SHOP SPOTLIGHT

Leigh and James are the owners of Distinct Gaming in Belper, Derbyshire. Offering friendly staff and fun conversation, its move to a new premises will now mean a bar and hot food too. We talk to Leigh about the FLGS

Can you tell us a little bit about how the store first got started?

I have always been a tabletop gaming fan. James has always been a PC gaming enthusiast. We would often discuss how nice it would be to host a place where people could form communities based around their hobbies and interests. We came up with the idea of opening somewhere up in April 2016. We moved into a small place to get us started, but a successful Kickstarter campaign got us off the ground, however, we soon outgrew it. Within a year we moved onto the main high street, and three years on we needed even more space. Now we are in a unit with scope for us to develop the food and drink side.

How have you found the gaming scene in the area?

We have a wide range of games that our communities love to play. We have regular roleplay sessions with resident GMs, and we harness an environment where every player is supported and helped with the game. The players are welcoming of new players and have really supported us, especially over this past year during lockdowns. Our players and communities are more like friends.

What do you think makes your store unique?

We constantly look for ways to bring new and exciting elements into store. We have top secret plans for the next 12 months that we can’t wait to begin to make tracks with. We have very welcoming personas ourselves and our enthusiasm for everything we host and play is always genuine, because at heart we love the games just as much as our communities do.

What titles have you found most popular recently?

Ongoing popular titles include Magic: The Gathering, Warhammer 40,000 and Bolt Action. We have also created a community of Rumbleslam players. It’s a fantasy wrestling miniatures game and so we have adopted our own Wrestling Talent Federation and we have a custom belt with PPV events each month and social media trash talking between players in character as their teams. It is an incredibly fun way to promote the game and it has captured everyone’s imagination.

What’s been your favourite part of running a FLGS?

Getting to meet the vast range of players, friends and contacts we have made. They are the people we are constantly grateful for. They are the heart and soul of the store and they make it the favourite part, by simply coming through the door and sharing their hobbies and interests with us. With James and I both also working in an SEN school, it allows a great outlet for us to be able to let our hair down by doing what we love, with the people who love doing it too.

We’ve seen your TikToks, can you tell us a little more about this?

This is the part where I have to take the blame for this, as it was my idea. It is also the part where my wife will always laugh at me. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to do some short one minute videos about the third lockdown progress and it kind of snowballed from there, but it introduced me to a whole new range of players, community members and potential future visitors. It has been fun to join in with some of the silly trends and it has been nice to highlight the things about the store that I am most proud of.

WHERE CAN I FIND IT?

Distinct Gaming,

The Old Telephone Exchange, Wellington Court, Belper, Derbyshire, DE56 1UP www.distinctgaming.co.uk www.facebook.com/distinctgamingshop TikTok: @distinctgamingbelper