Ludology Boardgame Cafe — Restaurant in St. Catharines

Updating this for 2025. I go here a lot. They’re still awesome. There is nowhere else in Niagara where I’d take a first date, coworkers, or my niece. Ludology is all three vibes in one room. I don’t know how they do it. Foods changed a lot. It’s always great. The menu rotates and changes as things are in season or available. Can always get a burger and poutine but I’ve had sole wild meals here. I miss their beef and onion sandwich, and the hot bbq chicken sandwich. 😂 I can’t believe how big a part of this place has played in my life over 7 years. The owners are wonderful people and constantly out there in the community. Give them a shot.

2018 Review: I've been here a few times now. Twice for food, once for just drinks and games. I like the atmosphere. They have some cool art, especially this awesome painting of a T-rex holding up a swing that I really liked, and the ever-changing beer and cocktail menu in chalk on the wall is neat.

There's a good selection of games. I give them bonus points for having Galaxy Trucker which is my all time favourite board game. I've also played Legend of the Wendigo, Zombicide, and Disney Trivial Pursuit while there. Had fun with all of them and want to try some more.

First visit I had the baked apple Brie grilled cheese. It was great. I couldn't quite finish the entire thing, and certainly wasn't going home hungry. Skipped dessert that time.

Next time I had the Adventurers club sandwich. It's a fantastic take on the classic club. I was smart this time and had half of it wrapped up right off the bat and was able to have some cheesecake with blueberry sauce that was excellent as well.

I've had like 6 different craft beers there. Not one that I didn't enjoy, and it was cool to hear about which brewery they come from. Everything is local. Yesterday I had a Black Coal Stout from Railway City Brewing. I loved it. Was disappointed to hear it would be rotating out to make room for other local brews, but I do kind of like the idea of a changing beer menu. I'm excited to see what's next.

Food was a good value. The standard Board Game Cafe cover of $5 is applied which is a reasonable amount, I've paid by the hour at other places and found that to be annoying. Here you pay your $5 and play as long as you like. I like that they went that route.

Staff was friendly. Dining room and bathrooms were clean. All in all a great experience. If you're a fan of board game cafes (Or have never tried one!) Give it a shot. You won't' be...

TLDR: Amazing Service, Amazing Atmosphere, Amazing cocktails, Amazing food, and a most wonderful selection of board games with tables large enough to play them on.

Going to Ludology was a long time in the making but the opportunity to attend finally came around last night and despite having been the dozens of board game cafes across all of Ontario, Ludology easily walks away with the best experience I've ever had for a board game cafe. The service was always nothing short of fantastic, despite it being rather busy I never felt neglected or forgotten. Our cocktails were expertly made and the variety of them (along with a clever naming scheme) made for a most welcome surprise addition to the evening. And then there was the food. Oh my goodness the food. I would never expect a board game cafe to have, for incredibly reasonable prices, food as delicious as what I had last night. Easily competing with full restaurants at twice the price in the area. Kudos to the kitchen staff. The design of the space feels so incredibly well balanced between a cozy up scale cafe with sprinkles of well curated nerdy and gamer sentric art strewn around the place. The furniture was all quite comfortable and provides plenty of space to play board games. And yes it took me this long into the review to finally mention they have an absolutely wonderful board game collection and tables large enough to play them on. All in all it is a rare thing for me to feel so well taken care of and so sastisfied between the environment, the service, the food, and the entertainment that I can't wait to return despite having a large collection of personal board games at home. I'm really looking forward to returning to Ludology...

I have to say this was a great find. My family and I are always looking for great places to go and this way by far a great find. They were super busy downtown yesterday due to a concert so I decided to call prior to walking in. With a last minute reservation they didn’t hesitate to find a spot for us and told us to come in and that the table would be ready in 20 (which worked out perfectly as we were already downtown). Upon walking in we were greeted and sat down at the table that we called for. Since it was our first time going they gave us the run down of the place and told us it was $5 per person to play any game that they had available with a purchase of food or drink. We ended up getting an appetizer, and multiple beverages from an amazing cocktail list. The espresso martinis were incredible!!!! After my second espresso martini I asked our waitress Kristen (I think that’s what her name was or Katherine) what cocktail I should try next and she suggested an another amazing cocktail that was phenomenal. You can tell that they love what they do and they care about the guest experience. Being a server and bartender myself I have high standards when I walk into an establishment. They gave us quality service and they made the evening more enjoyable. I’m not one to write reviews but this place deserves it. The games were awesome! Definitely come in and check this place out. Thank you to the team for such an awesome night. I’ll definitely be back with my friends and family again. Thank...