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OurLounge: Board Game Paradise

On the opening page of his Web site, OurLounge owner Zhang Damin of Australia said, “It was difficult for me to find a place in Beijing to share time with my friends. So I talked with my wife about building a place where family members and friends could meet, play games and relax. She agreed, so we—with several friends—decided to set up this little store. I just wanted to find a place where my children could have a birthday party, a place where I could enjoy happy times with my friends and family and those who have similar interests.”

There are now many programmes available at OurLounge designed to serve the different needs of people, such as a board-games zone, an English book-reading zone, an oral English teaching classroom, a sports practice zone and a café-leisure room. But the board-game zone is a most popular attraction, where dozens of board games are available.

Song Lianggang, a university teacher and partner of OurLounge, expressed his philosophy about board games and OurLounge: “We don’t want to make much of a fortune from this store, but we, and several friends thought it would be a good place for friends to be together and communicate. This was especially true for Zhang Damin who is an expert of board games.”

Song removed a vivid and one-inch long dinosaur model from a four-shelf high cupboard containing hundreds of war-game models and put it onto the war field of Warhammer (a war game deployed on a three-square-metres fantasy battlefield on which two sides choose their troops and battle to govern the world). “In fact, I am not a fan of board games, but I have really learned a lot from game-playing. Playing Warhammer is relaxing for white-collar workers and businesspeople. They can get to a peak that’s not easy to acquire in their work. The process of the war game is a realization of people-to-people communication and a birth of new ideas.”

Most of the games were brought to China from England by Zhang; few such products exist in China. Many foreigners who are fond of board games frequent OurLounge. Two employees in the store are war-game players, and willingly assist customers who are not familiar with the various games, according to Song.

In addition to the Warhammer series, other games popular among white-collar types and university students are strategy games such as Risk, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars. Among them, Risk is widely accepted as the No. 1 mainstream strategy game. Players are given tons of little army units to place onto the map of the world. When playing, you use your units to attack other players’ positions, hopefully with superior numbers. Combat is a simple dice-rolling affair that stresses attrition; reinforcements are given to players who collect a certain sets of cards. Risk, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars, the upgraded edition, feature different rules for different game sets. After a combatative round involving Song, BTM’s photo editor and this writer, we came to understand that board games can be a serious test of your will and mental ability.

OurLounge is well-equipped. Also available are cards games such as Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. Played by men and women, the game allows you to learn more about others via the questions the game requires you to ask. Similarly, Friends, originating with the popular American TV prime-time soap opera Friends, can be played by four or more friends who must answer different but interesting questions. There are also role-playing games: popular choices include the Mafia Game. Role-playing games involve a level of acting as players have to stay in character for the entire night.

Song said, “No matter the game, people really break the rules and limits that come with computer-games’ designs; they achieve communication with others and adopt different rules to overcome various barriers.” 

As Song explained the OurLounge name and taught some children how to play a board game, he brought the children’s room to our attention. “We have well-trained instructors to teach the kids how to play with the games, models and cards. Game-playing is good for a child’s training and development; it’s an effective way to achieve mental development and to expand a child’s education in the western world. Parents can do what they want to do in their spare time while their children play. The kids also need space for themselves.”

The 200-square-metre OurLounge facility can be basically divided into three parts. In one, a mother can relax and sip coffee while reading fashion magazines in the café-leisure room. Adults can share their pleasures with other fans of board games in the board game zone, and kids also have their room, designed like a small kindergarten room or an English study, complete with books reading and board games. You can have a cup of herbal tea during a board game, relax and escape the hustle and bustle of modern Beijing.

The OurLounge Family Club and Restaurant is a new choice for you and your family.