Play games all day at Spellenwereld (Games World) Assen in The Netherlands

Learn and play

On 5 April, Spellenwereld (Games World) Assen opened its doors. What an asset to the city! In this games world, you can learn about the history of games, play and puzzle by yourself and have all kinds of “Oh yes!” moments when looking at old Dutch games or posing at the table of the gameshow Lingo.

Also read the (paid) article in the Dagblad van het Noorden. Games World is in an appropriate location: it shares the premises with the cinema, the theatre and the library. And as with its fellow residents, Games World also focuses on connection, contact, imagination and learning.

Games World Assen is a perfect outing for the whole family. Also good to combine with that other outing in the Dutch province Drenthe: hiking on Dwingelerveld with the app. 

So much choice!

Upon entering, you immediately see a well-stocked games shop on the left. You will find fun family games as well as heavier strategy games. The educational element can be found in the cupboard with a wide range of Haba games.

Why Haba-games are such good learning games, I told you in this blog.

Then turn right and you are in the atmospheric games café where you can pick a game from one of the cupboards to try out. Again, a wide choice: cooperative, strategy, party game, English-language games… something for everyone.

The bar is open, so you can get a cup of coffee or some soda there too. Above all, enjoy the lively atmosphere when groups of people are playing. By the way, there is a comfortable bench by the window, so I imagine you will sit down there with a cup of tea to wait for your gaming friends (or to watch the shoppers from time to time 😁)

Games and museum

If you walk further through the games café, you will enter the museum area. There you will find a children’s playground with an interactive screen and all kinds of Smart games and Haba games to try out. Along the other side of the wall a huge collection of, sometimes historical, quartets. You will have a lot of “oh yes” moments there too, some quartets are pure nostalgia! The museum builds on that memory lane and offers you two rooms with Old Dutch games. Great fun for young and old.

Is on the map!

On the first floor too, there is still plenty to do. You will find a small cinema room where you can watch a film about the history of the board game. There is also a separate room with all sorts of tricky puzzles. You can quietly retreat there to dive into the challenge of one of the many puzzles.

For me, the Lingo table was pure nostalgia. I once sat in the audience to encourage a friend who competed in the game. But standing behind the table myself? I had never experienced that before. What an incredibly fun thing to do! That deserves a photo for the socials 🤩