few years. We saw a heavy increase in sales as families were forced to stay inside and social distance,” said Connor Thomas, manager of Diversions, a puzzle and game store in South Portland.

Now, bringing them to bars and cafes is further fueling the tabletop game market, which is expected to grow by $13 billion – nearly 60 percent – in the next five years, according to a September report by international market research firm Research and Markets.

“Game bars are a great atmosphere to meet like-minded people,” said Jon Capachietti, a Diversions employee who used to frequent Portland arcade bar Arcadia and other out-of-state spots to play. Now, he doesn’t have to leave work to join in tournaments; the back half of Diversions is dedicated to customers (or off-the-clock employees) who want to convene for games.

Board game bars have the additional appeal of offering drinks and snacks to enjoy while playing.

Bryce Harrison, an owner of Cheese Louise, frequented a “nerdy” game bar, Storm Crow Tavern, in Vancouver, where he went to college. When he moved to Maine after graduating, he missed having that type of place – more than a bar, where people could build a community through their interest in games.

“I thought, ‘If there was a place like that in Portland, where you could get a cocktail or beer, a grilled cheese and then play a game, I’d absolutely love to go there.’ So it was that classic, solve-a-problem-that-you-have-yourself thing,” Harrison said.

Cheese Louise rolled out its library this month with about 30 games, including classics like Monopoly, Catan and Code Name.

New York City native Harry Sultan tells a similar story about his decision to open Another Round.

During college, his go-to locations for spending time with friends were The Uncommons, Manhattan’s first board game cafe, founded in 2013, and Hex & Company, Manhattan’s largest board game bar and cafe, founded in 2018. When he moved to Maine in 2022, he visited bookstores and board game shops, hoping someone would know of a similar place here.

“It didn’t seem like there was a location where people who are curious about role-playing or other games could reliably go and find people who are in that hobby,” he said.

For a while, he would bring his own games to bars, but it wasn’t the same.

“It felt a little weird showing up with a bag of board games with dice, pieces and trinkets,” he said.

So, Sultan decided to “fill a hole” in the Portland scene and open Another Round. The bar will have about 300 board games on rotation, both classic and obscure, along with Dungeons & Dragons staples like tokens, mats, dry-erase boards and dice. Sultan plans to host events, including trivia nights, introduction to Dungeons & Dragons lessons, “learn a board game” nights and Magic: The Gathering tournaments.

“I will have something for people who live in this gaming world and also things to whet your appetite,” Sultan said. “I want to be a place where people can come together – morning, noon and night, weekday and weekend – to grow friendships through light-hearted competition.”

Stacks of board games have been available to play at bars and cafes in Maine before now, and a couple of breweries – Battery Steele in Portland and Foulmouthed in South Portland – recently added cribbage nights.

Arcadia, which opened in 2014 and has since moved and expanded into the former Port City Music Hall, is mainly known for its collection of vintage pinball and skeeball games, but also has a library of about 70 board games.

“Anytime you come into the bar, you’re going to see people playing something either competitively or for fun,” said owner Dave Aceto.

Shelby Bryant, of Jay, a frequent visitor to Arcadia, said she gravitates to public spaces when gaming.

“It’s a fun environment and nice to get out of the house,” she said.

The Pint and Pawn, whose motto is “community through play,” has used social platform Discord, where people can coordinate groups ahead of their visit, to help develop its customer base.

“I come here because the game I play, Warhammer 40,000, is impossible to play by yourself, and this place has great online communication,” said Eric Fleischmann of Greene, who started going to The Pint and Pawn in the fall.

Fleischmann’s partner, Claudio Jimenez, isn’t into role-play gaming, but he often accompanies him to grab a cold drink and enjoy the atmosphere.

“Places like this are important for a healthy community; they connect people,” Jimenez said.

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