In Paris and other French cities, you have "game cafés", where you pay per hour (or you buy food which is worth a "1-hour ticket"), and they bring you the games

In Paris and other French cities, you have "game cafés", where you pay per hour (or you buy food which is worth a "1-hour ticket"), and they bring you the games, so you don't have to own them. Good for trying out new games (which they of course sell you, if you want to take home), but neither free food nor free time. Otherwise, some places have public "ludothèques" for playing board games, like public libraries; but these are non-profit associations, and they usually don't sell anything.