Chance & Counters will open their largest venue on Gloucester Road in Bristol this April. It will occupy the former vegan pizzeria Purezza, which is set to relocate to an alternative site in the city.
The new 3,500 sq ft premises will offer space for over 100 customers to enjoy more than 850 board games, seven days a week, from morning to night.
Founded in 2016 by three friends, Chance & Counters started on Christmas Steps in Bristol and expanded to Cardiff and Birmingham. It has signed a 10-year lease on its original Bristol venue and now has four branches.
Steve Cownie, the co-founder of Chance & Counters, said: “We’ve been on the hunt for a new site in Bristol for nearly three years now, and we couldn’t be happier to have found it. Bristol is where it all started for us, so it feels pretty amazing finally to be in a position to grow here.
“The Christmas Steps site will always be massively important to us, but we realised pretty early on we just didn’t have the space and facilities there to meet demand in Bristol. Having all this extra capacity in such a great spot on Gloucester Road is huge – we can’t wait to get the doors open.”
Chance & Counters offers a vast library of board games for which customers pay a small fee. Staff members are board game enthusiasts who can recommend games, help with set up and teach customers how to play. All-day food and drink is available, with local craft beers and homemade bakes.
The new site will see a significantly expanded food operation overseen by group executive chef Nathan Wright. The menu will include smash burgers, loaded fries, and extensive vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options. Former tenant Purezza will provide a selection of vegan pizzas.
Founded by three board-gaming friends, Steve Cownie, Luke Neal and Richard Scarsbrook, the trio’s first site on Christmas Steps was opened in May 2016 following a successful crowdfunding campaign. It now employs some 75 staff and hosts nearly 200,000 gaming sessions annually across all the sites.
The new Chance & Counters interior will remain unchanged, and the founders hope to reopen before the Easter holidays in April.
