Play board games at eclectic games in Reading!

Welcome to eclectic games - your board game destination in Reading!

We've been providing a space for people to play board games for over 15 years! We are based in Union Street which you may know as Smelley Alley if you've been in Reading for a long time. How to get to us.

Are you a board game cafe?

No, but arguably we're a better destination for you to come and play board games! Here's why:

• We run regular events on most evenings. See our events schedule.
• We run board game nights every Monday and Friday evenings, as well as one Saturday each month.
• Our board game library has over 2000 games ready to play!
• Our games room can sit over 30 people!
• You don't have to purchase expensive food and drinks, though we do have a well-stocked vending machine if you fancy a snack.
• You can book space in our games room, either individual tables or the whole room. See our games room booking page for more info.

When can I play board games at eclectic games?

Our weekly board game evenings are Mondays and Fridays from 6-10.30pm. Get your tickets here!

We also have an open board game day usually every second Saturday of the month. You can find the next date in our events schedule.

Do you have a list of all the games in your board game library?

We don't have an up-to-date list as we keep adding new releases! Here is an incomplete list on BoardGameGeek.

Do I have to come as part of a group or can I turn up by myself?

We have both groups and individual players turn up for our board game evenings. Feel free to come by yourself - there's usually always a game for you to join!

I'm creating a game and would like to playtest it!

Awesome! Feel free to bring it along for the board game evenings and see if anyone is up for giving it a go! Alternatively, you can book our games room, see below.

Can I book the room?

Yes! Click here to get to our games room booking page.

What are the rules for using your games room?

We extensively cover our game room rules on another page, but the gist is - be courteous to other players, the eclectic games staff, and the games room! Please also take a look at our event ticket FAQs.

Is your games room accessible for wheelchairs?

Unfortunately our games room is upstairs and only accessible via stairs as we don't have an elevator.