Board to Death Games

Board to Death Games is a board game and trading card store at 328 Main St in Emmaus, Pennsylvania, at the Triangle, open five days a week. It sells board games, trading cards and tabletop RPG material, and it keeps tables on the floor where anyone can sit down and try a game for free. The room is built around people playing, with a weekly Magic: The Gathering commander night and a steady run of board game nights, which suits newcomers and regulars alike.

What's on the shelves

The store carries board games, trading cards and tabletop RPG products. Magic: The Gathering is the card game it runs events around, including booster drafts and prereleases. The free tables double as a place to test a game before buying it, and a lending library of board games is on hand for game nights.

Weekly play

The Wednesday commander night is the fixed point of the week, and the schedule around it changes by the month.

The commander night runs until 9:30 PM, and lower power levels are recommended, so a first-time player can bring a casual deck without feeling out of place.

Friday evenings bring free board game nights from 6 PM. Players can bring their own game and friends or borrow from the store's library, and the event is open to the public at no charge. A monthly Monday game night is held at Yergey Brewing in Emmaus, where staff teach games from the store's collection. Once a month on a Tuesday, the store runs a teaching session for Carcassonne and Harmonies at JuxtaHub.

Organized play and events

Magic events are ticketed and priced plainly. A booster draft of Tarkir Dragonstorm on Sunday, November 1 runs from 4 PM to 8 PM; the $25 ticket covers building a 40 card deck from 3 booster packs, and players leave with every card they draft.

Prereleases for the Star Trek set are scheduled for Friday, November 6 from 6 PM to 10 PM and Sunday, November 8 from 2 PM to 6 PM. Entry is $35. Players build a 40 card deck from the 6 packs in a prerelease kit, play 3 rounds, and win a prize pack for each round they win. Sign-up is by phone or online.

The calendar goes well beyond Magic:

• Blood on the Clocktower costume party: Saturday, October 31, 6 PM to 10:30 PM. A social deduction game in the werewolf and mafia family, with seats at $15 and costumes encouraged.
• D&D one-shot: Thursday, November 5, 6 PM to 9 PM. A single session with no prior knowledge needed. Players can bring a level 4 character or use a premade one, all ages are welcome, and 8 seats are available at $15.

Hours and getting there

The store is on the first floor at 328 Main St, Emmaus, PA 18049.

Evening events run past the 6 PM closing time, so these hours cover browsing and shopping and the event times are separate.

History

Board to Death Games opened in 2024. The founder grew up in Sacramento, California, and had been a regular at local board game stores since age 16. After moving to Pennsylvania and finding no place in Emmaus to play cards, he opened one himself. The store is meant as a place to meet people and dig into new releases together.

The local scene

Emmaus has several other hobby shops within a short walk or drive. London Bridge Collector's Toys Limited and Enygma Toys And Collectables are both about 0.1 miles away, video game central headquarters is 0.2 miles away, Planet Games is 0.5 miles away, and Championship Cards is 1.1 miles away.

For a card show, The Big Show Card Show is the closest at 7.6 miles, with its next date on November 7, 2026. Elite TCG Card Show is 39.2 miles away and starts November 5, and Chester County Card Show is 41.6 miles away and starts November 1. An Elks Lodge show 49.3 miles away has dates on November 8 and November 22.