The owners, Matthew and Kitti are taking selfie in front of The Gamers Guide Cafe when the signs were installed for the first time

We are the Gamers Guide!

The Gamers Guide Café opened its doors for the first time at the end of August 2024. We are a completely independent board game café next to Sheffield Cathedral. It is run by the original owners, Matthew and Kitti.

We are originally from Hungary and came to the UK first to study, but then to stay for good. We are high school sweethearts and has been together since we were 16. When we opened our own business we were told a lot to be careful, sharing a workplace as well as a home will cause issues, but honestly, working together is one of the best parts!

We both come from neurodiverse backgrounds, so we wanted to create a space where we can feel home and be ourselves. And we hoped that it can be a space where other will feel at home and can be themselves as well. We do love board games, we love good food and coffee (although we do have different opinions on what is good coffee) and Kitti has always loved hanging out in café, so opening our own board game café was a nobrainer.

When we searched for the perfect location, 8 East Parade was the first one we looked at and we fell in love with it immediately. Although we did look at some others, we ended up going with it. It needed some polishing up, removing some walls, finding some historic treasures, but we are super happy that we can be located in such an amazing historic building. People often praise us, saying it looks amazing, but honestly, it would have been difficult to ruin such a gorgeous place.

Sidewalk scene with people walking near a stone building that has signs for Gamers Guide Cafe and NWS Solicitors, with trees and other buildings in the background on a clear day.
Storefront window with a sign that reads
Group of people participating in Blood on the Clocktower game in a cozy, well-lit room with board games in the background.
A croissant on a small plate and a cup of coffee on a windowsill with a view of a historic stone building, leafless trees, and a blue sky outside.
Room under renovation with construction materials, wood planks, and a partially assembled piece of furniture on a wooden floor.
A cosy cafe in warm sunlight with wooden floors, several tables with chairs, a brick wall with window, and a bookshelf filled with board games.

What we stand for:

  • We wanted to create a space where you can relax. Where you don’t need to constantly look if you will bump into someone else’s chair or get in someone’s way!

  • A space where you can have fun! Board games are great to connect with people. Are you feeling social? We have great party games. Do you want to connect with people without too much socialising? We have games where you can play together while barely talking to each other (if you have autism, you will appreciate while this is great :) Or you may not, no pressure :)

  • A space where quality matters. We want to provide something we can be proud of. Does it makes sense? Maybe not. Is it a good financial decision? We gave up on that ages ago! But it matters to us!