Having a drink is fine. Having a drink while playing a board game, shooting at targets or murdering a power ballad in a soundproof room is much better. Paris now has a playful bar for every mood, with prices running from a 3-euro play fee to a 39-euro darts slot. Here are 7 addresses sorted by type of experience, with the real price, the neighbourhood and the group size for each.
Board game bar or activity bar, which one is for you?
Two very different families hide behind the “playful bar” label, and picking the wrong one is how an evening falls flat.
A board game bar works like a normal bar with a self-service game library. You pay a small play fee, you pick from the shelves, you stay three hours. It is the cheapest format, the chattiest, and the best fit for groups that want to talk as much as they play. Several addresses add arcade cabinets and darts, which lets you switch when a game drags on.
An activity bar works on booking. You block a lane, a box or a room for an hour or two, with an activity that shapes the whole evening. It costs more, it looks better, and it works far better when the group does not know each other yet.
A simple rule to decide: under 15 euros per person, you are in board game territory. Above that, you are in activity territory. The rest comes down to the vibe you want, and you will find the full picture in our fun bars and venues section.
Board game bars, the small budget that lasts all night
The Good Game, the biggest game library in the Sentier
Over 800 games playable on site, a shop of around 300 titles to take one home, and a play fee of 3 euros per hour per person. It is the highest game density per square metre in this list, and probably the best value in Paris for a night out for four.
The bar keeps up with cocktails, local beers, organic wines and enough food to stay put (toasties, sharing boards, homemade desserts). You can spend the whole evening there without ever touching your phone.
Practical details: 78 rue de Cléry, 75002 Paris, between Montorgueil and Strasbourg-Saint-Denis. Weekday bookings available.
Les Grands Gamins, the game bar that can also cook
A few doors away, same street, different priorities. Here the kitchen matters as much as the game library, with sharing boards, mezze and burratas good enough to make you forget you came to play. The library lists over 450 playable games, out of 700 references including the shop.
This is the address to book when half the group wants to play and the other half mainly wants a good dinner. Everyone gets their way and nobody complains at 9pm.
Practical details: 19 rue de Cléry, 75002 Paris. Closed Mondays, open until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays. No play fee is listed on their site, so budget mainly for your bill.
Les Mauvais Joueurs, the simplest deal in Paris
5 euros per person, several hundred games in unlimited self-service, one drink to renew every two hours. The price is clear, the rule is clear, and that is exactly the appeal.
The real bonus is the programme: werewolf nights, quizzes, role-playing games. Turn up alone or as a pair and you rarely leave without having played with strangers. Two bars plus a shop, which gives you a plan B when the first one is full.
Practical details: 46 rue Sedaine, 75011 Paris (Bastille) and 12 boulevard Vincent Auriol, 75013 Paris (Austerlitz). Closed Mondays, open until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays.
Bars where the activity is the main event
Le 3Bis, two bars in one at Bercy Village
Le 3Bis plays both sides, which is what makes it clever. On the game bar side, over 300 board games, arcade cabinets, a table football, darts and a giant wheel, for 3.50 euros per hour per person.
Next to it, private rooms for karaoke, blind test, quiz, disco club or retro gaming, at 16 euros per hour per person, and 11 euros off-peak. Rooms hold 4 to 15 people depending on the theme, which covers just about every group size.
Practical details: 41 rue des Pirogues de Bercy, 75012 Paris. Open until 2am Monday to Saturday, and from 10am at weekends for those who play over brunch.
PAN Bar, clay shooting meets cocktail bar
The concept is simple and there is nothing else like it in Paris. You book a semi-private box, pick up two guns and a tablet, and run through a dozen shooting games while the kitchen sends out tapas and the bar sends out cocktails. All of it in a 500 sqm venue in the 10th.
The format runs 1.5 hours, longer than an escape game and shorter than a full bar night, which makes it a solid backbone for an afterwork that has to end before the last metro. From 16 euros per person on the simple package, with boxes for 2 to 10 people, up to 66 across several boxes, and a buyout of the 400 sqm venue from 30 people.
Practical details: 6 rue de Paradis, 75010 Paris. Closed Mondays, open until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays. Online booking, with prices varying by day, time slot and box.
Les Petites Flèches, darts that keep score for you
Recognition cameras, 12 mini-games and an interface that counts the points, so nobody can round up their score any more. It is the most competitive address here, and the one where groups get the most carried away.
Billing is per lane and per hour, with a maximum of 6 players per lane. Expect 29 euros Monday to Thursday, 39 euros from 7pm on Thursday and at weekends, and 14 euros on Sundays, by far the best slot if you are watching the budget. Three Paris venues, so decent odds of one being near you.
