A BOARD game café has been opened in Basingstoke by a group of friends.

Dice Tower Gaming, which targets pop culture enthusiasts aged between 12 to 50 years, has opened at the top of town in the Red Lion Hotel.

The lounge will operate a café serving and selling locally roasted Basingstoke coffee, alongside basket hot food and snacks like pizza, nacho’s, popcorn, and sandwiches.

Scott Malcolmson, one of the founders of the business, said the café is also selling locally produced beers and ciders on site, as well as themed drinks both non-alcoholic and cocktail based.

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He said the café will operate Basingstoke’s first pay-per-access Board Game Library containing more than 150 tabletop titles from classic games like Monopoly and Chess, to premium titles like Dominion series and Wingspan, collectable gaming systems like Magic the Gathering, Yu Gi Oh and Pokemon, and Role Play Gaming including Dungeons and Dragons.

The café will also offer payable access to the largest Graphic Novel, Comic, Fantasy and Science Fiction library in Basingstoke and the surrounding areas. They currently have near 1,000 titles.

Scott said: “Dice Tower Gaming is a safe space in Basingstoke for everyone and anyone who has felt like a geek, oddball, weirdo or been afraid to talk about the things they love because they’re afraid of how people would respond.

“We are an ‘all-are-welcome’ safe space encouraging self-expression for lovers of Pop culture, Board/Card Games, Tabletop RPG’s (especially Dungeons and Dragons), Comics, Movies, Cosplay and of course celebrants of all things LGBTQ.

“We’re talking dedicated theme nights; hireable gaming tables with accessories and themed drinks to take your session to the next level; with of course a comfortable lounge area you can kick back and relax in.”

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Scott said the group decided to open the store because they love games and comics.

“Growing up there was nowhere I could go to express my love of all things Sci-Fi. I was both a hard-core Trekkie and wannabe Jedi.

“At University there were a couple of people that could talk comics but until recent years if I wanted to argue the merits of why Batman is the most dangerous hero in the DC universe people would give me a weird look and walk away, although that still happens most of the time.”

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