Joe Petri grew up playing Dungeons and Dragons in West Seneca, trying to get good enough to be invited to “the big-kids’ table” when they had empty seats available. In the fourth grade you could find him practicing role playing or with his nose buried in a book.

Regardless of his two main passions of books and games, Joe eventually grew up to work in higher education. His graduate work was in student personnel at Buff State, and then he bounced around from college to college doing various student affairs work. He’s lived in Jacksonville, FL, Memphis, TN, and most recently, Brooklyn, NY. In 2009, he and his wife grew tired on carrying their double strollers down the subway stairs, so they moved back to his hometown of Buffalo to buy a home and settle down with their two young kids.

Joe and his family play a lot of games together. His kids are interested in Dungeons and Dragons, but they didn’t start playing until they were older than Joe was when he started. Joe thought that was an important distinction. Although, his daughter Sam is more into the games than her brother Dan is.

“My daughter’s really into it, . . . my son plays along,” Joe said.

While games remained a fun pastime for the Petris, books became the center of their lives and Joe’s new career. Joe and his wife Jeanenne opened a used bookstore on Buffalo’s West Side about a block away from their home.

“I can’t say we ever thought we would set out to own our own business,” Joe explained, “although we had kinda fantasized or toyed with ideas before. There was a key lime pie place in Brooklyn that we really loved, but I’m not a baker. These things that sound romantic and fun, but when you start to look at it, you say, ‘How? I’m not good at this.’”

Books are a much better fit for Joe than baking, and books are where it fit for the Petris. It became both romantic, fun, and practical, while hopefully helping the neighborhood at the same time. They called their newly opened book store West Side Stories.

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West Side Stories is a used book store on Grant Street on the West Side of Buffalo. I feel like I’m entering a maze of bookshelves when I go there. It’s impossible to make any sense of, but when I look closer the homemade signs labeling the shelves as poetry, nonfiction, young adult, politics I realize I’ve found the trick to not getting lost in the maze.

Diving deeper into the piles of books, a black cat emerges from around the corner. They dash across the room the second I notice them. I start to keep my eye out, and I count two cats roaming the maze with me.

I pick out a small copy of a book of poetry that I’m thinking of buying. I also found Bruce Springsteen’s memoir that intrigued me, but it was a little too expensive for me.

As I wait in line to check out, I make sure to go through the entire box of literary pins, the full stack of book stickers, and all the bookmarks for sale. Right before it was my turn to check out, the cat appears again. I realize they’ve been watching me and only now feel comfortable coming closer. I take the chance to pet the cat, and the man behind the counter informs me that his name is Milo. I will later learn that this man is Joe Petri, but I haven’t been to the board game place yet. I’ve only heard of it by now, and I don’t know what’s going to hit me.

Milo had officially grown fond of me just in time for me to leave, but he stalled me for enough time to decide I really did want that Bruce Springsteen memoir and add it to my purchase. Thanks Milo.

Joe Petri tells me about the closet in West Side Stories that used to store a few games for sale. Then, a few games in a closet turned into an overflowing closet of games. Joe initially started selling games to get some bigger-ticket items sold. The slightly bigger purchases helped boost income for the small, local bookstore.

As they started stocking more games, the Petris started to get more into gaming. They started to sock some of their favorites: Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, and Magic. The more you collect, Joe explained, the more you use them, for better or worse.

It’s the same as reading. Finding that perfect page turner sets you on a path for more books. Before you know it, you have shelves full of books you’re meaning to get to while you scour the maze of West Stories looking for more page turners.

Joe described this as “positive pressure,” as in the more books you have the more you’re encouraged to read, and maybe support your local bookstore in the process.

“The more you read, the more you realize how much you have to read,” Joe said.

And the more games you have, the more you’re encouraged to play. Joe always liked playing Dungeons and Dragons, his family always likes playing casual games together, and then Joe was presented with an available store front across from West Side Stories.

This opportunity was Joe’s first turn as he entered into the board game cafe business.

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At one table a family works together to cure the world of epidemic diseases. Across from them, a group of four friends build roads connecting their towns, racing for the best space to get the resources they need. In the same room, three dudes explore a haunted house one room at a time. The haunt is revealed and the game truly begins, but first one of them stalls his turn to grab a coke from the cooler in the corner.

Board game cafes have taken off as an industry over the past decade. Snakes & Lattes considers itself the first board game cafe in North America, but you can find them in really any major city. I’ve personally been to one in Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, and of course, Buffalo.

