We are Sarah and Jacob, a husband and wife team with a family that has always been big on board gaming. So much so that our games cupboard had steadily expanded over the years and started taking over the house!
Then we found out about board game cafes and looked into visiting one in our area only to discover that there wasn't any. Why not? We thought Surbiton and Kingston must be full of families and gamers who would want to unplug and play around a table for a few hours.
So we decided to create it ourselves and Shakes and Ladders was born!
Without the funds to establish our own premises we decided to go for pop-up style events. What started as a simple idea has grown into an amazing community with a wide variety of gamers from families, absolute beginners and seasoned players.
We began by running four monthly Sunday board game afternoons in our local community hall. These early events taught us a lot from the best way transport and display our games to which titles people wanted to play. This also gave us plenty of practice teaching games on the spot because there is nothing quite like explaining Exploding Kittens to a group who aren't your own children.
Our original collection of around 70 games has grown to over 200 and we now have a library we are incredibly proud of that is all killer and no filler (we can't bring all 200 games to each session though - our 7 seater doesn't quite have the space so we vary the games depending on the event). The 100+ titles we do take tend to be something that can be taught in around 10 minutes and/ or be comfortably played within one of our 4 hour sessions. Over the past couple of years we have seen player favourites emerge like Pandemic, Schotten Totten, Survive the Island, Patchwork, Camel Up and Heat but heavier hitters like Arcs and Root also hit the tables.
In the last year we have added monthly Blood on the Clocktower events which have been a big hit with lots of hilarious moments.
The best part of what we do isn't the games - it's the people. We've loved watching strangers become teammates, families spend quality time together, and friends share plenty of laughs. One of the things we're proudest of is seeing people who first came along on their own leave with a whole new group of friends that extends well beyond our events.
We're lucky to host monthly events at awesome venues in Kingston and Surbiton ranging from bars and restaurants to a theatre with plans to add more and build on our growing community. Our venues love the extra customers enjoying food and drink while they play too - our busiest event so far welcomed around 150 people over the course of an afternoon! (Our voices were gone by the end of that one.)
Our goal has always been simple: to create a fun, welcoming and inclusive space for people of all ages and gaming level to discover amazing games, meet friendly people and share the hobby that we absolutely love.
Whether you're a lifelong gamer or never rolled a die beyond Monopoly, we'd love to welcome to one of our tables.
