When Bob Hewitt went to the investors from his tech business to fund a studio for kids to play and design board games, they laughed. So he bootstrapped the idea (think less screen time, more cardboard and dice), and since opening the first Brooklyn Game Lab in Park Slope in 2014, he’s doubled the business in terms of kids served and square footage every year.

Clearly he struck a nerve with parents, who are locked in a fierce battle to get their kids off their phones. Hewitt’s now opened his latest outpost on Chambers Street, in the old Housing Works storefront. (For any HW regulars like me, you’ll be shocked to see how cute that space is once you clear out the old threads.) They will be running after-school programs, summer camps and drop-in supervised playtime any day school is closed. Kids will not just play board games, but will also modify them or design new ones from scratch (below, see a kid-generated idea riffing off Pandemic).

“It’s the thing I would have loved to have done as a kid,” said Hewitt, who grew up in Ohio where the after school options were sports or sports. “I’m not anti anything, but for parents, decreasing screen time is a huge factor. These games are really educational — they are all about risk and learning how to use resources.”

The lab will likely also host adult board game events at night and on the weekends, dedicated D+D nights for tweens, role playing games that they designed as part of their Quest Lab program, and of course, birthday parties.

A grand opening/open house with game stations and snacks is scheduled for Feb. 9 from 2 to 5p. There’s a big promotion for February: a single $5 charge gets you one day per week for all of February. See regular prices here. They also have a massive collection of games for sale.

Brooklyn Game Lab
119 Chambers St.
frontdesk@brooklyngamelab.com