New Northumberland gaming store has successful opening day

Located at the Old Picture House in Mickley, Stocksfield, Red October Games had its grand opening on Saturday (August 2), with around 250 people turning up on the day to get a first peek at the area's freshest tabletop and trading card game specialists.

Tyla Fearon, one of three friends who have established and own Red October Games, said: "I'm just so blown away and humbled by the amount of people that turned up. We had a very steady stream of people come in consistently throughout the day.

"The big Warhammer 40,000 tournament that we had on ended up with 13 players in total, which was huge. We expected about six, so we doubled that, which was amazing."

"It's been mind-blowing to see so much support."

A key element of Red October Games is a focus on building a community among tabletop game enthusiasts. Central to this is Red October's tavern, which currently stocks 'all' of Jeremy Clarkson's Hawkstone brewery products amongst other refreshments and snacks.

Although the design for the 'Tavern at Red October' is currently unfinished, the bar is operational. A concept for a 'high fantasy' themed tavern has been laid out, with construction expected to begin in the next three to four months, which includes the integration of a functioning kitchen.

"We have a vision for the tavern, and we want to make it look very much like what you would expect to see in a role-playing game site," Tyla added.

"We want people to know they're somewhere special when they step into our tavern."

Currently, Red October Games is open from Wednesday to Sunday, with plans underway for the store to expand opening times to seven days a week in the coming months. 

The store and café already have events planned across multiple games, including Warhammer, Horus Heresy, and Disney Lorcana. Magic: The Gathering, Pokémon, and Yu-Gi-Oh! events are expected to follow in the distant future.

Follow Red October Games' Facebook page for any updates.