Board Game cafe heading for Peterborough city centre

The Dice Box is set to fill the former Lightbox cafe premises in Bridge Street, which closed earlier this year.

With a collection of hundreds of games of all types, visitors will be able book a table to play with friends while enjoying a snack and drink.

"The game board industry has exploded in the last five or 10 years,” said Dane Richards, who is behind the venture with wife Rebecca.

“Lots of new games have come into the market place and we anticipate having a library of about 550 games.

"We will have everything from traditional ones like Kerplunk and Monopoly, some suitable for small children, through to the more complex, strategic games.

"You will be able to book a table online and have full access to all the games in the library to play, and if you fancy something different that you haven’t played before, we will be able help with ideas of what is out there that you might like.”

The Yaxley couple are still finalising the lease, have applied to the city council for a premises licence and are undergoing training at the original Dice Box in Leamington Spa. They hope to open the first Dice Box franchise in Peterborough by the New Year.

“We want to create a community feel in the cafe,” said Dane, a keen board gamer for several years. “We want it to be somewhere people come to play games with friends and family but we could also introduce theme nights. In Leamington Spa they have sessions where a member of staff can sit down and get a particular game started with gamers who just want to play with like minded people. We hope to emulate that.”

There will be 20 tables available and the basement will be used at busier times and if people want somewhere quiet when other games gets noisy.

And players will be able to tuck into “light bites” – paninis, pizzas, crisps and pop corn as well as coffee, soft drink and beers, wine and cocktails.