Each one does it differently. The one in Chicago was more of a bakery than a cafe. They have customers wait to be seated, specialized in deserts, and have you pay on a tablet the waiter hands you. In Columbus, all the games are free to play, no time limit, a complete free for all. But, it is required that customers spend at least $6 dollars on food and drinks. Their lattes weren’t bad, so I’d say it's a pretty good deal.

Just like you can choose a genre of game, whether it be strategie, cooperative, classic, or roleplaying, the board game cafe can decide what they want to lean most into. One place might have a stellar menu of appetizers and light dishes while their game shelve is light, but still has everyone’s favorites. Another place might have walls lined with over 1,000 games with some chips and drinks for sale.

Regardless of what they specialize in, board game cafes are the new place to be.

“It’s a marriage of a couple social things,” Joe said. “You know, when you go out with your friends for coffee or lunch anyway . . .”

Now you can get lunch, hangout with friends or family, and play games to occupy the entire group for hours. Or, you can go alone for a single-player game, or meat up with a group looking for another player. In all seriousness, there is something there for everyone.

But, why are board game cafes such a cool, new concept when board games have been around forever? Older generations are used to Monopoly, Risk, The Game of Life, and basic card games. Games that they could probably kick ass in, do not be fooled.

But, this isn’t how it is anymore. The recreational game industry is experiencing a renaissance. According to an article in The Guardian, there has been a 20 percent rise in the sales of tabletop games during 2017.

“When I grew up,” Joe recalled, “monopoly and your Parker Brother standards were pretty much heavy on luck. As opposed to now, this new generation of strategy games that are much more dependent on strategy, with some randomness and luck involved, which is important to be an equalizer now.”

Board games are exploding in media as well. Dungeons and Dragons can be seen on ‘80s nostalgia shows like Stranger Things and The Goldbergs. Stephen Colbert talks about his love of gaming and how important it’s been to him as a storyteller on his late show. Joe Manganiello talks about his D&D group on Sirius XM. Around the table are celebrities such as Big Show (WWE wrestler), Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood actress), Brad Peyton (Director), Taran Killam (SNL), and more.

All around, the nerdy persona of gamers is being dispelled. Not only is there a place for the nerdy, introverted gamers to play and socialize outside of their home, there’s also celebrity enforcement showing people how fun it is to be a nerdy gamer.

You don’t really know that you’re noticing it, but if you’ve seen or played Cards Against Humanity, Ticket to Ride, Sushi Go, or Code Names, than you are playing the next generation of tabletop games. Even games like Scattergories and Sequence are paving the way for more complex, creative games.

There is a new idea emerging from the board game renaissance. Gaming doesn’t have to be nerdy, it can just be fun.

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At Gather and Game, it’s $3 to play any number of games for any amount of time. There is candy, Breadhive cookies and pretzels, chips, coffee, and a cooler full of Gatorade and soda for sale. A year-long membership costs $25, or $40 for two people. There are technically a few other board game cafes in Buffalo, but Gather & Game is the only one accessible to the city area.

Most people who are coming to the West Side anyway are more apt to explore, find something new. Joe describes the two “anchors” that make their position on Grant Street so convenient. A few doors doors down is Sweetness 7 Cafe and a few blocks in the opposite direction is the West Side Bazaar. Depending on what time of day it is, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are covered when you’re on Grant Street playing board games.

There are a modest six tables available, which is perfect for the size of the place and the crowd that shows up. I’ve never not been able to get a table.

My favorite spot to play is the corner booth against the front window. You can see people walking along Grant Street framed by the string lights bordering the window while you sip hot coffee and play with friends. It’s cozy and perfect.

There is a mural on the largest wall of some game figures like a chess night, dice, cards, an hourglass, and a Tiny Towns piece. Joe is on a Tiny Towns kick at the moment, but he could never pick a favorite. That would be as hard as picking a favorite book!

Gather & Game has gotten lots of positive feedback during the first year of their opening. They’ve been featured on Step Out Buffalo and WGRZ. They’ve also started acquiring some regulars, including myself. I have a membership that I use almost every weekend.

“I’m starting to see more and more people who are gaming together because they didn’t know each other, but met here,” Joe said. He points out guy named Nathan to me who’s sitting with another guy holding a baby. These guys met each other from coming to Gather & Game, and now they meet regularly for afternoon games. Joe said it’s taken a while to get that feel and community, but it’s starting to get there.

