Wow. Well, we finally made it to Treehouse Board Game Cafe in Sheffield this afternoon, as a treat for P while her sister is away having Guide fun for the weekend. We love a board game, but I hadn’t been sure whether I’d feel it was worth the trip and the money, since we usually just put the kettle on and play at home. I’m pleased to say it was totally worth it.

Treehouse cafe is beautiful. Stunningly designed and equipped with everything you need to eat, drink and play games – and goodness are there a lot of games. We fitted in about 6 in the 3 hours we were there – varying in difficulty and none of which we’d come across before.

P especially loved ‘Patch Work’ and ‘Hey, That’s My Fish’ was right up my street (although I suspect Paul will want us to move up to something a little more strategic next time). We have another list of at least 20 games we need to try.

People were playing every kind of game you can think of. A group of students played something incomprehensible involving coloured pieces.  A family played ‘Sushi Go!’ together, then ‘Pandemic’. Two ladies opposite played a long game of ‘Monopoly’ followed by ‘Kerplunk’ in a joyful channelling the 1980s. The whole place was a happy one.

I personally would have been slightly happier with a glass of wine but unfortunately I was driving – although wine would probably have made my understanding of the rules even more unreliable. Instead we drank great coffee and ate delicious cake, plus we eye’d up the savoury food that was being delivered to other tables.

The whole thing is just such a lovely idea, wonderfully executed – I’d urge you to try it out. Clear a good chunk of time in your day, book ahead and give it a go. It’s a proper treat.

Kids under 12 are free so it cost £10 for the three of us to go – that gave us a table with access to a huge number of games for 4 hours. Advice was on hand if the rules seemed out of reach, and table service made it feel like a real treat as an afternoon out.