"After five months of operations, we've come to realize that the cafe is unsustainable in it's current form," Cardboard Crowns founder Ben T. Adams wrote in a Kickstarter note to customers. "We've been making tweaks and adjustments and this month we will be rolling out our largest changes yet and giving everyone a reason to come in and play games with us, whether it's for the first time or the 10th time."
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The gamer bar and cafe, located at 147 N. Springboro Pike (Ohio 741) in the Corners at the Mall retail center near the Dayton Mall in Miamisburg, has ceased charging a “library fee” to play the pub’s board games.
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“From what we've heard back from the community, the $5 library fee has been a major barrier to entry and has kept many people in the Dayton board-gaming community from coming to check us out and play games,” Adams wrote. “In an effort to better serve the community and to hopefully help right the business, we are eliminating the $5 library fee. We believe we have one of nicest and most welcoming play spaces in Dayton and we want it to be used.”
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New menu items include mini-pizzas, chicken tacos, Chicken sandwich pockets, taquitos and ice cream bars, Adams said.
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To encourage people to give Cardboard Crowns a second look, the gamer pub will give away a free Philly Pretzel Factory Pretzel to everyone who comes in, “each day they come in, all month long,” Adams said.
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The pub also will be giving away about $1,000 worth of board games in a raffle of sorts. Customers will be given a ticket each time they come in and play. At the end of April, Cardboard Crowns will pull the names of 41 winners to take home the games.
The new café’s concept is part of a national and local trend to combine gaming and drinks. Adams said he looked at about a dozen locations across the region, including sites in downtown Dayton, Beavercreek and Kettering, before selecting the 3,500-square-foot space at the Corners at the Mall.
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Cardboard Crowns offers beers on tap and a selection of canned and bottled beers. The board games list is extensive. The selections ranges from lighter games to more involved, strategic games.
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