As Iranian youths protest, board game cafes and D&D provide community

In Western circles, Iran is most well-known for its Islamic fundamentalism as well its hostility toward the United States. The historically minded, of course, will hold a great respect for the country’s literature, its poetry, and its cultural history. Its enormous board-gaming culture is unknown to many outsiders.

What I mean by huge is massive. When you enter Tehran, the capital of Iran, you’ll find it filled with cafes. Many of them are dedicated to board games, and you’ll find people of all ages, genders, and different backgrounds playing with colorful bits and cardboard tokens, exploring everything from heavy Euro-style strategy games to simple deduction puzzles. My country’s board game scene has grown tremendously over the past decade to be a vital part of Iran’s modern culture.

This phenomenon needs to be contextualized by looking at some historical context. Iran’s 20th-century history was one of a Western-backed monarchy and a tyrannical ruler. That king gained absolute power through a coup d’etat in 1921, only to be toppled by a massive Islamist revolution in 1979.

The strong influence of religious and other leaders made the revolution in Iran a dictatorial regime that was ruled over by Ayatollah Khamenei. Khomeini began a campaign known as Cultural Revolution to cleanse Iran from what he saw as socialists, liberals, communists, and anti-Islamic elements. It was a terrible event and the current regime continues to reinforce its impact.

“The youth has no fun” is an expression frequently used by many Iranians to describe the lack of entertainment in Iran. The country has no alcohol bars because it is illegal to consume alcohol. Dancing, musical instruments, singing, and many other activities are either prohibited or are extremely limited, and only men can enjoy them in what has ironically become some of the country’s most accidentally homoerotic environments. American soccer, also known as football, is the most popular hobby. However, that doesn’t exclude half the population.

On Sept. 16 Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, died at the hands of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance — colloquially known as the Morality Police in the West. This led to a series of high-profile anti-government protests across Iran, the likes of which the country hasn’t seen since the 1979 revolution. It’s being called “the 2022 revolution.”

In 1979 the Islamic Republic established a system of gender discrimination that targets young girls. On many streets in Tehran, you can find the members of the Morality Police targeting and harassing young women for some of the most ludicrous reasons, such as holding hands with their boyfriends or wearing the hijab incorrectly — as was the case for Amini.

These board gaming cafes are now extremely popular due to their extreme social control. Privately owned businesses have been able to transform public streets into safe spaces for young Iranians. The warmth of the staff, their openness and delicious meals, along with the friendly faces, provide great escapism to many young people looking to enjoy their evenings at home. Many cafes in this area are operated by young and frustrated people. Aida Charkhgari was one of those unlikely entrepreneurs.

Charkhgari reunited with Amirhussein Naderi during the first month of 2019 and became a keen board gamer. Naderi introduced Charkhgari to Dungeons & Dragons, which led to tabletop role-playing games becoming an essential part of their life. The couple’s love for tabletop RPGs guided them to explore other tabletop games and Iranian communities that were just enthusiastic about the hobby.

They opened a cafe shortly after the couple got married. Aida explained to me that the cafe should feel like a home and be a place where close friends gather regularly to play cards. They named it Dressage Café.

“We crafted themes of Dungeons & Dragons games based on the customers’ suggestions. They really loved these events,” Charkhgari said. After D&D, the cafe was host to mostly Iranian games, which helped raise awareness among consumers and increase sales for Iranian developers.

Charkhgari claimed that tricks such as MafiaEveningsThese are some of the most popular titles at their cafe. Mafia NightThe classic is now being reinterpreted in Iran. MafiaAlso known in West as game Werewolf. This game was so successful that it inspired an Iranian TV show called Mafia Nights. This controversial television show is highly emotional and provocative. It invites famous people from all walks of life to join the live game, which can be viewed on Iranian TV.

Charkhgari and Naderi weren’t alone in their decision to open up a board game cafe. You can find similar cafes throughout the capital where you and your friends can play every type of game. Board game cafes are not only found in Tehran, but all over Iran. Nearly every Iranian city has at least one board gaming cafe, with the number increasing.

Some cafes can be quiet, and others are small. They often have Euro-style games like TrajanOder War of the RingThis is for small groups that want to invest hours in their economies and execute well-thought strategies. You can also find bigger cafes that hold D&D events and invite people to play massive rounds of Mafia Nights-style deception games. A great example is an anime-oriented cafe called Haiku Café that every month used to hold an anime-themed TTRPG campaign, or a Harry Potter-oriented cafe called Platform doing the same. These cafes often pay renowned artists for promotion art and alternate box covers art.

Cafes aren’t the only places to find a game in Iran. Amir Salamati launched Roomiz in 2015, which allows Iranian tabletop gamers to connect online. Salamati and his friends started Roomiz as an amusement site. But, to their delight, Roomiz quickly gained popularity among all parts of the country. Salamati soon realized that it wasn’t just Tehranian city ​​dwellers who were interested in board games; many other big cities in Iran had a huge, untapped audience for board games, which motivated the Roomiz team to add on staff and expand their online offerings.

Salamati is very proud of Roomiz’s work organizing various conventions across Iran prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. Its first convention attracted more than 1000 people in the summer 2016. This was far beyond what Salamati and his colleagues had expected for a regional event. The following year saw a quadrupling of that number, with more than 11,000 Iranians attending the Roomiz convention the next year.

“All that being said, our biggest achievement was probably working with the board game cafes,” Salamati said. Salamati called the rise in popularity of Iranian board games cafes an amazing idea. Salamati heard from Dominique Ehrhard, a renowned French boardgame designer, that Iran has a lot of game cafes. “A friendly face always comes to you and your friends to explain the games. Or if you haven’t brought any friends, they will help you to find a few when you’re staying there.” These were some of the things that the French designer mentioned when describing his culture shock in his discussion with Salamati.

“It’s tragic yet so beautiful,” said Agathe, a board game enthusiast of Armenian origin I met during my research. She was the most prominent person I spoke with at different board game cafes. Agathe requested her last name not to be included in the article. That’s because she’s spent many hours on the streets of Tehran, protesting — fighting, she says — alongside her brothers and sisters for freedom and justice for Amini and all those harassed by the Islamic regime.

“We, Iranians, find ways to adapt and find happiness in tyranny. I’m incredibly glad board games are becoming huge in Iran, but I hope for a future in which we don’t play board games just to run away from the bleak reality that takes place outside of the cafes. Because much like everything else that they have taken away from us, one day will come when board games also become banned.”

Agathe’s words hit hard and echo in my head, especially today, more than ever.