Inception Group, the operator behind some of London’s most distinctive immersive hospitality concepts, including Mr Fogg’s, Cahoots and Bunga 90, is set to launch a brand-new gaming ‘vertical’ this spring.
The new Mr Fogg’s Games Parlour will debut at the existing Mr Fogg’s City Tavern in Broadgate Circle, near Liverpool Street. Located on the lower ground floor of the 5,000sq ft venue, The Games Parlour will feature six specially designed gaming booths created in a typically traditional Mr Fogg’s style.
Guests will be able to book a booth, accommodating up to eight players, to compete in six different games over an 80-minute session. The games, all adapted and “Victorian-ised”, take inspiration from Darts, Mini Golf, Parlour Quoits, Beer Pong, Shuffle Puck and Bagatelle, blending familiar formats with a distinctly unique Fogg’s twist.
The Games Parlour will feature a substantial bar, serving the classic Mr Fogg’s Tavern menu of draught beers, signature punches, adventurous cocktails and bar snacks, all designed to fuel friendly competition as guests battle for coveted bragging rights.
The format is best described as an Olympic-style pentathlon but for pub games. It will be of little benefit being a specialist at just one game. Instead, it will be the all-rounders and those who are reasonably good at everything who will be crowned Top Fogg.
Commenting on the launch, Inception Group Co-Founder Charlie Gilkes said: “For hundreds of years, people have been playing games in public houses across the UK, so it feels only fitting that we’ve found a way to revive traditional Victorian parlour games and combine them with more modern favourites in order to create a fitting selection of 21st-century pub games. We’ve seen the rise in popularity of competitive socialising concepts over recent years and knew that, if we entered the space, we would want to create something distinctly different from what’s already out there. We’ve spent nearly 24 months testing our unique gaming concept and we’re incredibly excited to be finally revealing it to our Mr Fogg’s customers. True to our Victorian backstory, the experience is deliberately analogue rather than digital. There’s something wonderfully simplistic about marking your own score on a chalkboard.”
