Boardwalk Cafe — Restaurant in Abbotsford

This was my first time attending their monthly puzzle competition but due to work issues, we were going to be super late. I called ahead of time and was notified that it’ was fine since we’ve paid for it anyway, so we can still show up to get our puzzle and drinks. Upon showing up, I was told that someone else showed up giving the same reason and they assumed it was me, so they gave the puzzle to the other person, and there was nothing for me. Keeping in mind, it’s an hour drive from Vancouver and I’ve booked this weeks in advance. Then, I was given $35 cash which wasn’t a full refund (cost was ($49) because they have to pay the vendor who sells the tickets - eventbrite. This is not my fault, so I’m still losing money because they made a mistake. Then, to play games here, it’s $8/pp and due to the error, they offered us half off, so that’s $4/pp. so instead of a full refund of $49, I got $35 cash and $8 “discount”, so that is $43 back. So, because they made the mistake of not verifying that someone had a ticket, despite me calling in advance to let them know I will be late, I was charged $6 with nothing to show for it, because I don’t get to bring a puzzle home. This was such a horrible experience for someone who’ve never been here before, especially reading all the positive reviews. Your team did not care at all for your mistakes, and the fact that I’m being penalized for the mistake is absolutely terrible. This was a horrible horrible experience.

Note: As I was typing this, so already sitting without ordering anything for about 20 minutes, the guy came by and once again said due to the “misunderstanding “, versus due to our mistake, he will now be allowing us to play for free (instead of 50% off) and gave us 2 free session pass cards. If we left right away and did not return, I still only got $35 cash. I did not say anything for the sudden change, but perhaps he saw how angry I was and decided to do more, but it was still too late. Despite my frustration, my partner found a game and ordered some food. The food was good but I still had a horrible experience, and still stand by the fact that it was poorly handled and a bad reasoning to give away someone’s ticket essentially because they “assumed” and didn’t verify their identification. Poor training, poor customer service. I hope I’ll eventually move on to try return again as it was a nice place. I was very eager to attend the puzzle competition and hope to have the chance to...

DND Camp is Hit & Miss - I sent my son to two DND camps at this cafe. The first one during March break of 2025: he came home every day just bubbling over with stories about the epic things that happened, the crazy things his character could do and the amazing feats he accomplished. That is the proper experience of DND. I was very pleased, so I signed him up for the summer camp at the end of August 2025. It could not have been more different. The owner of the shop ran the camp himself, because he told the kids that "hiring DMs is expensive" (according to my son, he actually said that!). On a side note: what the heck did I pay the crazy high fee for then? But worse than that, this DM set the players up in a campaign in which violent acts were prohibited. It was some kind of competition - the players' party was competing with other parties for points if they accomplished some challenges or something, and if they killed anything, or acted in a way that the DM decided was violent, they were threatened with disqualification. My son had a spell that he thought was really funny because he could use it to cause feces to appear in somebody's pants. He's 10. But the DM wouldn't allow him to do that, saying it would be considered a violent act. So my son didn't do anything then entire game, because he was afraid that he or the party would get disqualified. So bravo, DM, you created an environment of fear, rather than fun. On top of that, the other parties in the competition were far beyond the skill levels of the players' party. They started out at level 1, and they managed to complete ONE challenge. ONE. But in that challenge, they were competing against a level 5 party! DM, there's this thing in DND called "challenge rating" - you don't seem to understand the concept, but then you don't seem to understand the concept of DND in general - you're a control freak. Here are my suggestions:

Hire a competent DM - I expect no less for the fee I paid. Spend less time painting minis - it's not a painting minis camp, and not every player wants to paint them. Just provide some painted minis already - run a different camp if you want to teach painting. Let the players have fun and be free. If you're considering signing up for one of these camps in the future, ask them if the owner will be running the camp as the DM. If he is, stay far away - I...

Great little place in downtown Abbotsford to get together with friends and family for a good time and enjoy some board games you wouldn't normally play otherwise.

It's a five dollar entry fee to go in, but after that you can stay as long as you want (or until they close, whichever happens first) and not have to spend another dime. They provide water for free for your duration there, but they also have a wide variety of food and beverages to choose from for reasonable prices. They have it on a tab system so be careful not to prefer to much otherwise you could have an unpleasant surprise at the end of your session.

As far as boardgame selection goes, they have a very expansive library of games (and for certain popular games multiples of the same one). They have easy learning curves such as Coup, to more advanced games like Betrayal At House On The Hill. They also have family friendly games as well, making it a potential kids birthday party location for a fairly low cost (They do take reservations there).

The people working there are friendly and welcoming. If you have any questions about their board games they are very knowledgeable on that. One thing I forgot to ask was if they would ever order in boardgames on social special request or not.

My only personal gripe which isn't even that bad is that the signing for their location was a little difficult to find my first time there.

I've had a great time there, and I'm looking forward to coming back...