Puzzle event and 300 board games in Nowon, Seoul: Hero Board Game Cafe

It's been so hot lately that I'd rather spend time in a cool indoor spot than wander around outside. So this time my boyfriend and I went looking for somewhere different to hang out in Nowon, and ended up at Hero Board Game Cafe Nowon Branch. Beyond board games, there was so much to do — Nintendo, PlayStation, even arcade machines — that we ended up staying way longer than planned haha.

Where is Hero Board Game Cafe Nowon Branch, and when is it open?

• Location: 3rd floor, 15 Sangye-ro 3-gil, Nowon-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Hours: Mon-Thu 13:00-24:00 / Fri 13:00-01:00 (next day) / Sat 12:00-01:00 (next day) / Sun & holidays 12:00-24:00
• Parking: No dedicated parking, public transit recommended

Outside: the red third-floor sign and the event banners at the entrance

Hero Board Game Cafe Nowon Branch is on the 3rd floor of the building. From outside, the red sign stands out, so it wasn't hard to find.

There were several event banners set up in front of the entrance. One was for a free americano or iced tea if you visit before 2pm on weekends.

If you come early on a weekend to play board games, you can even get a free drink out of it — pretty nice perk!

Another event that caught my eye was the birthday event! There was a sign saying you get free access for your entire birthday month — a really generous deal, so if you have a friend with a birthday coming up, definitely take advantage of it!!

Walking up the stairs to the shop entrance, the business hours were posted there too, which was handy to check before going in.

How much does it cost? 3,000 won an hour, arcade machines included

• Free americano for weekend visitors before 2pm
• Weekday teens ₩2,000 per hour
• Weekday / weekend ₩3,000 per hour
• Free use of arcade machines / Nintendo / PlayStation

₩3,000 an hour is already reasonable for a board game café, but here you also get free access to Nintendo, PlayStation, and arcade machines.

Inside: the counter, the staff picks board, and 300-plus board games

Walking in, the first thing you see is the counter. Once you're done playing, you return games here, and if you ordered food or drinks, pickup and returns happen here too.

On the wall, there's a guide recommending games based on group size. Since there are so many board games, it can be hard to decide what to pick on your first visit, so having recommendations laid out like this really helped.

Above all, the sheer number of games is impressive. They say there are over 300 board games, and true to that, the shelves were packed with them! They're well organized by category, making it easy to find what you're looking for 👍🏻👍🏻

What kinds of seats can you choose at Hero Board Game Cafe?

Another perk of Hero Board Game Cafe is the variety of seating.

There are regular table-and-chair seats as well as shoes-off floor seating.

Depending on group size, there are spaces for 4, 6, 8, or more people, so it works well whether you're a small group of friends or a bigger crew.

There's also a separate room for Nintendo, so you can comfortably enjoy Nintendo games as well as board games.

From a room suited for card games to a space with round tables, the layouts differ slightly, so you can pick whatever atmosphere suits your mood.

There's also a self-service corner off to one side. While playing board games, you sometimes need paper, pens, or other tools beyond the cards and boards, and various supplies were stocked there.

You can use Nintendo and PlayStation too, and there were arcade machines set up on one side. All of this free to use...😍 We only paid for the board game time, but there turned out to be so much more to do — really good value.

During our visit, a puzzle event was also running. Complete a 500-piece puzzle within the time limit, and you get a 2-hour free coupon plus a polaroid photo per person 👍🏻👍🏻

Food menu: bingsu (shaved ice), non-alcoholic cocktails and chicken

Hero Board Game Cafe also had a surprisingly wide food and drink menu. Beyond basic coffee and tea, they sell non-alcoholic cocktails, beer, and more.

Since we visited on a hot day, there were several kinds of bingsu (shaved ice dessert) available. Ordering a cold bingsu to share while gaming seemed like a perfect combo.

Besides simple snacks, they also sell chicken, great for when you get hungry mid-game.

Our visit: tablet ordering, board games and the arcade machines

Once you sit down, you can order food from the tablet in your room and also check the list of available board games. Not only can you browse the game list, but each game comes with a well-organized description, which was helpful when choosing what to play.

We ended up bringing a few board games ourselves that day. With how hot it's been, playing board games in a cool indoor space was so much better than wandering around outside haha.

In between games, we ordered drinks and snacks and shared them while playing — eating while gaming, time flew by so fast!

Leaving after just board games felt like something was missing, so we tried the arcade machines too. Playing games I hadn't touched since childhood arcades was a different kind of fun from the board games. Best of all, using the arcade machines came with no extra charge.

Is Hero Board Game Cafe Nowon Branch worth a visit?

Hero Board Game Cafe Nowon Branch has such a wide variety of board games, plus free Nintendo, PlayStation, and arcade machines, that there was far more to enjoy than we expected. It's a great place to stay cool with friends, play games, and enjoy drinks and snacks on a hot day — if you're looking for something fun to do in Nowon, it's worth a visit.