96 December 2017
What unique challenges does a bus have for
storing so many games?
Space is possibly the biggest issue we face on
the bus. However, our friendly neighbourhood
carpenter has knocked up lots of ingenious
shelving to ensure we have over 400 games- and counting – stashed on board! he next
plan is to build some storage in-between the
seats on the top deck, so watch this space...
Do you have any plans to expand beyond the
bus in the future?
Cakes & Ladders would love to ind a more
permanent home some point soon. We have
already expanded, albeit temporarily, to our
pop-up Christmas board game shop just next
door to the bus itself.
he site is only secured for the next three
years, so come 2020 we will be looking
for pastures new, and very open to any
opportunities that might come our way!Do you run any events for gamers in your
local area?
We run an open play evening every Monday
from 6pm, where people can come and play
with a group if they don’t have regular people
to play with – we try and match everyone up
with a group and a game on the day.
We have also run several successful RPG
evenings, with Kristian our resident
roleplaying expert overseeing an outdoor
game of Dread with a giant Jenga tower.
We had our introduction to Dungeons &
Dragons event before Christmas, which
proved really popular.What’s the origins story of Cakes & Ladders?
Inspired by their passion for board gaming
culture and the ability of games to bring
people together, Ruth and Hywel began
working on their dream for their own
community board game cafe and social
enterprise in 2015. hey recognised the
growing demand for more community spaces
in North London and began to attend local
street markets and run pop-up board game
sessions in local cafés and bars.
Early in 2018 Hywel and Ruth decided to
leave their jobs to focus entirely on inding
the right premises for the café. hey soon met
Alex from Earth Ale, who was relocating his
microbrewery to Wood Green and about to
open a taproom on a double-decker bus in
Blue House Yard, Wood Green. Looking for
a café to run on the bus during the daytime
and surprisingly happy to house the ever-
increasing board game collection, Ruth and
Hywel decided to come on-board... excuse
the pun!Cakes & Ladders opened around a year ago. How
have your first 12 months been?
Hectic! At our launch party over the summer
we had a fully packed bus with everyone
enjoying games, cofee, cake and beers. he
sun was out, and we also had about 100 or so
people spilling out into the Blue House Yard –
the party went on until 2am if memory serves
correctly! Since then we’ve been working hard
building our menu, brand and board game
library, to ensure that people have the best
possible experience when they come on board.You’ve involved with the local community. Do
you mind telling us a bit more about that?
In Hywel’s work in the mental health sector,
he noticed a lack of activities based in the
local community, and also observed the
power of board games to bring people
together, so decided to combine the the two
to create Board Games for Wellbeing. Every
Tuesday afternoon from 2 to 4pm we run
a free drop-in Board Games for Wellbeing
session, aimed at people using local health
and social care services, and basically anyone
in the community who would like to get out
more, meet new people or learn some fun
new games!
We work in partnership with Mind in
Haringey, as well as being members of the
local dementia alliance and Tempo Time
Credits, which allows people to turn their
volunteering time into credits to spend on
diferent experiences, including playing board
games on our bus.What are you especially looking forward to
bringing to the bus in 2019?
We have some exciting Kickstarters arriving in
2019, such as Kitty Cataclysm, Seize the
Bean, Fire in the Library and Welcome to
Dino World. We also hope to be adding some
new releases including Forbidden Sky, Root,
Dinosaur Island and Cavern Tavern – once we
can ind them in stock!What else do you have planned for Cakes &
Ladders in the future?
Having got the basics under control, we’re
really looking forward to developing the
business in 2019, through events, an online
board game shop and plenty more besides!We get on board with the one-of-a-kind London board
game café that calls a double-decker bus its home
Interview by Matt Jarvis | Pictures by Ben Broomfield PhotographySHOP SPOTLIGHT
CAKES & LADDERS
WHERE CAN I FIND IT?
The Bus Café, Blue House Yard, 5
River Park Road, London, N22 7TB
07963 359 734 or 07817 163 825
cakesandladders.co.uk96 February 2019 tabletopgaming.co.uk