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Gaming a day exploring the games cafes in norwich By holly jackson
As some of you may know, there are several gaming cafes in Norwich, which are a fun trip out whether you’re looking to play board games or video games. I spent a day exploring these cafes and seeing what they’re all about. 1. The Games Table - Located in Lower Goat Lane This board game cafe was the first place we went. For a more casual experience, which we opted for, you simply pay £1 for the table and buy yourself a drink. This gives you an hour to play some classic board games, such as Guess Who, Connect 4, and Jenga. We played these three games and had a great time. If you’re after a more intense gaming session, for £6 per person, you can rent out a table for four hours, which gives you access to an extensive library of games (and believe me there was a lot to choose from!). There is also a wide range of board games available to buy if you wish. I found The Games Table to have a very fun and friendly atmosphere, and is a great place to go with friends. 2. One Life Left - Located in St Benedicts St Next, we went to One Life Left, which is a video games cafe offering plenty of choice. You can rent a screen for half an hour for just £2.50, or an hour for £5, which is what we did, giving you access to the screen and two controllers. Their menu offers some classic cakes and hot or cold drinks, as well as snacks. There were so many consoles and games to choose from we didn’t know where to start! After browsing the long list of games available, we decided to begin on the Nintendo Switch, and played Super Mario Kart Deluxe 8, followed by Super Smash Bros, accompanied by some cake. We then switched over to PlayStation 4 Pro, and played Sonic Racing to finish off. Again, this cafe had a great atmosphere and very helpful staff, and I would recommend it. It was also interesting to see the range of older consoles there, which I’d definitely suggest checking out, especially if you fancy taking a trip down memory lane. Moreover, One Life Left holds gaming events on different days of the week. If you’re interested there is plenty of information on their website and FaceBook. 3. Slice and Dice - Located in St Benedicts St Lastly, we went to Slice and Dice, which is another board games cafe. It costs £5 per person which gives you four hours to play, and a large selection of games to pick from. Slice and Dice offers a 100% plant based menu, serving sandwiches and hot food, as well as snacks. They also have a wide range of drinks, from milkshakes to cocktails. Here, we had a pot of tea and tried out some games that we hadn’t heard of before. We started off with Pentago, which is a strategy game in which you must line up five marbles in a row. However, after placing each marble, you must turn a quarter of the board 90 degrees, making it challenging. I soon found out strategy games are not my strong point! Next, we played another game which we hadn’t seen before, called Thrive. This is another strategy game, with some more complex rules that took us a while to wrap our heads around. The aim of the game is to outsmart your opponent and take control of the ‘pond’ (the board). Lastly, we played the classic game of Uno. Again, the atmosphere was lovely, and very relaxed, with soothing music playing in the background. This would be a great place to go if you prefer quieter spaces. Overall, we had a lovely day out. Our visit to all three cafes totalled at about £25, which is not bad at all considering we didn’t manage to make full use of the time given in every cafe (and bought plenty of refreshments). Each cafe is certainly a bargain, especially the 4 hour slots provided by The Games Table, and Slice and Dice, which is ideal if you’re meeting up in a larger group for some intense game playing. An hour in One Life Left between two players works out at just £2.50 each, which is absolutely a sufficient amount of time to explore several games. Although it is very hard to pick, I think my personal favourite cafe would be Slice and Dice, as they had a lot of obscure board games to pick from and a broad menu, making it a great place to visit at any time of day.
Photo: Holly Jackson
If you’re looking for something new to try out with friends, I would highly recommend visiting these places.
