I adore board games that are concise. That word concise means “saying a lot with the smallest number of words.” It means not padding your essays and using words that communicate what you mean efficiently. Concise means a lot done with a little.

Now, this is not to say that I don’t like long, complex games. I once played 7 Wonders with all of the expansions simultaneously. As it turns out, not recommended. And while it’s no Twilight Imperium, I do enjoy a few hours of Catan: Cities and Knights plus Seafarers plus a soupcon of Traders and Barbarians. I really enjoy the calculations and give-and-take in Tzolk’in. But what I don’t care for is complexity for the sake of complexity. To me, Caverna is really just Too Much Agricola. In other words, adding more things to do, more tracks, more bits, doesn’t always add more enjoyment or even more brain-burning goodness.

One of my most favorite concise games is Reiner Knizia’s Chartae. The game is comprised of nine tiles, each with a unique layout of ocean and land reminiscent of Carcassonne. And that’s it. It takes up less than one square foot of table-space and the small box could easily be misplaced. The rules could be written out on a Post-It note. Yet it holds a world of analysis paralysis, a world of take-that and satisfaction. It is brief yet comprehensive, it reveals so much with so little. There’s depth here, particularly if you play with someone whose gaming soul you know well, and such simplicity you might wonder how the good doctor could pack so much game into such a tiny box.

Years ago I went with a friend to hear his jazz percussion teacher play at a club. It was good, but I couldn’t really tell you why. When I asked what made his teacher a better musician, my friend said, “He only plays what the music needs.” His playing was concise—rich and minimal at the same time, not flashy but still deeply satisfying. This is what Chartae and lots of other small-box games do: they offer you only what the game needs and no more.

Alice C, board game librarian

Support Hungry People

There are many members of our community faced with food insecurity on a daily basis. In this tumultuous atmosphere of SNAP benefits and other government programs being cut, so many are struggling to make ends meet. As a business focused on both food and fun, we are acutely aware of how hard things are.

In this season of giving and uncertainty, Free Parking is shining a light on the Freestore/Foodbank and inviting all our guests to join us in contributing to help our neighbors flourish. The Freestore/Foodbank in Cincinnati does truly heroic work, providing approximately 47.2 million meals annually. You can click that link or scan a QR codes in the bar to contribute.

ADDITIONALLY, Free Parking is donating 10% of our sales from the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, amounting to $245! You can help raise that total by clicking the link above!

Play Stocking Stuffer games!

We’ve refreshed our retail space and restocked some perennial favorites like A Gentle Rain and Flip 7, alongside the delightful Scout! At a loss for small or last-minute ideas for the gamers in your life? Try a couple of these!

And, you know, we’ve got a wide selection—well more than these pictured—of small-box games that pack a punch.

Fairy—A tiny game of pressing your luck and guessing something about the next card in the deck, with very cute art!
Kinoko—Hold your charming, mushroom-themed cards backwards and roll dice to shift them around among other players’ hands and the face-down cards on the table. How much can you remember?
Tinderblox—kind of a reverse Jenga, build a tiny campfire with tweezers and try not to knock it over.
Deep Sea Adventure—players roll dice and dive deep to pick up treasure, but use more of the table’s collective oxygen the more pieces they try to retrieve. Will you survive? (Probably not.)
Mountain Goats—make combinations of dice to move their goats up the mountain and pick up scoring chips. Players can stay at the top of the mountain and take more and more chips unless they’re knocked off by another.

Try our new chicken and waffles for brunch!

It’s the delicious Liege waffle made from a dense, yeasted dough and pearl sugar, served with our juicy, fried chicken, syrup, and hot honey. (Pictured here with our ranch-dusted home fries and manager Steven’s enthusiasm!) Add a mimosa and one of our small-box games, and you’ve got a party!