Hongdae board game café for three-player mysteries: Hero Board Game Cafe

When we had an awkward gap in Hongdae, we headed indoors

You know those moments in Hongdae when, no matter how much you’ve already done, there’s this weird chunk of time left over? 👀 Going to a café sounds kind of boring, but walking around outside sounds like too much effort lol.

The perfect place to slip into then! It’s Hero Board Game Cafe Hongdae Branch 1, a board game café for a Hongdae date 🎲✨ It’s about a 10-minute walk from Hongik University Station Exit 9, so it’s in a great spot to pop into while wandering around Hongdae! Especially since we’d already walked over 10,000 steps that day—I was seriously about to collapse the moment we got to Hongdae... hahaha...

So, because we already love board games and wanted to hang out indoors ㅜ, we decided it was time for a Hongdae board game date at Hero Board Game Cafe Hongdae Branch 1~

A great range of seating for three

The second we opened the door, indoor-is-best mode: ON 🫠💦 haha. The first thing I noticed was how many different kinds of seats there were!

It wasn’t just regular table seating—there were loft-like spaces too, with comfortable options for different group sizes, from four-person tables to six-, eight-, and groups of 10 or more 🙌

There were three of us, so we settled into a four-person table. It had plenty of room to spread out our games, so it was perfect!

Weekday unlimited plan: ₩6,000

You order drinks and food from your seat, then once you get a notification, just take your table-number sign to pick it up. That was super convenient 📱

We should have ordered one ramen each

Also, the ramen here is seriously good. Honestly, just look at that ramen color.

The noodles were wonderfully chewy and glossy, and it was honestly so delicious. I regretted not ordering a bowl of ramen for each person. Sob sob.

But the real star is, of course, the game selection lol 🎲

More than 300 board games, apparently

If you love board games, I think you might just zone out in front of the shelves the second you walk in 👀

They say there are more than 300 games. The bookcases were packed full, and there were even separate shelves as well.

If it’s your first visit, please decide what game you want to play beforehand!!

Mystery and thriller games have their own section

For starters, if you like mysteries and thrillers, your eyes might honestly pop out 🔍✨ Genres such as murder mystery, Tabletop Detective Team, Unlock!, and cooperative mystery games were gathered in a separate section, which made them easy to find.

And besides board games, there were arcade machines and a pool table, so even if the friend you came with isn’t a board-game fanatic, it felt like they could find at least one thing they’d enjoy 😎

Completely immersed in Unlock! 2 and Tabletop Detective Team

The game we chose that day was Unlock! 2: The Nautilus’ Traps! Unlock! is a board game my sibling introduced me to, and I was like... have I wasted my life(?) How am I only finding out about something this fun now ㅜ

I thought board games were basically just Rummikub, UNO, and Splendor, but it was so, so fascinating that you could have fun with a mystery game using just a few cards on a table instead of a computer.

Anyway, after conquering several Unlock! games, we played Unlock! 2: The Nautilus’ Traps, and honestly, this was soooo hard;;; We used a ton of hints, but even with them, we had no idea what they were saying... It kind of felt unfair at times too, so after playing for a while, we switched to another mystery game hahaha.

Straight away: Tabletop Detective Team: The Smiling Girl at Twilight! If I were to tell you how it was, it was still easier than that Nautilus-whatever above (though we still couldn’t find the culprit); there’s a part in the middle that gives you chills, you know? ㅜ

I’m exaggerating a bit, but I wanted to jump up and run away hahaha;; We got way more immersed than expected and had such a fun time playing! We went in thinking we’d rest and hang out a little, but came out totally absorbed hahaha 🎮💥

If you’re looking for an unusual Hongdae date to enjoy with friends rather than the usual café, need an indoor stop, or love mystery games, Hero Board Game Cafe Hongdae Branch 1 could be worth a visit 🙌💗 Time disappears in no time hahaha.