After hosting the annual GameCity festival for all these years, Nottingham has exploded with places to get your game on. Here, we offer up the list of places you can twiddle your thumbs...
Lost City Golf
Everyone loves a bit of indoor golf, but this has got a bit of a twist. You can experience playing golf in a jungle environment. Yep. As well as a change of scenery, the whole game is interactive and immersive. For a golf course, it’s also pretty challenging – just because there are so many trees and stuff in the way. The prices are pretty cheap and it can be a great laugh for either your mates, your family, or for a proper birthday party. And if you get bored of playing golf, there’s an awesome bar with some great cocktails – some soft drinks for the kids too.
Ludorati Café
A modern and fresh space to hang out and play some classic games, Ludorati is a nice, relaxed atmosphere with some chilled-out music. If you want to have access to the premium gaming area, then you’ll have to pay £1.60 per hour, but there are hundreds of games to choose from. Ludorati also offer a lovely food and drink menu, with the contents served by extremely polite and experienced baristas. Not only is their awesome wall of board games nice to look at, but it is housed in A-Z format to help with finding the game you want. All you organisational obsessives; breathe.
[ALT] Gaming Lounge
It’s only been open for a few months, and is such an original idea for those diehard gamers. There’s such a wide range of consoles to choose from, from a Nintendo 64 (my favourite) to the high-tech VR station. Whenever you go in, you’re free to go on whatever console you want as long as you’re dining or drinking with them. There are some unique cocktails named after classic gaming trends, and some awesome themed nights that’ll get you in the gaming spirit. It’s a great atmosphere and the staff are always helpful.
Escapologic
This place is probably one of the most immersive things you’ll ever experience. You have sixty minutes to explore detailed sets, and search for discrete clues to break out of an escape room. There are so many rooms to choose from, depending on your preference. And balls. The atmosphere can be overwhelming at first, so the staff are there to assist and motivate you via clues, but as soon as you step inside the room, you’re on your own. It would be crazy to go alone, so you can go in teams from two to five people. A great teambuilding exercise.
The Dice Cup
If you ever fancy doing something other than sitting on your phone all day, head down to The Dice Cup, and spend hours on end playing loads of epic war board games with your mates instead. This place is such a close-knit, friendly environment, all the staff are dead talkative and passionate about the stuff they have on offer, especially their sandwiches. There’s no chance of you getting bored because there’s stack-loads of games to play. They also have a café, sell hot drinks and light snacks to give you the essentials needed when immersed in the game.
The National Videogame Arcade
The only one of its kind in the UK. For £8.50, you get to spend the whole day playing a broad range of videogames, ranging from some of the oldest in history to some of the latest. This place is open every day of the week – make sure you make the most of it when you go there. There are events all week such as workshops and talks that’ll teach you more about gaming and development. The staff love the place, so feel free to have a chat or a play around with them.
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