A new tabletop gaming cafe is coming to Cornwall this May and hopes to become a social hub for the gaming community.

Geek Retreat, located on The Leats in Truro, is a new gaming cafe that will be opening its doors on Saturday May 29 with a grand opening that may even see a wild Pokemon appear.

Owners Liam and Hannah Ault, who got involved with the franchise last year during the Covid-19 pandemic, are hoping to provide a space in which local gamers can congregate to play their favourite games together as well as learn new ones and socialise.

Focussing on tabletop games from Pokemon, Dungeons and Dragons, and Magic the Gathering to Monopoly and snap, Geek Retreat will include a cafe serving a selection of comfort food favourites as well as ice cream and American candies.

Hannah Ault said: "With Covid and everything last year, Liam got laid off from his job and started looking in to franchising as an option because there wasn't much else, job-wise, out there.

"This one popped up after me and my dad told him 'yeah, we don't see you as a carpet and upholstery cleaner,' and it took about three days of him being like a kid at Christmas to wear me down.

"Next thing you know, we're driving up to Glasgow to meet there head office team to find out of they liked us enough to let us have a franchise.

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"It's basically an excuse for him to be a kid at work all day.

"It's all tabletop games such as Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Warhammer, Dungeons and Dragons, things like that, which we know there isn't really anywhere in terms of places to go that isn't really cliquey.

"The whole premise of Geek Retreat the shop is the fact that because of the all the games, we got milkshakes, burgers and paninis on the side, and every evening we do a different game night, so you can get the whole community of the game in to play together.

"They can all mix together and meet new people and you've got the opportunity for kids to come in and see people playing the games and be able to sit down and ask questions about that game and get into it themselves.

"There's also the opportunity for families to come in to the shop and sit down with one of our staff members and we can give you the basic rules about the games, this is how play it, and they can go away and decide if it is something they're into.

"If they are then we've got the packs for them to get started and they can get into that world and basically get families back together and playing together, rather than staring at an individual screen.

Geek Retreat will be opening in Truro on Saturday May 29.