8 places
A coffee, board game and tabletop role-playing spot that runs regular public game nights you can join solo.
A flat fee buys unlimited time with a library of around a thousand games, and the tables look straight at the Burj Khalifa.
Board games, a few thousand books and a co-working corner under one roof, which makes it the main option on the Deira and Sharjah-border side of the city.
One of the city's biggest libraries, several hundred titles, with staff whose job is to teach you the rules so you can skip the rulebook.
A mall-based cafe with more than a thousand games plus puzzles, handy for the JVC and Al Barsha South crowd who would otherwise drive into town.
Sharjah's best-known game cafe, with a shelf of Made-in-the-UAE games such as Jackaroo and Legend of Laith alongside the usual strategy titles.
The city's specialist game shop runs in-store events and tournaments, the easiest way to find regular players for card and strategy games.
Abu Dhabi's first board game café, with 200-plus games from Sequence to Catan and an all-day pass under AED 40.