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After trying to play a few rounds of Magic, it was clear that I was not getting the hang of it. My girlfriend and I cleaned it up and moved on to a game we knew well: Sushi Go. When we started shuffling the cards, the family sitting next to us eyed our hands.

There was presumably the mother and father of the two children with them. Their son was about high school age and was there for the Friday night Magic tournament. Their daughter seemed to be around 6. We learned her name was Molly when her mom asked if she could watch us play Sushi Go.

“Do you know how to play Sushi Go?” I asked her. She nodded shyly in reply. “Do you want to play with us?”

“Yeah!” She exclaimed. Her shyness was gone in the blink of an eye. I shuffled the cards and dealt them out. Her mom mouthed “thank you” to me, and I gave her a genuine smile. Now, he and her husband were free to play Magic on their own. I realized that they would probably have to play Sushi Go with Molly if it weren’t for me taking her off their hands. I wonder how many times they’ve sat through the game with her.

Molly’s aesthetic was Mardi Gras Halloween. She was like a powerpuff girl, short and sweet and everything nice. Her attire consisted of layers of color. She wore black tights with a pink, glittery tutu of a skirt, a black t-shirt with a tan cardigan, which was also full of glitter. She accessorized herself with Mardi Gras beads, as well as pink and green bows in her short, faded, pink-dyed hair. Apparently, she got to dye it for Halloween, but it hadn’t washed out yet.

“What were you for halloween?”

“A unicorn,” she told us.

One of the things Molly understood best about the game was that collecting the most pudding gives you points at the end of the game, and chopsticks let you pick two cards on the next turn. Therefore, Molly always chose pudding and chopsticks, which isn't necessarily the best strategy to win, but she was very excited about having five pudding cards while I had zero.

“I’m so lucky!” she gasped every time she got a hand with one of her two favorite cards.

After our first of three rounds, Molly took a break to get her sandwich from her dad that they packed for the long evening at Gather & Game. She also asked him to buy her a can of laCroix, which she chugged for the entire time we played together, even after it seemed to be empty. Her turkey sandwich with potent pickles sat right under my nose.

“When we’re done, can we play Spot It?” Molly asked. She always seemed to be distracted from the game at hand. She was constantly running away from the table to say something to her dad, or to see what was going on with her brother’s tournament. I didn’t mind the constant breaks, because it gave me time to reorganize Molly’s hand or clean up the mess her sandwich was making.

Molly taught us Spot It, but we really figured it out on our own. Molly’s explanation was subpar, but, of course, very cute. It’s basically an easy matching game.

Even though Molly technically taught us the game, she whispered in my ear, “Can you help me?” I whispered back the matches on her card that she shouted out to win the round. Later on, I would whisper my help but she shook me off.

“No, I can do it,” she said.

We played twice, and Molly won both times. I was letting her win.

It was fun playing with a new person. I was contently entertained by Molly’s enthusiasm for the simple, kid games that I would never have played otherwise.

That’s what it can be like at Gather & Games, if you’re open to it. You can come alone or with a group of friends and expect to join a group of strangers in their fun. There’s always someone willing and ready to teach you a new game or to give recommendations. That’s the beauty of the place.

“Molly might be an extreme example,” Joe interrupted, “but I do like that a lot of it is not only just different people, but it’s cross generational too. If you do a D&D Learn to Play, they’ll be someone in there who’s 20 and someone in there who’s 50. And how often do you reach out to someone who’s 30 years older than you to do something?”

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Gather & Game hosts events like learn to plays, tournaments, mix and match board game nights, and holiday parties. During learn to play events, there are four week sessions to learn the rules and set up of a game, and then the group starts playing some practice games. They teach games that build gaming skills and literacy, like Ticket to Ride, Decrypto & Skyfall, and Settlers of Catan: Game of Thrones.

Tournaments happen every Saturday, and there’s a $5 dollar entry fee. Prices are scaled depending on the number of players. They play a variety of games in tournament style, such as Settlers of Catan, Magic, and Splendor.

Joe described the tournaments as casual and fun, and not necessarily a place to be super competitive and worried about the prize. As long as you know how to play the game, any skill level is welcome.

All of these events and activities are meant to give people opportunities to try new games, meet new people, and experience something new. People who never knew they would love Dungeons and Dragons are now coming every Saturday to play. People who thought they could only learn Sorry! are now pulling five different games off the shelf they want to try.

Again, it’s the same as reading because the more you game, the more fun you have doing it.

“I hope that we’ve built a space that feels welcoming to everybody,” Joe said. “No matter who you are you can feel comfortable here.”