About The Club

Located in Warners Bay NSW Australia, Braidy's aims to be the premier social hub for Board Gamers, Puzzlers, Painters, Role Play Gamers and enthusiasts of other activity based hobbies!

Inspired by the Board Game Café model, popularised in Europe and North America, Braidy's aims to take that model one step further and bring together a wider community of hobbyists. 

What can you do at the club?

On entry to the club, whether through a day pass or membership, patrons will be able to play board games from our board game library, do puzzles, paint by number kits and more, as well as attend social events like Board Game Tournaments, Puzzle Races, Murder Mystery nights and more! Additionally, we also aim to offer a tasty variety of food and beverages for you to enjoy while you play, puzzle, paint, create or just hang out!

Why is there an entry fee?

If you look up different Board Game clubs and cafe's around the world you will find pretty much all of them have some form of payment required. This is primarily because a) The board game library needs to be maintained for wear and tear and b) people tend to stay longer than they would at a restaurant or café, so there is less customer turnover. There a many different payment models that have been trialled and used; some ask you to pay by the hour, some ask for an upfront fee but limit you to 3 hours, some ask you to pay depending on what game you choose to play. We have chosen to keep it simple. $10 for day entry, stay as long as you like, play whatever you like. This price is in line with similar venues and does not restrict how long you stay for. It is also still cheaper than other leisure activity businesses like mini golf, rock climbing, escape rooms, bowling etc. 

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Tell me about the Board Game Library?

In the club will be a regularly curated and updated board game library for you to use in the club! Games will be added to keep things fresh, and tired unused ones will be removed to not give everyone Netflix Menu Freeze! We will also have new unopened copies for purchase if you wish to buy a game you tried, or a puzzle etc.

 

What about the events and social clubs?
The primary goal and purpose of the club is to create and offer opportunities for people to have enjoyable experiences with their loved ones, as well as meet new, like minded people! There will be regular events like weekly Puzzle and Painting clubs to encourage community and give people something to look forward to each week, regular board game competitions and Puzzle Races for those who feel the itch to get a little competitive, and special social events like Murder Mystery nights and Speed Dating type events! Check out our Events page to see what is currently scheduled, or the Social Clubs page to see what club is held when!

Memberships

The club also has membership options for those who think they will attend the club regularly! With each membership you receive:
 

• Unlimited Free Entry: Non-Members will be required to pay a $10 entry fee for day access to the club, except for certain events. 

• Discounted Food & Drink: Members will receive a 10% discount on all food & drink purchases

• Discounted Retail Prices: Members will receive a 10% discount on all Board Games, Puzzles, RPG accessories and other retail purchases. (Both online and in-person)

• Discounted Event Tickets: Members will receive a discount on all special event ticket purchases (valid for one person per event). Discount amount will depend on the event.

• Evolving Benefits: As the club develops and more features and offerings become available, members will receive benefits associated with these. For example, discounted Private Room Hire and discounted Social Program prices. 

 

Who is running this show?
Before we open, you may be wondering why you should put your faith (and money) in me to bring this this to life, so I will do my best to explain!

I am 30 years old this month and in the last 10 years I have been a Maritime Warfare Officer in the Royal Australian Navy, a Project Coordinator for a company that installs duress and nurse call systems in hospitals, and for the past 4 years I have been working as a Registered Paramedic for NSW Ambulance. But those have all just been jobs for me.

My real passion is entertaining and my main interest is board gaming, role playing games and using those and other hobbies to make worthwhile and enjoyable life experiences for me and those around me. I have had the idea to bring the concept of a Board Game Café to Newcastle for years, but until now have not been ready.

About 18 months ago though I started Braided Entertainment, an event's based business that has now put on approximately 70 Jigsaw Puzzle competitions and Board Game Tournaments across 4 states and 15 or so venues. Doing so has meant having to learn how to create and do business admin, start websites, run social media pages, find and work with suppliers, find and work with venues, sell tickets, provide customer service and host the events themselves! It has been a fulfilling and enjoyable experience, but none of those events have taken place in a venue designed for board gamers, puzzlers and hobbyists. So now I am ready to create the ideal space for it!

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