Crowdfunding for Antwerp game café raises 10,000 euros in one hour: “We are bringing our online community to life”

Crowdfunding for Antwerp game café raises 10,000 euros in one hour: “We are bringing our online community to life”

Grunk’s Tavern is an event/game café that will soon open its doors in the heart of Antwerp. Owners Shiu Tang and Nathan Horn launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise additional funds for the interior design of their establishment. And that Kickstarter proved to be a resounding success. Within one hour, the target amount of 10,000 euros had been reached. Three days later, the crowdfunding had already surpassed the 25,000 euro mark.

The money raised will be used to further enhance the game café. For Grunk’s Tavern will be more than just an ordinary game store: it will be a themed game café where visitors can imagine themselves in another world. “It is all about the feeling that when you walk in here, you simply forget everything happening outside,” says owner Shiu Tang.

Currently, Grunk’s Tavern is still under construction, but the game café will open its doors soon. According to Shiu, it is a unique concept in Antwerp. The shop will become a place with various themed zones, ranging from a fantasy forest to a medieval tavern.

Visitors will be able to buy and play both board games and card games there. Various (TCG) tournaments and events are also on the schedule. Additionally, there will be a space for online gaming in the basement. “We are going to decorate two rooms entirely in a cyberpunk theme.”

As the icing on the cake, three rooms will also be set up for tabletop role-playing games. In these games, players build a story together while taking on the role of a character they created themselves. The most famous example of this is undoubtedly Dungeons & Dragons.

The name Grunk’s Tavern refers to Grunk, the mascot of the online community Game Masters World, which Shiu and Nathan founded three years ago. The community numbers around 3,000 members who can play Dungeons & Dragons together there. Grunk is a fictional character who welcomes members when they enter the online community.