Inner Richmond Board Game Night is exactly what it sounds like — neighbors getting together to play board games. No venture capital backing. No app to download. No "suggested donation" that's actually mandatory. Just people, cardboard, and dice.

And honestly? In a city where the cost of existing seems to climb every quarter, there's something almost subversive about gathering for an evening of fun that costs approximately zero dollars.

Speaking of costs, the Richmond district — like the rest of San Francisco — sits at the intersection of a housing market that would make your grandparents weep. As one local recently pointed out, an 8-bedroom house in Bernal Heights sold for $145,000 in 1986, which is roughly $443,000 adjusted for inflation. Try finding anything with eight bedrooms in Bernal for under $2 million today. Another SF resident noted that "they used to be more attainable" when you look at income-to-house-price ratios — and they're not wrong.

When your rent consumes half your paycheck before you've bought groceries, free community events aren't just nice — they're essential. Board game nights, park hangs, potlucks: this is the social infrastructure that actually holds neighborhoods together. No city grant required. No planning commission approval. No three-year environmental review.

The Inner Richmond has always been one of SF's more underrated neighborhoods — great food, relatively quieter streets, genuine neighborhood character. Events like this keep it that way. Community doesn't get built by city programs with seven-figure budgets and vague mission statements. It gets built by people showing up to the same spot on the same night and arguing about the rules of Settlers of Catan.

So if you're in the Richmond and looking for something to do that won't destroy your budget, grab a seat. The barrier to entry is zero, which is more than you can say for almost anything else in this city.