Business offers casual environment for friends, strangers to bond over games, beer

It's a Saturday night at Emerald Tavern Games & Cafe, and Walter Schmalstieg has just finished setting up the board for "Rampage," a tabletop game that involves stacking cards and figurines to create a city of buildings.

Schmalstieg doesn't know the couple playing with him, but Emerald Tavern's casual environment makes it easy for strangers and friends to gather and play a variety of tabletop and card games.

"You don't find a lot of good places with good gaming space, a good lending [library], alcohol and good lighting," said Schmalstieg, who has been a regular since May.

Emerald Tavern is equal parts retail, cafe and social gathering. Customers may bring a game from home to play, choose one from the game library or purchase one from the retail section, which includes traditional, European, hobby, role-playing and card games. Employees follow trade magazines and websites for ideas on which games to sell, co-owner Erich Weidner said.

"Buying games is a bit more of an art than a science," co-owner Marshall Geyer said. "It's really having our sales and staff with our thumb on the pulse of what people are liking. A lot of the things we have are simply customer requests."

Geyer and Weidner opened the English Tudor–themed business in September 2013. The two met in 2000 and bonded over gaming and home-brewing beer. They then decided to open a business together.

"There's a lot of people who live in a small apartment or have a hard time getting together with friends," Geyer said. " What if you could have a place where people could come and do those things?"

Emerald Tavern serves sandwiches made in-house and coffee from Austin-based Cuvee Coffee. The taps feature craft American beer and hard-to-find English brews such as Belhaven's Black Scottish Stout and Twisted Thistle IPA.

Geyer attributes the business' success to its customers, many of whom discover Emerald Tavern by word of mouth. Customers also enjoy the store's food and drink offerings, he said.

"It's a casual, laid-back environment that's easy to get to," Weidner said.

The duo has also seen a rise in popularity of board games.

"When I was growing up as a kid, 30, 40 years ago, we played games," Geyer said. "We had family game night, or you got together with your friends and played a game. For the last 15 years people have been playing games on computers by themselves... . I think people are beginning to crave human contact again. A store like this is an enabler for [that]."

Owner recommendations

Emerald Tavern Games & Cafe has more than 150 games for customers to try for free from its game library in the store. Owners Marshall Geyer and Erich Weidner offer their top suggestions for customers who do not have much gaming experience:

"Carcassonne": In this easy-to understand game, players use tiles to create a medieval city and receive points for completed cities and roads.

"Castle Panic": In this game from Austin-based Fireside Games, players defend a 3-D castle and aim to become the master slayer. Play is against the deck, so players work with each other.

"Chupacabre": In this game from Steve Jackson Games based in Austin, players are farmers who use chupacabra to eat other players' herds of animals. It is fast-paced and interactive.

"The Settlers of Catan": This approachable game has rules that are easy to understand. Gamers build cities and roads and trade and collect resources.

"Wits and Wages": Similar to "Trivial Pursuit," this party game involves betting on which player has the correct answer.

"Zombie Dice": Players roll dice to collect brains and try not to lose them to other players. This is another Steve Jackson game.

Emerald Tavern Games & Cafe, 9012 Research Blvd., Ste. C6, 512-994-4649,www.emeraldtaverngames.com, Twitter: @emeraldtavern, Hours: Mon.–Wed. 10 a.m.–10 p.m., Thu.–Sat. 10 a.m.–midnight, Sun. 11:30 a.m.–10 p.m.