Game plan Gaming lounge shows no sign of slowing down after successful opening months
Hot off the heels of private events for Sobeys and the Mi’kmaq confederacy, Levels Game Loft in Truro is looking forward to big things still to come.
The lounge charges by the hour for access to a variety of games that can be played on state-ofthe- art consoles and gaming computers, complete with 4K TVS and audio headsets.
“We’re servicing everyone; whole families come in and try the games, not just the kids,” said co-owner and manager Derek White.
Since opening in December 2017, the lounge has seen more than 1,150 unique users come in and play.
“Our demographic really is from four to 75; we’ll have parents who come in to let kids play and the dad will end up playing Forza racing and the mom is playing virtual reality,” said White.
The lounge is also setting its sights on the competitive side of gaming, having already hosted tournaments for a variety of games like Call of Duty and Super Smash Bros.
“Next up for us is an Overwatch tournament on May 5, and eventually we’re going to be looking into having competitive leagues for games,” said Christine White, co- owner and administrative manager.
Derek White also teased a potential special tournament this summer.
“It’s going to be a lot bigger, it’ll be held somewhere much bigger than this and we’re going to live stream it back to the lounge for people to watch, but that’s all I can say for now,” he disclosed.
The lounge also plans to expand outside of the gaming realm with a coding course planned for this summer. The course will be taught by a second-year NSCC student and will introduce students to the basics of coding.
“The course will be in depth and the teacher is great,” said Derek. “Kids really thrive on that stuff.”
Kids have already taken notice of the lounge, as well, with the younger crowd making up a large
portion of their regulars.
“They come around the block during lunch at school and play for an hour,” said Christine.
Levels also features a weekly Dungeons and Dragons night, hosted by a staff member and the business recently hosted a weeklong day camp over March Break.
“We’re trying to encourage the staff to put on these kinds of events, since we’ve opened it’s been a learning experience and it’s really a team effort,” Christine said.