Jump to content
NEurope
jayseven

Friend's Gaming Pub Idea (survey)

Recommended Posts

My mate's putting serious work into a dream of his - combining two of his favourite things... pub and board/card/tabletop games. While you can play in a regular pub, space might be an issue or other clientele may be drunken louts, so he is looking at getting a large space for tables and offering food/drinks for people to play. He's hoping to set up a cheap membership fee and work in conjunction with gaming supply shops to offer goods at shop prices...

 

As part of his research step he needs to get some idea of what people want from this sort of idea.

 

This questionnaire takes 3 mins to do and is at http://d20club.co.uk/

 

edit: If you have any further questions, ask me in this thread or leave them in teh comments section on the survey and they will get back to you. There's a Q&A session planned later this month, apparently.

Edited by jayseven

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

As someone who isn't from the UK, nor living in it (and from a country where pubs aren't that much of a thing), would my opinion be productive?

 

Either way, I like the idea.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@Iun yeah licences are being worked on, no worries.

 

@Jonnas the survey is to get an idea of a few different things that can apply to any gamer anywhere i.e. what sort of food would you like available if you went to a gaming pub/club, what games would you want to play, how much would you be willing to pay for membership, would you purchase gaming-related items, what sort of food would you like available, how far would you be willing to travel, how often would you game a week. The main 'local' question is "which shops do you frequent?" where you can ignore it or just leave it as "other: my local" or whatever.

 

The survey is supposed to provide data to help my mate shape the services he could offer that would appeal to any gamer. The pricing research is being done in other ways but a rough idea of membership fees can be helpful for when they get on with a kickstarter and other means to raise start-up capital, through banks and whatnot.

 

So yeah - a survey response stating what games you play can, for instance, help him figure out rough ideas of the space required.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think it would be important to have a variety of games. From the survey it looks like it'd be some sort of elitist geek cave; but if you do that, you're only going to get a select number of limited clientele. You need to have some simple games as well, to encourage people to get started. People who've never played these games before aren't just going to jump straight into a game of Settlers of Catan or Magic: the Gathering with a bunch of strangers. You need something easy to allow them to work their way up, like a sort of gateway drug.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My mate wants to stay away from elitism but still have a sense of class. He's not given out any outline of the atmosphere in this survey as that all comes later. "gateway" games are plentiful, catan itself is considered an introductory level game. There will no doubt be stock games available but the space will be welcome to people bringing whatever games they want, to game with their friends or with strangers. You can turn up with monopoly and four mates if you want - the matter of membership and allowance of guests is still up in teh air.

 

The problem many (brighton-based) gamers are finding is that the available gaming spaces are taken up with very elitist, pompous gamers who snort if you bring along a game that they're not into. There are many magic players who detest warhammer gamers, many warhammer gamers who dislike d&d players, and many d&ders who look down on magic. Similarly there are hoards of people who are open about playing all of the above -- there are two gaming shops that I know where everyone is cool about everything, but the issue is primarily space as they are limited to 10-15 people in the available space at one time. If all these gamers want to eat and drink then space is shrunk further.

 

There are several people who act as ambassadors for upcoming games of all difficulties and types that struggle to arrange introductory sessions for eager people simply because they cannot find the space.

 

The issue with taking games into pubs is partly a space issue, partly a matter of needing a fair bit of organisation and notice and also a hesitation or worry for some people about gaming in a pub, where you can't ensure that some lout won't come and interrupt/disrupt your game. Loud music or football on TV can be disruptive and lighting may alter too much.

 

This d20 idea (I think the club name is a mistake but hey :P) is to offer a safe, welcoming atmosphere with space and snacks and drinks at hand. Membership ideas are meant to be low entry of barrier that can offer members rewards for return visits (discounts in the club, discounts at various shops) as well as personalisation potential (one idea is to rig up cards so when you come in, you get a personalised avatar or tune appear on a screen or play on speakers to 'announce' your entry - optional, of course). Membership also allows the club to fine-tune what they offer i.e. if they have a lot of members come in playing x game on y day they can look into arranging tournaments, blah blah blah.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I filled in the survey. A club like that sounds great.

 

As for games, you can lease suggestions for games. I put down Jenga. =P

 

One thing I am not sure about is a membership price. Why are they opting for that? Is it to keep out the people who would only go there to drink? Or more as an extra income?

 

Edit: just saw your post up there. =P

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

p.s. I'm fairly sure there will be dozens of games available. It is definitely not intended to just be gaming space for one, two, or three large-scale games alone. Working in combination with local stores that, between them, offer hundreds of games. It is in their favour to have these games available to play because that's how people end up purchasing a set of their own.

 

I have been promised a table with a chess set built into it. I'm sure there'll be a few built-in tables on offer for the more familiar games

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There's a pub in Glasgow called The Hillhead Bookclub that has a table tennis table and you can get various board games from behind the bar. It's pretty popular.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have been promised a table with a chess set built into it. I'm sure there'll be a few built-in tables on offer for the more familiar games

 

Ooh, that's nice. I suggested chess as well, though the built-in tables didn't really occur to me (though they better accommodate other games, too. Reserving a table for a single game sounds like a needless restriction)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

They should hook up an N64 and 4 controllers somewhere. With Mario Kart, Perfect Dark and others.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Ooh, that's nice. I suggested chess as well, though the built-in tables didn't really occur to me (though they better accommodate other games, too. Reserving a table for a single game sounds like a needless restriction)

 

 

Well a built in chess table is still just a small table. You can play anything on it that you could play on a regular coffee table (cards, dice, small boar games etc.).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Well a built in chess table is still just a small table. You can play anything on it that you could play on a regular coffee table (cards, dice, small boar games etc.).

 

1663731-wild_boar.jpg

 

I'd play games with these if they were available.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm all for social gaming environments opening up. Completed the survey, best of luck to your friend with this!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
People play board games in the pub?

 

Can't say I've played board games at a pub, but frequently play card games & Dominoes at the pub. Depending on 2 things... What night it is, and what state you're planning to get into.

 

If it's casual a few games can be a laugh, if it's a week night a few games can be a laugh.

 

If you're on a mission card games can speed the process up, if it's a weekend though don't really get the space to play any games.

 

 

Sorry that was pretty off topic to the original post.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Do you know what the place is gonna look like? Sounds like a fantastic idea. I can imagine quite enclosed booths, (or at least, wall adjacent tables with high seat sides) for games that require a more enclosed atmosphere, and then lots of open tables for ones that don't blahb lahbsa;b.

 

 

Yeah. Awesome.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Have a look at the Kyoto Lounge in Manchester. Very similar idea. They have a room with designated computer desks as well as a general area. Had a streetpass event on Saturday.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Do you know what the place is gonna look like? Sounds like a fantastic idea. I can imagine quite enclosed booths, (or at least, wall adjacent tables with high seat sides) for games that require a more enclosed atmosphere, and then lots of open tables for ones that don't blahb lahbsa;b.

 

 

Yeah. Awesome.

I'm afraid I don't know yet. There's really a lot of ways to go, and much depends on where teh starting point for the whole venture lies. Many things will have to be introduced or improved as time passes just simply down to hedging start-up costs.

 

Personally I'd not know where to begin, but one of the guys is an accountant and the other is a programmer/physicist who already has a business so they know what comes first and what comes later.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

For me, and the distance, a membership wouldn't be feasible. I did write that in the survey though, maybe a one off/per entrance fee could be available? Even if it was just a quid per person, I'd consider a trip down the brighton for it maybe - other problem is even that is incurring me costs! Credit crunch and all that :( That'd be my biggest question, because I think it's an awesome venture - but can it keep afloat?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

×