Leake Street Tunnel Board Game Cafe: Draughts Waterloo

Draughts Waterloo is a board game cafe and bar in Arch 16, Leake Street, London SE1 7NN, inside the graffiti tunnel that runs under Waterloo station. The library holds more than 1,000 games, and admission costs £7.95 a head off-peak or £9.95 at peak times for a session of up to three hours. Children under 12 play free. The website banner currently says online bookings are down, or just walk in, which the venue says is welcome.

Draughts tells its own story briefly. It opened in 2014 in a boarded-up railway arch in Haggerston with, in its words, no investors, no playbook and no big team. From that first arch it grew into the Leake Street tunnel and later a riverside venue in Stratford's East Bank. The original Haggerston site has since closed, and the company now runs two venues.

The Waterloo setting is part of the appeal. Leake Street is the long road tunnel beneath the station where street artists are allowed to paint, so the walls outside keep changing. You walk past fresh spray paint and the rumble of trains overhead, then step into a warm brick arch lined with game boxes. It is the kind of arrival that works on a first date as well as a birthday.

The gaming fee is set by the clock. Off-peak means weekdays from opening until 4 pm, at £7.95 per person. Peak means weekday evenings from 4 pm and all day on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays, at £9.95. The FAQ says admission is limited to three hours, subject to availability, so a busy Saturday table will turn over. Children under 12 play free and teenagers from 13 to 17 pay £4 off-peak and £5 at peak.

The cheapest serious session is a weekday lunchtime: £7.95, three hours, and plenty of free tables. Evening and weekend visits cost £2 more and fill quickly. For regulars, the Board Game Meetup is the best deal in the building. It runs every other Monday from 7 pm to midnight, and £8 gets you four hours of games from the full library.

The 2026 drinks menu is long. Cocktails carry game-themed names: the Tiramisu Espresso Martini, made with Disaronno Velvet, Tia Maria, fresh espresso and a ladyfinger biscuit, costs £13.25. An Aperol Spritz is £11.75 and the draught house lager is £7.25. If you are not drinking, the alcohol-free mojito with apple juice, lime, mint and soda is £8.25, a latte is £4.25, and a vanilla milkshake is £6.50.

Food is served until 10 pm, seven days a week, according to the FAQ. A 12.5% discretionary service charge is added to the bill. One honest suggestion: order the drinks first and the food after the rules explanation, because a big plate and a card-heavy game do not share a small table well. No outside food or drink is allowed.

With more than 1,000 boxes on the shelves, nobody expects you to know where to start. The FAQ says staff are available to suggest games and teach them, so tell them your group size, how competitive you are, and whether anyone has played modern board games before. For a group of six or more, a social deduction game is a good bet. The venue has run Blood on the Clocktower nights and even publishes a guide to that game's roles on its blog.

There is also a small retail section if you fall for a game and want to take it home. Draughts is family-friendly, wheelchair accessible, has baby changing and allows dogs, which makes it an easy pick for mixed groups.

The phone is the way to book while the online system is down, and walk-ins are welcome. Groups of 15 or more book by email at bookingswaterloo@draughtslondon.com, and a deposit or payment may be needed for large bookings. Events with a minimum spend need 14 days' notice to cancel, and both the gaming fee and the minimum spend are paid up front.

The age rule is strict: all children need an adult with them, and anyone under 18 has to leave by 9 pm. Families should plan an afternoon visit. The Bottomless Bundle, which pairs 90 minutes of bottomless Aperol Spritz, Prosecco, mimosas or house lager with a burger, fries and games, is adults only by definition and suits a celebration.

Three hours sounds generous until a rules explanation eats forty minutes of it. The trick is to choose one game you want to learn properly and one short filler for the end, rather than four new games. Ask staff to teach the big one first while everyone is fresh, then finish with something light while the bill is sorted.

Couples do well with two-player strategy games, which are quick to set up and leave time for food. Groups of four should agree on how competitive the evening is before picking a box, because a cut-throat trading game and a gentle co-operative puzzle make for very different nights. If the session is a work outing, a party game that seats eight avoids anyone being left on the side. And when a game is not working after twenty minutes, swap it. Nobody at the counter will mind, and the next box on the shelf might be the one your group remembers.

Leake Street is a short walk from Waterloo, Southwark and Lambeth North stations. Come out of the tunnel's western end and Jubilee Gardens and the London Eye are a few minutes away on Belvedere Road. Walk east along the river and you eventually reach Tate Modern, a good plan after a weekday lunchtime session. Spend a few minutes looking at the tunnel walls on the way in, because by your next visit they will have been painted over.

Address: Draughts Waterloo, Arch 16, Leake Street, London SE1 7NN. Stations: Waterloo, Southwark and Lambeth North. Email for large groups: bookingswaterloo@draughtslondon.com. Gaming fee: £7.95 off-peak, £9.95 peak, up to three hours, under-12s free. Food served until 10 pm daily. Under-18s must leave by 9 pm. No outside food or drink.