While planning a recent trip to visit my parents, who live just outside of Kansas City, I emailed Azkadelia Hattress to see about visiting their nearby headquarters. Many companies use the adjective “cavernous” when describing their location, but Allplay is housed within a literal man-made cave. No joke. I needed a map and special directions so I didn’t get lost attempting to navigate underground. Which, of course, I did.
Their offices are what you might expect, including desks with giant monitors and highlights of products on the shelves. Some nice touches were the original paintings lining the wall, based on the many games in Allplay’s catalog, such as BasketBoss, Through the Desert, and Fiction. But their warehouse was unlike any I’d seen before. The cave surroundings made it feel like stepping into a Tomb Raider game, pallets piled high with gaming tables, and games from Allplay themdelves, along with their numerous partner publishers like Bitewing Games, who recently released Reiner Knizia’s Iliad and Ichor. Many of the games I’m currently playing passed through these cave walls at some point. Tucked into the
There was a corner filled with tiny drawers containing every meeple and game piece for Allplay games. And there was even a secret room where they test upcoming games which, for obvious reasons, I wasn’t allowed to take photos in, but I can assure you it was very cool. Azkadelia was so kind to take time out of her day to give me a quick tour of the facility and it was a real treat to get a little behind-the-scenes look at the processes it takes to get games to our table, so many of which the average gamer doesn’t even think about while playing.
