If you haven’t been to Chance & Counters yet then you might need your ‘geek card’ revoked. Since 2016, this brilliant board game cafe has sat at the bottom of Bristol’s iconic Christmas Steps. We’ve spent many an evening killing time here with some healthy tabletop competition and hundreds of games to play – a great alternative to the pub!
The only downside to Chance & Counters is that it is fairly small. Its growth in popularity means it’s not as easy getting a table as it used to be. While the two other (newer) sites in Cardiff and Birmingham are far superior in size. But we’re not the only ones who noticed it has outgrown this space. Chance & Counters has opened (April 7) a new flagship site on Gloucester Road.
It is the company’s largest café bar to date, taking over the space of vegan pizzeria Purezza – which has stayed on serving the site with vegan pizzas, while also moving to another venue in the city. At 3, 500 sq ft the new premises offers over 100 customers the space to enjoy more than 850 board games. Expect everything from Catan to Monopoly, Risk to Cluedo. Don’t worry if you prefer the smaller space, however, the Christmas Steps site will continue.
“We’ve been on the hunt for a new site in Bristol for nearly three years now and we couldn’t be happier to have found it. Bristol is where it all started for us so it feels pretty amazing finally to be in a position to grow here,” said Steve Cownie, co-founder of Chance & Counters.
“The Christmas Steps site will always be massively important to us, but we realised pretty early on we just didn’t have the space and facilities there to meet demand in Bristol. Having all this extra capacity in such a great spot on Gloucester Road is huge – we can’t wait to get the doors open.”
How does Chance & Counters work?
Think of Chance & Counters like a non-lending library where you have access to an incredible amount of games—from the traditional roll and move variety to cooperative, mystery and combat style games. To keep energy levels up, the café also serves a variety of food and drinks.
Players of all ages and expertise are welcome at Chance & Counters. Play for as little as £3 per person for a two-hour session, or £6 for a four-hour session. This gives you plenty of time to try your hand at a few different types of games, find what you’re good at, and what you enjoy the most.
It’s also plenty of time to get stuck into a long game with memberships at £25 for the year. As a member, you’ll pay half price on every session. So if you think you’ll come more than ten times in a year, you’ll save some cash this way.
Chance & Counters aims to open on Gloucester Road in April, hopefully before the Easter holidays. To learn more head here.