Rockaway Game Club Welcomes All to Play

By Katie McFadden

When’s the last time you played Scrabble? Checkers? Battleship? Uno? Have you heard of the more modern ones? CATAN? Ticket to Ride? Board games may be something you left behind in childhood, made a family tradition out of or are just starting to explore. But there’s now a place that invites you to bring out that inner child and embrace the nostalgia, gives the family a distraction from social media and allows you to make new friends while playing new games. The Rockaway Game Club is here!

For the last month, Bungalow Bar’s (377 Beach 92nd Street) back tent has been transformed into a place of play for all ages. Every Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., local resident Tessie Tokash hauls in her ever-expanding library of board games for a night where people can come with friends or family, or alone to make new friends, and bond over playing games, while enjoying food or drinks from Bungalow’s delicious menu. Don’t know what to play? Tokash can help steer you toward a game that might be your vibe. Not familiar with how to play? Tokash can help explain the rules. Don’t have anyone to play with? She can introduce you to a group or fellow solo player looking at a two-person game. Access to all of that costs just $10 for a first-time player or $5 for a return adventurer and all money made goes straight towards buying more games for the game library.

For Tokash, board games have been a longtime family tradition that they still embrace. “Game night was every night in our home. Growing up, it was not only with my parents and brothers, but friends from school. We hosted game night almost every night. Between my parents working and us going to school, it could be tough to spend time with the family, but we always made it a thing to do every night as a way to connect. Some of the best memories came from those nights, and it allowed me to get to learn about my friends and family in a different way,” she said.

Tokash and her family are originally from West Virginia, but slowly made the move further north. That started around 2011 when Tessie’s brother, Eli Tokash, started to have some success on Broadway, starring in shows like Pippin and Finding Neverland. “Him and dad moved up to New York in 2011/2012 but my mom, my brother Zach, and I stayed home in WV because we thought it was going to be a one-time thing until Eli started booking shows. My mom and Zach moved in 2018 while I was doing the Disney College Program, and then I moved there in 2019,” she shared. The family then learned about Rockaway during the pandemic and made the move in 2021.

But moving far from home left Tokash with no nearby friends. “I just had my family and while I love my family, I needed a social life,” she said with a laugh. So, she went where the games were. “Finding friends as an adult and having those friendships last is hard, so I found out about board game cafes in Brooklyn and Manhattan in 2024 and I made a lot of new friends that I wouldn’t have met if it weren’t for these places. I’ll meet with them weekly to play Dungeons and Dragons and we support each other. I’m in the Rockaway Theatre Company, so they come see me and if they’re doing performances or have events, I go and support them. It’s wonderful,” she said.

But commuting to Brooklyn and Manhattan so often isn’t easy and Rockaway was lacking a place for play. So, Tokash started to seek out locations to bring something similar to home. “Katy Grey at Bungalow Bar is a good friend of mine, and they have that big space in the back that I’ve gone to for trivia and bands and karaoke, so I knew this sort of space would be perfect,” Tokash said. “I have more than 80 games and needed a place to fit games and people, so I came to Katy with the idea, and she was like, ‘say no more, this is amazing.’”

So, Rockaway Game Club was born, with the first one rolling out on September 10. And it was better than Tokash could’ve imagined. “It shocked me how many people came. The first night we had 25 people,” she said. And Rockaway Game Club has grown as word spreads, with more people coming out to play, and a growing game library. It’s been such a success, that people requested the hours be extended from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., to now 4 p.m.to 10 p.m., allowing a bigger window for people to stop by and more play time.

Now Tokash has dreams of expanding even more. “People have been asking for more nights. I put a poll out to see what works for people and every night had numbers. I need to find a permanent space to do that so people can drop in whenever they want. If they had a rough day, they can just come and put that aside and escape and connect over a fun little game,” Tokash said.

But for now, she’s appreciative for having Wednesday night game nights at Bungalow Bar and is figuring out ways to expand the experience beyond regular game play. Some things in the works include an Uno tournament, a night to learn how to play CATAN, and maybe even a Pokémon brunch for kids to participate in a Pokémon tournament. “I love that the adults are coming but I also love to see kids connecting, especially since the pandemic. Playing games is a great way for people to be social and use their imagination,” Tokash said.

In the meantime, Rockaway Game Club is already bringing people together. “Last week, we had two people walk in and then two others and they were both looking at a four-player game and they didn’t know each other, but they wound up exchanging numbers and Instagrams by the end of the night and have hung out since. It’s so cool to hear that happen,” Tokash said. She hopes to see more of it as Rockaway Game Club continues. “Don’t be afraid to play. You’re never too old to play. If you want to come play, come play. It’s a lot of fun to be a kid again for an evening.”

For more info and updates, make sure to follow @rockawaygameclub on Instagram and Rockaway Game club on Facebook.