Practical details: 49 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud (11th), 7 rue d’Enghien (10th) and 49 boulevard de Clichy (9th). Booking recommended a week ahead.
BAM Karaoke Box, the classic that never disappoints
45,000 tracks, private rooms and vocal effects that rescue the shakiest singers. Box karaoke has one unbeatable advantage over bar karaoke: nobody outside your group can hear you, so everyone ends up singing, including the one who swore they would not.
From 10 euros per person for 2 hours, with rooms for 1 to 30 people. Five venues in Paris (Sentier, Madeleine, Richer, Parmentier, Étoile), the densest network in this list. Prices shift with the time slot, and early weekday evenings are the gentlest.
Practical details: 5 Paris venues, open until 2am. Online booking strongly recommended at weekends.
The comparison at a glance
| Venue | Area | Type | Indicative price | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Good Game | 2nd, Sentier | Board games | €3 / h / person | Small groups |
| Les Grands Gamins | 2nd, Cléry | Board games + kitchen | Food and drinks | Small groups |
| Les Mauvais Joueurs | 11th and 13th | Board games | €5 / person | Small groups |
| Le 3Bis | 12th, Bercy Village | Games + private rooms | €3.50 / h / person or €16 / h / person | 4 to 15 in a room |
| PAN Bar | 10th, Paradis | Virtual shooting + food | From €16 / person | 2 to 10 per box, 66 across boxes |
| Les Petites Flèches | 9th, 10th, 11th | Electronic darts | €14 to €39 / lane / h | 6 max per lane |
| BAM Karaoke Box | 2nd, 8th, 9th, 11th, 17th | Private karaoke | From €10 / person (2h) | 1 to 30 |
What to actually budget per person
Listed prices are only half the story, the other half is what you drink and eat. Three orders of magnitude for a full evening:
- Board game night: 3 to 5 euros of play fee plus two drinks, so around fifteen euros per person. It is the cheapest group night out in Paris, barely more than a drink on a terrace.
- Weekday activity night: 15 to 25 euros per person including the activity, provided you fill the lane or the box. Six people on a 29-euro darts lane brings the activity under 5 euros each.
- Weekend activity night with food: 40 to 60 euros per person. That is the full evening format, activity plus dinner plus cocktails, without moving venue.
The rule that changes everything: whenever the price is per lane or per box, fill it. A 39-euro room split by 6 is a very different story from the same room split by 2.
The right bar for your occasion
- Team afterwork: a short activity that breaks the ice without eating the whole evening, darts or shooting. More formats in our afterwork in Paris selection.
- Bachelorette or bachelor party: a private room, karaoke or shooting, to stay among yourselves and move on to dinner. See our ideas for a bachelorette party in Paris and a bachelor party in Paris.
- Birthday with friends: a board game bar for a chatty group, a private room for a large and loud one. For more venues, read our adult birthday party in Paris guide.
- Team building: favour venues that handle the activity and the catering in one place, it removes the dead time of moving around. Our formats for team building in Paris.
- Something out of the ordinary: virtual shooting and hybrid concepts stand out, along with the rest of our unusual activities in Paris.
Your questions
What is a game bar?
A regular bar with either a self-service board game library or a built-in activity. Two families coexist in Paris. Board game bars, where you pay a small play fee to access hundreds of boxes, and activity bars, where you book a slot on a lane, a shooting box or a karaoke room.
How much does a night at a game bar in Paris cost?
Budget around fifteen euros per person in a board game bar, play fee and drinks included. In an activity bar the bill runs from 10 to 39 euros per hour depending on the venue and the day, usually billed per lane or per room, so the cost per head drops as the group grows.
Can you come as a large group?
Yes, but every venue has its limit. Six players per lane at Les Petites Flèches, 4 to 15 people per room at Le 3Bis, up to 30 in a BAM Karaoke Box room, and 2 to 10 people per box at PAN Bar, 66 across several boxes, with a venue buyout from 30 people.
Do you need to book?
Always for activity bars, since the number of lanes and rooms is limited. Les Petites Flèches recommend booking a week ahead. For board game bars you can try your luck on a weekday, but call ahead at weekends or as soon as you are 6 or more.
Which playful bar works for a bachelorette party or a birthday?
A private karaoke room for a group that wants to sing without an audience, a shooting or darts bar for a real activity with food, and a board game bar for a chatty night on a tight budget.
Sources and useful links
Prices, addresses and capacities taken from the venues’ official websites in August 2026. Prices change, always check when you book.