Play Date Dallas - an alternative to the club scene?

www.playdatedallas.com

Even during my prime club-hopping years (21-26), I never enjoyed the “club scene.” The lines, the smoking, the people wearing sunglasses at night, the expensive cocktails, the crowds, the scantily clad 20-somethings, and the unfortunate pick-up lines always left much to be desired. Now that I’ve hit the big 30 and 31 is fast approaching, not much has changed. I still dislike the club scene for all the reasons mentioned; only now I flat out refuse to attend. Instead, I search tirelessly for social alternatives to the club scene and when I find them, I try to mention them in this blog.

A new alternative has come to Dallas: Play Date Dallas (PDD). Originating in Atlanta, GA, the Play Date concept is simple. Instead of going to a club on Saturday night, go to a local lounge/bar and play all the games that you loved as a child in a relaxed atmosphere with all the other 30-somethings who have tired of going to nightclubs. Enjoy food, drink, conversation, and laughter as you meet new people over games like Hungry Hungry Hippo, Operation, and Connect Four.

I attended my first PDD event on Saturday, at Boston’s restaurant in Irving. My sister and I arrived to a packed restaurant at 10:40PM. Once inside, it was standing room only. Each table/booth was occupied with a group of people playing cards, a board game, or the like. Those of us not fortunate enough to get a table, were left standing along the walls. Event organizers floated around the restaurant passing out 18-inch cardboard panels reading “I Got Next” to patrons standing along the walls. Apparently, when my sister and I were ready to play a game, we were to approach the table with the game we wanted to play, show the current players our sign, and stand there until their game finished and they vacated the table. With patrons packing the aisles and waitstaff trying to navigate their way through the crowds, staking our claim on a game was next to impossible and quite frankly, a little rude. Who wants their first meeting with a stranger to be the result of having to kick them out of their booth?

My sister and I continued to hold up the wall, as we listened to a DJ playing music from the 70s and early 80s so loudly that we could barely hear ourselves. I suspect, however, that the tunes being played were released long before most of the attendees were born. That brings me to another observation. I would guess that the typical patron that night was 25 – still in his/her prime club-hopping years. This observation isn’t inherently bad and wrong; it’s just not what I expected.

After about 20 minutes, I told my sister that I was ready to leave whenever she was. As far as I was concerned, the writing was on the wall. No matter if we stayed 20 minutes or 2 hours, we were going to spend the whole time standing against the wall because the people sitting were never going to relinquish their prime real estate. We called it a night after one hour.

As we walked across the parking lot to the car, I was crestfallen. I had been so excited about Play Date Dallas. I was ready to love everything about it, but in the end I was disappointed. The same things that turn me off about nightclubs were present at PDD: sunglasses at night, crowds, and unfortunate pick-up lines. As my sister put it, “It’s just a night club with the lights turned on.”

Still, I want to believe in Play Date Dallas because conceptually, it has many social elements that I like: a relaxed venue without the pomp and circumstance of a nightclub, a smoke-free environment, games, and the opportunity to meet new people. Maybe if we had arrived earlier and gotten a table, maybe if the venue had been better suited to interaction, maybe if the music hadn’t been so loud, and maybe if the games had been more age-appropriate (e.g. Taboo and Scattegories) my opinion of the night would be different.

Because of all these “maybes” I’m willing to give Play Date Dallas another shot. I was told there would be another event at Boston’s in two weeks. I’ll be there with bells on. Wish me luck! Expect an update on this post soon.