The scene

Battle scenes from Gladiator flash on a muted TV as a group of twenty- and thirtysomethings swig Mountain Dew and tauntingly slide small wooden cubes, ninjas and hand-painted WWII tanks along boards into frenemy lines. “Shuffle the crap out of this,” says Lexx Dunning, passing the Risk-like Condottiere deck of cards to a fellow player. Dunning is one of the three co-owners of Edgewater’s six-month-old game-geek haunt Chicagoland Games: Dice Dojo (5550 N Broadway, 773-728-3656). On Board Game Night (Wednesdays from 6pm “’til the game’s over,” goes the store’s motto), players battle over faves like Drakon, Arkham Horror, Agricola and Dungeons & Dragons. Weekend nights draw more elementary and junior-high-school students. “Parents,” Lexx says, “will actually call us looking for their kids,” who often break curfew to finish their games.

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