Launching at the existing Mr Fogg’s City Tavern near Liverpool Street this spring, it will be located on the lower ground floor of the 5,000sq ft venue, and feature six gaming booths created in the signature Mr Fogg’s style.
Guests will be able to book a booth that accommodates up to eight players, who can compete in six different games over an 80-minute session described as an ‘Olympic-style pentathlon’ for pub games.
Games take inspiration from darts, mini golf, parlour quoits, beer pong, shuffle puck, and bagatelle, blending the familiar formats with a Victorian-style Mr Fogg’s twist.
The concept is the result of two years of testing by Inception Group, which also operates bar brands Cahoots, Control Room B, Bunga 90, and Maggie’s, and Barts.
“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,” says Inception Group co-founder Charlie Gilkes.
“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”.