That same year, one of the players called the local newspaper, The Omaha World Herald, to spread the word about their “magical” nights. The newspaper wrote a feature about it that went viral.
Several days later while working on a research paper late one Saturday night, Dr. Michaud received several text messages from friends, telling him that comedian Seth Myers on Saturday Night Live had just mentioned him.
“Seth said, ‘A man from Omaha, Nebraska, has over 1,500 board games. He’s mastered them all … except for the game of life,’” Dr. Michaud recalls. “It was pretty funny, especially because I have never won the board game called Life.”
In real life, however, Dr. Michaud was winning big. Besides realizing success in rheumatology research, he got married in 2014. Last year, the couple had a baby. But between a growing fan base and his new family, he could no longer sustain game night at his home.
The solution was to start a game library, actually open a cafe that’s a cross between Starbucks and Toys “R” Us. Dr. Michaud partnered with a friend to open a business, called Spielbound Board Game Cafe, on Sept. 2, 2014 (see Dr. Michaud talk about the business).
“We started with over 1,000 games and now have over 2,000 games in the library that people can pick from and play at their table,” he says, adding that no checkout system is needed.
Spielbound, which sells coffee, beer and pizza to help offset the cost of rent, supports approximately 15 staff, is open seven days a week and accommodates up to 125 players. On most evenings and—especially—weekends, Dr. Michaud says the place is usually packed and sometimes has a line of people trailing out the door.
Even when attending rheumatology conferences, Dr. Michaud carries a small card game in his pocket. “I show people how they can have fun in five minutes,” he says. “That sometimes makes a nice break from work.”
Lofty Goal
Besides serving as the city’s social spot for gamers, Spielbound has a higher purpose. Dr. Michaud and his partner split the cafe from the store’s gaming activity and turned the latter into a nonprofit.
“The act of playing games at a table with others is incredibly helpful for educating younger kids and also for preventing dementia and Alzheimer’s in adults,” says Dr. Michaud, who serves as the nonprofit’s director. “We spend all day long behind our computer or cell phone screens. Playing games requires people to use a completely different source of intellectual and emotional tools. Interacting with other humans around you, thinking about your next move and touching the game pieces use so many different parts of your brain.”
