Choose your own adventure at Pieces Board Game Bar & Café​ in Soulard

At Pieces Board Game Bar & Café, you can emerge from your basement game room and still feel like you’re in your safe space. With over 800 different games, 23 signature cocktails, expansive dinner and brunch menus, plus weekly events, it can be overwhelming to figure out the best strategy for your ideal night out. We’ve got the cheat codes for a winning visit any day of the week.

Closed Monday
Game over – try again!

Tuesday
Pieces charges a $5 library fee to access their impressive collection of games (the fee is reduced by one dollar for every food or drink item you order). Every Tuesday is free play, so it’s the best choice if gaming is more your vibe than imbibing. Visit their website for a meticulously updated list of their current game inventory, including five different versions of the popular Ticket to Ride, an adventure game in which players collect and play matching train cards to build railway routes.

Wednesday
Geeks Who Drink hosts trivia night on Wednesdays beginning at 7 p.m. Round up a table of friends and make a night of it. Their quesadillas are irresistible and we especially love the Meeple, a big, toasty pocket of onions, peppers, cheddar and your choice of protein, served with salsa and sour cream. 

Thursday
Pieces boasts happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. Hit up the bar after work for $4 wines, draft beers, you-call-it cocktails and appetizers. Happy hour is the perfect time for social card games like Obama Llama, a rhyming charade game where you act out, describe and mime hundreds of celebrity rhymes to your team.

Friday
If you can’t make it early for happy hour, be prepared for a wait once Friday night hits. You can get on the waitlist ahead of time on Yelp, but beware: When folks are sitting down to play, wait times can get unpredictable. We love posting up at the bar and getting competitive; the MVP of the shots menu is the Loser Shot, a truly horrifying punishment for coming in last place: either a bartender’s surprise concoction or good ol’ Malort.

Saturday and Sunday
On weekends, the pro tip is brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Try the Fork + Knife ham and swiss sandwich, their take on a croque madame with thick, toasted bread from Bridge Bread topped with a gooey fried egg. With almost 100 family-friendly game options, this is a perfect time to include the kiddos. Indulge them by playing the Frozen edition of Hands Down!, a fun spin and slam card game, or push them to relive your childhood with 13 Dead End Drive, a classic Millennial bluffing game where you move pieces around the over-the-top, three-dimensional board full of traps and tricks.

Readers’ Choice Favorite Games Bar

Pieces Board Game Bar & Café, 1535 S. Eighth St., St. Louis, 314.230.5184, stlpieces.com