PLAY2

Everyone always claims to love the idea of board game nights, but get involved in a bitterly entrenched game of Monopoly, and pretty soon you'll have different feelings about a board game fortnight. Offering something more casually enjoyable, PLAY2.Set in a storage warehouse-turned-Chickie's & Pete's extension, PLAY's a 220-seat gamer's Xanadu decked out w/ 18 Amusement Pod Entertainment Centers: semi-private booths rigged w/ Xbox 360, PS3 & Wii consoles, 60" plasmas, leather chairs/couches, and surround sound, arranged in a double-deck horseshoe surrounding a full-service lounge/dining area and bar, all in a club-like atmosphere w/ 15 flatscreens showing sports, trippy graphics, and live footage from cameras in each Pod, so everyone can laugh as you miss the Koopa Troopa Beach shortcut again. Pods're available for hourly rental at $30/$40 (weeknight/ weekend) a head, but $20/$25 of the fee's slapped on a card good for grub & drinks to enjoy while playing a selection of 40+ games, from Mario Kart and Madden to Halo 3 and Fight Night Round 4, plus Guitar/DJ Hero & Rock Band in six luxe "studio" Pods outfitted w/ instruments and smoke machines, which is also your nickname when playing video games anywhere else. The menu's completely separate from C&P's (save for the crabfries) and focuses on higher end finger foods like cheesesteak tacos, lollipop lamb chops, flatbread pizzas, and baby pork ossobuco, which you'll remember from childhood favorite Super Marrow World.Boozewise, 24 taps pour everything from Tröegs Rugged Trail Brown and Rogue Dead Guy to Dogfish Head 90 Minute and Magic Hat Lucky Kat, while specialty cocktails follow the gaming motif, like the Patrón Silver/Blue Curaçao "Blue Shell Margarita" and Absolut/Irish cream/Kahlua/Godiva "Halo Heavenly Chocolate" -- also what you call the mark on your tightie whities when you finally lock down Park Place, and can go home and change them.