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My neighborhood library, the Midland branch at SE 122nd and Morrison, completed a lengthy renovation in late 2024. Since the summer of 2025, I've been organizing a meetup focused on playing hobby and strategy board games in the new community meeting rooms on the first Sunday of each month. These rooms are explicitly for community use and open to the public, so I'm quite proud of the welcoming, relaxed atmosphere we've been able to create . So far there's been a mix of interest in shorter/lighter games and longer, more involved games, and we've been able to organize pretty organically without anyone having to wait too long. Still, if you're interested in something longer or more complex, I'd suggest arriving at the beginning so we can get that going from the jump.
The library itself is quite nice, especially after its recent facelift, and is just a couple minutes' walk from the 20-Burnside bus and a maybe a five or ten minute walk from the 122nd Ave Blue Line MAX stop. As far as food options, Bridge City Taproom is right across the street, there's Just Tea about a block away, and Los Francos Food Truck, Don Pedro, Victorico's, Gold Garden (Chinese), and Sisters (Ethiopian) all within a few blocks.
I hope we'll see you there!
Our Next Event:
The next East Portland Tabletop Arcade will meet on Sunday, August 2nd, 2026, from 1:00 to 5:00 PM in Community Room 1F of the Midland branch of the Multnomah County Library. I've been choosing a broad theme each month and bringing a few selections in that vein to have available. Playing these is hardly mandatory, of course - I'll have a number of other games with me, and I hope that anyone who attends will feel free to bring stuff that they're interested in getting to the table. For July, the theme is CHOO CHOO, and I'll be bringing several railroad-themed games:
CHICAGO EXPRESS (Bohrer, 2007, 3-5 players, medium complexity): In Chicago Express, the B&O, C&O, Pennsylvania and New York Central railroads drive from the East Coast across the growing eastern U.S. to Chicago. Smaller, more aggressive railroads like the Wabash spring up to further expand America's extensive railroads. The sharpest railroad executives vie for the maximum return on their investment in this luck-free business game lasting about one hour.
NORTHERN PACIFIC (Holland, 2013, 3-6 players, low complexity): Northern Pacific is a luck-free railroad-building game that lasts about twenty minutes. Players start the game with one large investment cube and three small investment cubes in hand. The game board shows the United States from Minnesota to Washington. On a turn, a player either places one of their cubes in a city (other than Seattle) that hasn't yet been reached by the train or builds track. If they build track, they choose one of the railroad lines exiting the city where the train is currently located and place a locomotive on it to show the current endpoint of the railroad line. When the railroad visits a city where players have placed investment cubes, they retrieve those cubes and take additional cubes from the supply. When the railroad reaches Seattle, the round ends. Players tally the number of cubes in hand and records this number on the "good investments" track; they record the number of their cubes still on the game board on the "bad investments" track. They then reset the board as at the start of the game, then begin a new round. After three rounds, whoever has made the most good investments wins!
TICKET TO RIDE: NORDIC COUNTRIES (Moon, 2007, 2-3 players, low complexity): Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries takes you on a Nordic adventure through Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden as you travel to the great northern cities of Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki, and Stockholm. The goal in "Nordic" remains the same as base Ticket to Ride: collect and play cards to place your trains on the board, attempting to connect the different cities on your ticket cards. Unlike the USA or Europe maps, Nordic is designed for 2-3 players only and has a heavier focus on blocking your opponent and more aggressive play.
Past Events:
East Portland Tabletop Arcade, June 2025: Two attendees. Games played: Love Letter.
East Portland Tabletop Arcade, July 2025: Ten attendees. Games played: Scout, Harmonies, Flip 7, Captain Flip, Innovation, YINSH, Survive: Escape From Atlantis, Great Western Trail.
East Portland Tabletop Arcade, August 2025: Sixteen attendees. Games played: No Thanks!, Azul: Summer Pavilion, Scout, The Crew: Mission Deep Sea, Bus, Mushroom Cats, Trekking the World, Splendor, Project L.
East Portland Tabletop Arcade, September 2025: Fourteen attendees. Games played: Cities, Moon, 1st & Goal, Project L, The Crew: Mission Deep Sea, Trekking Through History, The Grizzled, Fliptoons, Illusion.
East Portland Tabletop Arcade, October 2025: Nine attendees. Games played: Tobago, Expressions, No Thanks!, Nature, Pax Pamir.
East Portland Tabletop Arcade, November 2025: Six attendees. Games played: Courtisans, Alien: Fate of the Nostromo, Earth, Hot Streak, Skull, Let's Summon Demons, Bus & Stop.
East Portland Tabletop Arcade, December 2025: Twelve attendees. Games played: Pandemic, Elder Sign, TRND, Here to Slay, Flock Together, Epic Galaxy, Fluxx, Procession, Lost in R'lyeh.
East Portland Tabletop Arcade, January 2026: Eight attendees. Games played: Jalape-No!, Things in Rings, Molly House
East Portland Tabletop Arcade, February 2026: Ten attendees. Games played: Cross Clues, Gravwell, Take Time, Harmonies, Trekking the World, Ride the Rails, Scout.
East Portland Tabletop Arcade, March 2026: Six attendees. Games played: Santiago, High Society, Rebirth, The Gang, Vegas Dice Game, Let's Go! to Japan.
East Portland Tabletop Arcade, April 2026: Three attendees. Games played: Win, Daybreak.
East Portland Tabletop Arcade, May 2026: Substitute host (no games recorded).
East Portland Tabletop Arcade, June 2026: Nine attendees. Games played: We're Doomed!, Flip 7, Racko, Finspan, Cascadia, Fromage, Win, King of Tokyo, Flamecraft Duals.
East Portland Tabletop Arcade, July 2026: Seven attendees. Games played: Magical Athlete, Life, Pioneers, Container, Splendor, Toil & Troublez.
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