The Side Quest Puts Board Games Front and Center
The newest inventory going into the library of games at The Side Quest, sourced from Barnes & Noble clearance.
Photo Credit: Alaska Business
“It’s a side quest from your main life, to get away,” says Chris Morlang of how he named his new business near Midtown Anchorage. The Side Quest is nominally a board game café, inspired by venues he saw while visiting South Korea. However, days after a grand opening at the beginning of February, it’s still a small operation. Coffee comes from a single-serve dispenser; foods are all packaged snacks; and none of the games are for sale.
Instead, the focus is on welcoming guests to a clean, quiet space where they can enjoy each other’s company, try out new games, or compete at old favorites.
Like Grandma’s Living Room
Morlang has filled the space with dark wood tables and padded chairs. The décor is still evolving. “I wanted to make it feel like a living room. Specifically, I was feeling like my grandma’s living room,” he says.
Guests at The Side Quest can peruse a collection of board games and some traditional card games, shelved alphabetically. Nearly 250 are in stock, some from Morlang’s personal collection and others he’s been acquiring during the two years of planning the business. They range from chess and Scrabble to the latest party and strategy games, for all age levels. Already, “Every single kids’ game has been played here by now,” he says.
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February 2026
The Side Quest is located on 68th Avenue, off Old Seward Highway, in the same complex as Putters Wild indoor minigolf. Finding a location has been the hardest part of starting the business, Morlang says, especially balancing an affordable lease with available parking. Ironically, the space he found was originally a game room, a member of the Anchorage Backgammon Club told him.
When customers find a game they like, they pay the cover charge: $12 for each adult and $6 for each kid. If customers bring their own games (thus not incurring inventory upkeep costs), Morlang cuts the cover charge in half.
The Alaska Small Business Development Center (SBDC) helped Morlang devise the fee model. He recalls, “One of the hard parts was figuring out how much I needed to make per month, calculating from there what my prices needed to be to make it viable. SBDC has a lot of numbers, so they can help you guess how many people you’ll get.”
SBDC also helped with market research, to determine if Anchorage could support a board game café. Morlang says, “They pulled some data for me, and they actually have some board game café data. And I was able to find the projected growth of board games.” Another resource is the board game community on Instagram, where Morlang learns which games are popular.
Once guests settle in for an hour or however long they wish to play, they might choose to buy food and drinks. Morlang sells packaged beverages and snacks alongside the coffeemaker, but he doesn’t have a separate food license. He’s planning to get an espresso machine, but that’s an expensive outlay.
First of Its Style
Before starting The Side Quest, Chris Morlang used to be in the TV business, first in Kansas and then at KTUU Channel 2.
Photo Credit: Alaska Business
Snacks and drinks are the only retail at The Side Quest. The games aren’t for sale, and even the dice trays and meeples (universal tokens to replace missing pieces) are loaners. That sets The Side Quest apart from Anchorage’s other game shops: Glacier Games on Old Seward Highway; Tier 1 Cards & Games; and Bosco’s Comics, Cards, and Games. They each have spaces for in-person playing, but retail is the focus.
“Everyone does something a little different,” says Morlang, so he considers The Side Quest to be the first in Anchorage of its style. He sets his business apart by setting late hours, opening at 3 p.m. and staying open until 11 p.m. on weekdays, midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Furthermore, he doesn’t think of Bosco’s as a competitor; rather, the two businesses can synergize.
Indeed, Morlang says Bosco’s lets him piggyback on bulk orders so he can benefit from the senior shop’s wholesale discount. “So I can get their price. Otherwise, I have to pay retail price because I’m not a reseller,” he explains.
Morlang has budgeted to continually add more games for guests to choose from. He’s also building a regular clientele, with the backgammon club giving The Side Quest some return business, and a local chess club hosting a tournament there.
As the business matures, Morlang hopes to build The Side Quest into a fixture of Anchorage’s indoor recreation destinations.
