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Board Games in Basel

I remember being a teenager and playing board games with my sister. That was back in the 80’s, but since then, the world of board games has exploded, like a big bang of creativity, offering new worlds, challenges, ideas, and ways to enjoy time together. This world is so rich and deep that a lifetime is not enough to fully explore it.



Nevertheless, many adults (and sadly, youngsters) dismiss board games as something childish, shallow, or unappealing. Nothing could be further from the truth. Board games teach skills that promote social development and integration and offer a relaxed way to make new friends.



Children and Social Development


We certainly live in a competitive society, and children quickly learn that winning is good and losing is bad. Which is reasonable, as long as we don’t forget to teach them how to win and how to lose, along with enjoying the process and the journey, not only the final result.


Board games are a huge help here. Recurrent sessions of playing board games with children give them opportunities to practice being humble winners and  gracious losers. Nobody enjoys playing with a condescending winner who mocks the other players, or with a sore loser who gets angry whenever things do not go their way.


Board games also teach patience. Children learn to wait for their turn, follow rules, make strategic decisions, and avoid cheating. They practice dealing with frustration, adapting their plans and accepting that they cannot control everything that happens.


Moreover, these lessons are carried over to adulthood. I sincerely believe that board games can help children to grow into more empathetic, tolerant, and considerate adults.



Integration

In a multicultural and international city such as Basel, integration is especially important. Expats know this well. There are certain challenges that are only faced when you move to a new city or country. Most notably, your social life can suffer heavily and it takes time and energy to recover. Board games are an excellent gateway to meeting people and making new friends.


“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation”. This popular saying describes perfectly what board games can offer. This was one of the reasons why in 2012 my wife and I founded the Board Game Basel Association. The idea was to build a place where people could meet and use board games to develop their social circles. Since then, it has grown into the largest board game association in the region, with 84 active members from 14 different nationalities.



More Than a Game


Life is complicated, and board games cannot solve every social problem, but they create something that is increasingly valuable: a space to slow down, disconnect from the digital world, look at each other in the eye, and connect on a human level.


Around a table, age, background, beliefs, political differences, social status, profession, and nationality all become less important. For a brief moment you are simply a player: thinking, planning, enjoying yourself, and laughing with others.


That is probably the greatest strength of board games: they offer a kind of tabula rasa, a space we are all the same: people searching for happiness and wanting to belong. Turning strangers into familiar faces.



Infinite Worlds

Party games offer silly fun with few rules for large groups. Social deduction games sharpen your deception and bluffing skills, while learning how to read other people. Cozy games allow you to explore worlds with no definite objective beyond the simple pleasure of enjoying the present moment. And not every game is competitive. In cooperative games players work together to achieve the goal. They win or lose as a group.


I challenge anyone to not find at least one board game they would enjoy.


The possibilities are endless. So, the real question is probably not, “Do you like board games?” but “What do you already like?”


There is certainly a game about it.



Board Gaming in Basel


One of the most-established options to get involved is with the Board Game Basel Association. This is a club and membership is required, but members have access to organized meetings, activities, a dedicated board game library, as well as a permanent place to meet.


Other alternatives can be found in Basel, such as recurrent meetings taking place in bars and coffee shops. One example is an informal games night every Friday at Hive Basel. You can also use platforms such as Eventfrog, Sponctacts or Facebook to search for other events. Bars such as Escape Bar and Mana Bar have a small offering of board games and people gather there sometimes to play in the evening.


The local board game store in Basel is Spielbrett, and they organize regular meetings the first Tuesday of the month, to play board games in Andreasplatz, a must visit for all enthusiasts. Particularly interesting is the upcoming board game café in Basel: Hidden Gem, which will offer a large modern library of board games, specialty coffee, and events.



BasGame: The Basel Board Game Fair


Perhaps you are now a little curious about board games. Or perhaps you have always enjoyed them but are new to Basel and would first like to test the waters. In either case, you are in for a treat!


On 19 September 2026, BasGame, the Basel board game fair, will take place from 10:00 until 21:00. Visitors will be able to play board games from a huge library with more than 700 titles, join tournaments and guided gaming sessions, take part in role-playing games, browse a larger board game flea market, meet board game designers from Switzerland and Germany, playtest upcoming games and prototypes, and spend an amazing day with welcoming people.


Volunteers will be there to help and guide you. Coming alone, that’s not a problem. There is a simple system to gather players together and, who knows? Maybe meet your next best friend.


And all it takes to begin is an empty chair and a simple question:

“Would you like to play?”



BasGame


BasGame is a non-profit annual board game convention in Basel, created to bring people together through the world of modern board games. The event is made possible by a dedicated team of volunteers who put a great deal of time, care and enthusiasm into it. Today, BasGame is the largest board game gathering in Northwestern Switzerland, welcoming hundreds of visitors from Switzerland and beyond.



Rubén Cabezón

Rubén Cabezón is a Spanish astrophysicist at the University of Basel. He moved to Basel in 2010, bringing his passion for board games. In 2012, he and Hirginia Vallejo founded Board Game Basel; in 2014, BasGame followed. He is father to a five-year-old already beating him at games.




















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