Two students are aiming to create a new late-night board game cafe on the Delmar Loop by February 2017. To assist in opening the cafe, they hope to raise $40,000 for the project via the crowdfunding website Kickstarter by Nov. 17.

Junior Taylor Reynolds and senior John Evan Lee said they want to provide a space which can be used for both studying and social activity at late hours of the night, combining sandwiches, charcuterie and cheese plates with a welcoming atmosphere and access to a wide variety of board games that can be played with strangers or friends.

The pair will get no money from their Kickstarter campaign, which they started on Tuesday and has raised $1,812 so far, unless they reach their stated $40,000 goal. Without the investment, they admit the project may not be possible. Despite this, they remain hopeful that the venture will take off.

“I think Kickstarter is a really great way to do this, because lots of other projects in places like Minneapolis, Indianapolis and others have done these Kickstarters and the community has really come out and helped them out with it,” Reynolds said.

Originally, the pair only intended to start a 24-hour coffee shop on the Loop, but found the concept limiting and repetitive. This original concept soon broadened, however, as they found a solution in their love of board games.

“We’re really into board games,” Lee said. “We spent a summer playing a Game of Thrones board game almost every night, so through that summer we got really into the hobby.”

Reynolds and Lee hope to be able to move into the old Noodles and Co. space on Delmar Boulevard between Eastgate Avenue and Westgate Avenue, after heavily renovating the interior.

Many businesses like Noodles and Co. on the Loop, including the Eight Dollar Deli and Zippy Burger, have shut down in recent months shortly after opening. Despite this, Lee said he was confident that their cafe would thrive.

“If you look at the recently opened [Snow Factory], it has a very similar story to us, and our products are much more niche [than many of the businesses recently closing their doors],” he said. “I think there is definitely concern about the state of businesses on the Loop, but there are places that are working, and when you look at why they’re working we really have that same special sauce that others do.”

Friend of the pair and project supporter, sophomore Andrew Maxwell noted that part of this special sauce may very well be Reynolds and Lee themselves.

“These are two guys that don’t really do things they aren’t passionate about,” he said. “If they are going to do something they are going to do something to the best of their ability and their really going to throw everything they have at it.”

Maxwell also noted that he was excited for the cafe’s versatility.

“I’m really not a super serious fan of board games,” he said. “But I could certainly see myself using the space as a study space, as a place to just hang out and soak in the atmosphere.”

Lee said that the success of the project will come down to student enthusiasm and support.

“Ultimately, this functions as something of test run, because if the student interest is there and we get the money, we can go ahead and make this happen, and that will really be a hard yes on what we’re doing,” he said.