In this day and age where mobile phones, apps, and wifi rule our lives, bonding with family/friends has become a lot different. Conversations are shorter, meals are quieter. Why not have some old school fun for a change?
Growing up, I’ve only played a handful of board games – Millionaires, Monopoly, Game of Life, Scrabble, and Snakes and Ladders. So imagine my surprise when I visited Ludo BoardGame Bar and Café in Tomas Morato and saw their collection!
There were easily over a hundred titles (I later found out there are actually 500+), none of which were familiar to me, Mike or his siblings. I knew there were more out there, I just didn’t think I’d ever see this many in one place! According to Jay Mata, one of the owners, board games are like music albums where new ones are released every month!
I thought board game bars were a fairly new concept, another one of those fads/trends that people tend to jump in on. But then, Sir Jay told us that places like this have been open in countries like Canada and Taiwan for over a decade now. It only became popular in the Philippines recently.
From weekly game nights in the comforts of their homes, six-friends-slash-board-game-hobbyists decided to open Ludo last March 18, 2014. Their goal is to introduce people to new games, games that are fun, unique, and need help getting promoted. They steered clear from the classics, and instead filled their shelves with designer games. Unlike your classic board games, these games acknowledges and recognizes its artist/designer in front of the cover. This way, you know who created your favorite game/s and you can even follow their new releases - same thing we do when it comes to books/comics/movies.
They do get requests for popular games from time to time, so if you can't find what you're looking for, feel free to ask.
They also want to spread the word that board games are not just for kids. They are actually for adults, as you can see from their clients above. :)
Here’s the first game we tried – King of Tokyo. If you notice, the designer's name is on the box.
I got to play the Alienoid which I thought was pretty cool. Something to note about Ludo is that the owners and staff are very accommodating. They take time to sit down and teach their customers how to play the game, so no need to waste precious time reading the instructions. Every game you see here came from the owners' personal collections. They believe that games are meant to be played, so why not share theirs with the world?
Here's another owner, Doc, teaching us how to play :)
It's a really simple game - you can read the instructions here. Better yet, pay Ludo a visit and try the game with your friends! But basically, the goal here is to be the first person with 20 victory points OR be the last person standing. Guess who died first? Haha!
At Ludo, you can play board games for free! They just require each person to order a dish or one specialty drink, which I think is fair, considering there's no time limit or rental fees on the games.
Here are some of the items we got to taste:
Salted Caramel Milkshake (P220)
There were easily over a hundred titles (I later found out there are actually 500+), none of which were familiar to me, Mike or his siblings. I knew there were more out there, I just didn’t think I’d ever see this many in one place! According to Jay Mata, one of the owners, board games are like music albums where new ones are released every month!
I thought board game bars were a fairly new concept, another one of those fads/trends that people tend to jump in on. But then, Sir Jay told us that places like this have been open in countries like Canada and Taiwan for over a decade now. It only became popular in the Philippines recently.
From weekly game nights in the comforts of their homes, six-friends-slash-board-game-hobbyists decided to open Ludo last March 18, 2014. Their goal is to introduce people to new games, games that are fun, unique, and need help getting promoted. They steered clear from the classics, and instead filled their shelves with designer games. Unlike your classic board games, these games acknowledges and recognizes its artist/designer in front of the cover. This way, you know who created your favorite game/s and you can even follow their new releases - same thing we do when it comes to books/comics/movies.
They do get requests for popular games from time to time, so if you can't find what you're looking for, feel free to ask.
They also want to spread the word that board games are not just for kids. They are actually for adults, as you can see from their clients above. :)
Here’s the first game we tried – King of Tokyo. If you notice, the designer's name is on the box.
I got to play the Alienoid which I thought was pretty cool. Something to note about Ludo is that the owners and staff are very accommodating. They take time to sit down and teach their customers how to play the game, so no need to waste precious time reading the instructions. Every game you see here came from the owners' personal collections. They believe that games are meant to be played, so why not share theirs with the world?
Here's another owner, Doc, teaching us how to play :)
It's a really simple game - you can read the instructions here. Better yet, pay Ludo a visit and try the game with your friends! But basically, the goal here is to be the first person with 20 victory points OR be the last person standing. Guess who died first? Haha!
At Ludo, you can play board games for free! They just require each person to order a dish or one specialty drink, which I think is fair, considering there's no time limit or rental fees on the games.
Here are some of the items we got to taste:
Salted Caramel Milkshake (P220)
Super Nacho Chips (P250)
Cheese Gyoza (P130)
Katsudon (P195)
Mi-Go Brain Cylinder and 10th Doctor Sonic Screwdriver (both P150)
They also offer coffee for those needing a boost of energy.
Our second game is Ticket to Ride. In this game, you have to connect cities together based on the railway routes you picked and your limited number of trains. Sounds pretty easy, right? Well, in a way, it is. The problem lies in the the fact that in some routes, there's only one lane. So if someone blocks you, you'll have to figure out a different way to reach your city. You have to strategize, like what Mike's brother, Mark did. He found a way to connect his routes together and maximize his trains.
Below is how the board looked when Mark won and everybody else lost. :P
My multi-colored hand that left me in last place (yet again). I swear I'll win next time!!
Our final game that night was Cash 'n Guns.
In this game, you're a group of robbers who steal together, yet no one wants to share the loot. Everyone wants the pot for themselves, so you end up pointing guns, threatening, and shooting each other (yes, there are guns!!)
I played the only girl character, Lotus, and that's my loot below.
These cards indicate your move..
..while these tokens indicate your status (chicken or injured).
Guess who finally won?? ME!!!! :D
There were so many interesting titles we wanted to try, but there just wasn't enough time. Will definitely come back to try some of the other games - like Nuns on the Run and Street Fighter!
Here we are with Sir Jay Mata. Thank you so much for the super fun night!
Visit them at Sct. Fuentebella Street cor. Sct. Torillo near Tomas Morato and like their Facebook page for updates! :)
Opening hours:
Mondays to Thursdays 4pm - 12mn
Fridays 4pm - 2am
Saturdays 12nn - 2am
Sundays 12nn - 12mn
