Dhoby Ghaut Board Game Cafe at S$9 an Hour: Game Over

GameOver Gaming & Cafe, at 71 Oxley Rise, #02-11, Singapore 238698, is a games lounge tucked into the commercial level of The Rise @ Oxley condominium, a short uphill walk from Dhoby Ghaut. One hourly ticket covers everything in the room: board games, PS5 and Nintendo Switch setups, VR and retro arcade machines. It costs S$9 per person per hour from Tuesday to Thursday and S$10 from Friday to Sunday, and the cafe is closed on Mondays.

GameOver is not a pure board game cafe, and it does not pretend to be. Its game plan page lists five setups under one roof: immersive VR, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, board games, and an arcade machine loaded with retro games. The point is that a mixed group can split up and regroup without paying twice, because the booking page says time can be used across all gaming setups, subject to availability.

That makes it a good choice when half your friends want a strategy card game and the other half want Mario Kart. A 2026 roundup of Singapore board game cafes by GetGo counts more than 30 board games here, from classics such as Monopoly and Jenga to local favourites like Kopi King and Happy Dimsum. TheSmartLocal also mentioned Werewolf and Taco Goat Cheese Pizza on the shelf.

The pricing is the same for every setup. On weekdays, meaning Tuesday to Thursday, it is S$9 per person per hour, or bundles of four hours for S$27, seven hours for S$45 and ten hours for S$63, each built as paid hours plus free ones. On Friday to Sunday and public holidays the rate rises to S$10 an hour, with the same bundles at S$30, S$50 and S$70.

The in-store menu adds one condition: every package has to be used within the same day, so a ten-hour bundle is for a long Saturday, not two evenings. Nintendo Switch and PS5 setups take up to four players per gaming area, which is worth knowing if you plan to move a group of six from the board game tables to a console session halfway through.

To put numbers on a typical outing: four friends taking the four-hour bundle on a Saturday pay S$30 each, or S$120 for the table. Add two eight-inch pizzas at S$11 each and four iced lattes at S$6.50 each, and the whole afternoon comes to S$168 for the group, roughly S$42 a head with food and drinks.

The hours printed on the homepage and every page footer are: Monday closed, Tuesday to Thursday 12 pm to 10 pm, and Friday to Sunday 10 am to 12 am. The 12 am close from Friday to Sunday means a group can start a long strategy game after dinner and still finish it on site.

Bookings are made online and paid on arrival, and the booking page says reservations are held for 15 minutes from the booked time before the space is released. The F&B page asks for reservations at least 24 hours ahead. Birthdays, casual hangouts and corporate team-building sessions can also be booked as private events, which the Our Game Plan page lists alongside the game room and the food counter.

No outside food or drink is allowed for regular sessions, so plan to eat from the menu. On the June 2026 menu boards posted on the F&B page of gameover.com.sg, eight-inch pizzas in beef pepperoni, truffle cheese or margherita cost S$11 each, and snacks include French fries at S$6.50 and seaweed chicken, chicken nuggets or tempura prawns at S$8.50. Cup noodles are S$2.50, a cheap fix for a long weekend run.

The bakery case is better than you might expect at a games lounge: a butter croissant is S$4.50, an almond croissant or a sticky cinnamon bun with pecans S$6, and kouign-amann S$5. A latte is S$5.50 hot or S$6.50 iced, Melon Oolong tea S$5.50 hot, and Tiger, Kirin or Heineken S$8 a bottle, with any five for S$35. The original brownie with ice cream is S$8.50.

If you are not drinking beer, the house sodas are a better pick than a can: Fuji apple with sun-dried orange or calamansi with sun-dried orange, both S$6.50. Gelato costs S$5 for a scoop, with each additional scoop S$3, and the classic croffle with chocolate or maple syrup is S$6.50.

When TheSmartLocal visited in January 2024, it described brown sofas and egg-shaped pods, two vintage arcade machines with more than 11,000 games installed, and a jukebox. It also said the room is quieter than a typical arcade, which matters if you want to talk through a deduction game while someone else is playing Tekken in the corner.

Board game teaching comes from the staff rather than from a rulebook video. The same review suggests asking the staff to teach you the rules if a game is new to you, and several reviews on the cafe's own site praise the owner and team for setting things up and guiding first-timers. Weekends are the busiest time, so book ahead if you want a specific table.

Oxley Rise is a residential road on the slope behind the Dhoby Ghaut end of Orchard Road, and the cafe sits on the second level of the commercial block at The Rise @ Oxley, unit #02-11. TheSmartLocal's write-up placed it in Dhoby Ghaut, and that interchange on the North-South, North East and Circle lines is the natural station to use.

Before a weekend session that starts at 10 am, Fort Canning Park is a pleasant warm-up walk, with its spice garden and the Fort Canning tree tunnel staircase, which is popular with photographers. After a late game, Orchard Road and the malls around Dhoby Ghaut are close by for dinner, and the Istana park is a quiet place to finish the evening.

Address: 71 Oxley Rise, #02-11, Singapore 238698, inside The Rise @ Oxley. Hours: Monday closed; Tuesday to Thursday 12 pm to 10 pm; Friday to Sunday 10 am to 12 am. Rates: S$9 per hour Tuesday to Thursday, S$10 Friday to Sunday and public holidays; bundles from S$27. No outside food or drink. Nearest MRT: Dhoby Ghaut.