A new board game café is about to open at Touchwood - and the first visitors through the doors could walk away with a year of unlimited gaming.
Game Guru is launching its second Midlands location at Touchwood Shopping Centre, bringing tabletop games, collectables, food, and themed events to Solihull in a much larger follow-up to its Birmingham debut.
And it sounds like they’re going fairly big with it.
Golden Tickets
To celebrate the opening, the first 100 visitors will receive a Golden Ticket offering unlimited play access for an entire year for £50.
According to Game Guru, that membership would normally cost around £350, making it one of the bigger launch offers local tabletop fans are likely to see this year.
The new venue officially opens on Thursday, 14 May.
Bigger Space
Game Guru first launched in Birmingham last October and quickly became a popular spot for board game nights, trading card fans, and casual tabletop groups across the Midlands.
The new Touchwood site expands heavily on that original setup.
Alongside a much larger games library, the Solihull location will also feature a full restaurant and bar, specialist collectables, limited edition trading cards, and more space for events and group gaming sessions.
The company says the aim is to create a more premium social gaming space that works equally well for families, hobby players, and casual visitors just looking for something different to do.
All-Day Menu
Food is clearly a big part of the new venue too.
The kitchen will serve a full menu from morning through to close, including breakfasts, brunch dishes, pizzas, burgers, bao buns, and katsu curry.
There’s also a café counter offering pastries, cakes, croissants, and speciality coffees including matcha drinks and Spanish lattes.
Meanwhile, the bar side of the venue includes beers, cocktails, and other drinks designed to keep longer gaming sessions going well into the evening.
Guided Gaming
One of the more interesting parts of the concept is the “Game Guru” staff themselves.
According to Touchwood general manager Tony Elvin, team members will help visitors learn new games and guide groups through different tabletop experiences, which could make the venue more approachable for people who don’t already spend weekends buried in rulebooks.
The café also plans to host themed evenings and special events throughout the year.
Growing Scene
Board game cafés have steadily grown in popularity across the UK over the last few years, especially as more venues shift toward experience-focused entertainment rather than traditional retail alone.
Game Guru feels very much built around that idea - combining food, shopping, and social gaming into one space rather than treating tabletop gaming as a niche hobby store experience.
For Solihull, it’s also a fairly different addition to the Touchwood lineup.
And judging by the launch offer alone, they probably won’t struggle to get people through the doors early.
