Games and Gaming
PlayStation, table football or adventure - whatever your flavour you can play games at your library and enjoy time with your mates. Enjoy tabletop games like Mahjong, computer games like Minecraft, and more.
Video games
There are a range of popular video games at libraries for you to play, including Minecraft, FIFA, NBA, LEGO games (Jurassic World, Harry Potter, Ninjago), Rocket League, and Crash Bandicoot.
We have PlayStations (PS4) at the following libraries:
- Aranui
- Fendalton
- Te Hāpua: Halswell Centre
- Linwood
- Lyttelton
- Matuku Takotako: Sumner Centre
- New Brighton
- Ōrauwhata: Bishopdale Library and Community Centre
- Upper Riccarton
There is a PlayStation 5 (PS5) at Parklands, Shirley, and Tūranga.

Tabletop games
Play a game at the library:
- Fendalton Library: Monopoly, Game of Life, Uno, Jenga, and chess.
- Te Hāpua: Halswell Centre: Cards: Phase 10, Monopoly deal, Infernal Contraption. 2nd edition, Spot it, Playing cards, Uno, Classic Jumbo Playing cards, Cards against humanity. Family edition. Te reo Māori cards: Bilingual Story starter cards. Games: Bananagrams, Deluxe Tri-ominos, Battleship, Codenames, Agricola - Game for 1 to 5 players, Agricola - All creatures big and small. Game for 2 players, The settlers of Catan, Scrabble for juniors. Game for children ages 6 to 10, Traditional chess, Monopoly, Connect4, Backgammon, Scrabble. Te reo Māori games: He kupu I kore.
- Linwood Library: Chess, draughts, Rummikub, mah-jong, scrabble, Operation, Jenga, Bop it, cards, Reversii, Exploding Kittens, Bananagrams, Headbanz for kids, Risk, 5 Second Rule mini, Skip Bo, Dutch Blitz, Mini and Giant Connect 4, Uno, Triominoes.
- Lyttelton Library: Chess, Cards, Yahtzee, Scrabble, Ludo, Giant Snakes and Ladders and Giant Connect 4.
- Matuku Takotako: Sumner Centre: Chess, Checkers, Scrabble, Guess Who, Trivial Pursuit, Cluedo, Playing cards, Dragon Games, Scrabble.
- New Brighton Library: Chess, Jenga, Catan, Exploding Kittens, Carcassonne, Ticket to ride, Code names, Connect 4, Fabula, Othello, Risk, Tākaro, Takenoko, Tabula, Kei a Wai? Positions & Situation, Kei a Wai? Actions & Activities, Scrabble.
- Papanui Library: The Dragon Game, Hedbanz, Guess who, 5s Rule, Uno, Barrel of Monkeys, Magnetic Four in a Row, Whatever Next, Alien Hotshots, spot it, Rummikub, Leapin Lizards Nature Puzzle, Jumbo + normal playing cards, Invisible Go Fish, Trivial Pursuit master game, Cranium, Madeline’s House Game, Chess, Checkers, Puzzle Art, Dora the Explorer memory Game, Bingo, Cluedo, Connect 4, Scrabble, Trapped Penguin, Shopping List Game, Chinese Checkers, Boggle, Jenga, Give up a Secret or Take a Challenge, Frog Hoppers, Pickup Sticks & Metal Jacks ‘n’ Ball, Junior Pictionary, Pictureka, Popmatic Trouble Game, Twister, Go getter Maze Game.
- Parklands Library: Battleships, Guess Who, Yahtzee, MahJong, Cluedo, Skip-Bo, Scrabble, and Trivial Pursuit.
- Redwood Library: Scrabble, Uno, 5 Second Rule, Connect Four, Poo, Headbandz, Rubiks Cube, Checkers, Headbanz, Scrabble, Jumbling Tower, 5 second rule, Mah Jong, Carcassonne. Snakes and ladders, He kupe I kore, Po, Monopoly, Tiddly Winks. They also have a big snakes and ladders mat.
- Shirley Library: MahJong, Scrabble, Chess.
- Spreydon Library: Mah-jong, Upwords, Scrabble, Scrabble Junior, Uno, Chess, Draughts, cards.
- South Library: Monopoly Standard, Monopoly Empire, Upwords, Scrabble (3), Rummikub, Checkers, MiQube, Stuff happens, Backgammon Standard, Backgammon Boardgame, Snakes and ladders (Miniature), Trivial pursuit.
- Tūranga: 5 Second Rule, Backgammon, Bananagrams, Bohnanza, Cadoo, Candyland, Carcassonne, Cards, Cars Snap, Castle Ravenloft (DnD), Charades, Chess, Citadels, Codenames, Concept, Connect 4, Dungeons and Dragons Starter Set, Dixit, Dominion, Dominoes, Exploding Kittens, Fairy Tale Fluxx, Forbidden Island, Hanabi, He Kupu I Kore, Hey That’s my Fish!, Jenga, Logo Game, Marvel Trivia, One Night Ultimate Werewolf, Pandemic, Pass the Pigs, Paths & Pipes, Rat-a-tat Cat, Saboteur, Scrabble, Set, Settlers of Catan, Sequence, Snakes & Ladders, Story Cubes, Sushi Go!, Taboo, Ticket to Ride: Europe, Roald Dahl’s Top Trumps, Tsuro, Uno, Unstable Unicorns, Upwords, Word Grab, Tākaro and bilingual Story Starter Cards.
- Upper Riccarton Library: Chess, UNO.
There are scrabble clubs at Linwood, New Brighton, Ōrauwhata: Bishopdale Library and Community Centre, Parklands, Shirley, South, and Te Hāpua: Halswell Centre.
If you want to play cards at the library, there are rummikub and card clubs.
Jigsaws are available for exchange at most libraries, but you can also work on them on tables in the library - there is often one set out ready to use.
Tākaro - Games
Explore Māori games.
Tākaro
Featured
Ngā Kōrero Auaha - Creative Stories: Podcast series
Shirley - Miniature Painting Workshop - 12+ years
Thursday takeover
Explore the Mathematical Game of Hex at Tūranga
Gaming books, streaming video, and more
Explore books and resources about gaming in our collection.
Games and Gaming Resources
Minecraft
Foosball (Table Football)
Get your soccer skills up without getting your boots muddy with a foosball challenge. There are foosball (table football) tables at Tūranga and New Brighton Library.
Games and fun for kids
We have computers for kids to play on at all of our branches except Diamond Harbour, Little River, Mobile Library, Parklands, and Tūranga. They feature websites and games for fun and learning. Tūranga has a Ricoh screen and Quiver fish for kids to play with.
CINCH Community Information Christchurch
CINCH (Community Information Christchurch) lists indoor games clubs if you'd like to join. Try looking for: