As the “Eatertainment” space grows, restaurants seeking to create dine-in experiences are innovating to stand out from the crowd.
Using sports, virtual and real board games, the goal is to get diners to put down their phones and engage — and to eat and drink while they play.
“I think part of the reason board games are having a renaissance right now is that people are really atomized and alienated and lonely,” said Max Temkin, co-creator of the game Cards Against Humanity, who recently launched the Chicago Game Café.
Nostalgia is a huge part of this trend, harkening back to an earlier era before devices ruled people’s lives.
Some are using virtual reality to bring diners to an imagined apocalypse requiring survival skills like cooking their own food, hunting and foraging. Others are putting new technological spins on classic games like darts, while crafting artisanal food to be eaten with only one hand.
Take a look at 4 game concepts that are new or growing.
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