Sip and Game is a new monthly Trading Card Game event located in Alameda, CA. Free admission, parking, AND complimentary boba!
The Event, the Location
The Bay Area is filled with many public events for different hobbies and interests. Local game tournaments, cosplay gatherings, and small art venues help bring together small communities with similar interested. But what about a place for trading card games?
Introducing… *drumroll*… The Sip and Game TCG & Boba Event!
Hosted by Sip and Game, a Sacramento based Boba shop, this specific event was hosted at the Pacific Lighthouse Restaurant, and near there will be future venues located at the USS Hornet, and Alameda City College. When asked about the location, the person in charge of the event noted that the restaurant was owned by his family. An unusual place, but it’s quite peaceful, and sitting next to the open bay, it’s a great place to shoot photos too!
Inside the Event
Most of the tables were trade-and-sell tables for Pokemon Cards, but there were a few others too. The host, Andrew, was kindly offering ice cold water to the vendors. The tables were packed, and it got crowded, FAST. Luckily, due to the venue being the inside of a restaurant, there was plenty of air circulation, and a very nice dose of natural sun coming through the windows.
Another bonus was that if you stayed long enough, there was FREE BOBA too! It wasn’t just any regular homemade boba either. Remember when I mentioned that the owner was also the owner of Sip and Game in Sacramento? Yeah, that meant that the guy knew what he was making.
Conclusion
I was able to sit down with Andrew, and talk to him about his future goals. At the moment, there’s not much variety in what you can buy, but there are plans to expand to illustrators and chefs. With enough room in the venue, having tables for playing tabletop games would be a nice addition too, since it’s the whole theme of the event. I noticed a table with two mahjong players, so it was a start.
There is plenty of incentive to support this small venue, like free parking and boba. Right now, it’s a really small event. You could take an entire walk around in ten minutes, but with support from other interested artists and dealers, it would definitely grow into something much bigger. Because of how packed it was that day, there were already plans to expand to larger spaces, such as the Alameda City College and USS Hornet.
Although the event is currently a very small sell-and-trade, it’s definitely open for small business artists, chefs, and more. I would highly recommend contacting them if you are interested in future events! If you’re interested, feel free to DM Sip and Game about it.
