Ready for a fun game night with all your friends? Let us help with that.
The Rook Room is the Des Moines area’s most exciting pop-up that’s all about games. Whether you want to learn something new, be part of a tournament, or play-test the latest up-and-comer, we have you covered.
Updated: December 2021
Hello and happy holidays, friends! The COVID pandemic is still very much a part of our lives (as much as we wish it wasn’t), so here’s a quick update on where things stand with us here at The Rook Room.
As always, it’s our number one goal to keep all of you safe and healthy.
With the surge of the omicron variant and as we get into the peak holiday season, we’re limiting our in-person events to make sure we don’t add to the COVID spread here in the Des Moines area.
We’ll be taking a little break for the rest of the year and plan to pick back up in January while keeping capacity, personal distance, shared resources, vaccines, and masking policies in mind. Please check the details of all events carefully for the latest policies and procedures both for us and for our venue partners.
Thank you so much for supporting us during the last 22+ months of these confusing and difficult times.
As always, we’ll continue to follow health officials and make changes as needed in the future.
Get ready to play and game on, Des Moines. We’re excited to see you soon! 💜
– Annelise and Tony
That’s a great question! The simple answer is they’re events with lots of thrilling games, drink specials, tournaments and much more that can happen at any number of exciting locations.
Imagine game night at your friend’s house, but you don’t have to worry about tidying up, making the snacks, stocking the fridge, or cleaning up afterward. Plus, no need to go buy expensive games because they’re all in our game library. All the fun and none of the stress!
While there are other places you could play games, what makes The Rook Room special is our mission to provide a uniquely memorable experience through a variety of one-of-a-kind touches you won’t find anywhere else.
Whether you’re into classic games from your childhood, hardcore strategy, puzzles, word games, role-playing games, card games, or anything else, we have an event for you. We do it all.
Here’s a quick look at what you can expect…
These pop-up board game events focus on specific games or genres. We choose games from our library and build an event around them.
From exclusive drinks to special snacks, discounts, prizes, merch, decor, and more, these events are one-of-a-kind that you won’t find anywhere else.
They’re more than an event, they’re an experience that we want to make sure you won’t forget!
We have hundreds of games and we want YOU to play them. We bring our entire library, and you bring your friends (or come ready to make new ones).
At our open gaming pop-ups, you can come and relax for a few hours, enjoy some drink specials, and play until your heart’s content!
Games can be complicated. Have you ever seen a 20-page rulebook when you open a box? We have. And The Rook Room’s How the Heck learn-to-play series is here to help.
Our game experts do the learning for you and break it down during our exciting “class” sessions. It’s kind of like school…but more fun with bonus drinks, snacks, prizes, and more.
Think you’ve got what it takes to be crowned the champ in your favorite game. Let’s see with an exciting Rook Room gaming tournament!
From board games to cards, role-playing, or even jigsaw puzzles, we host tournaments of all styles to find out who is the best in Des Moines.
Love Catan? We also work with the international Catan organization to host tournaments across Iowa to find the cream of the crop and send them to the national stage!
While we’re always brainstorming the next amazing event to tickle your fancy, some of our most popular event ideas have come from our wonderful fans.
If you’re passionate about a particular game or have an idea you think people will love, let us know! We’d love to work with you to make it happen.
What do you think of our idea? We’d love to get your feedback so we can build a board game bar you’ll love to come to again and again.
If you’re strapped for time, we have a convenient 1-minute (or less) survey we’d like you to take. It’s super quick and easy, we promise.
If you’re as pumped about this as we are and would like to provide some more detailed feedback, we have a longer survey you can take. Don’t worry, it still won’t take that long.
(Still Very Quick) Longer Survey
Oh, and one more thing. We’d love if you could share with your friends who might be interested.