‘Game Over’ Creators Launching Kickstarter Campaign to Create Full Gaming Bar

Photo via GameOver.com

Scott Trano and his friends have been hosting a game night at a Boston bar once a week for almost a year, and in that time, the meetup has attracted hundreds of people regularly to play video, board, and card games at the spot deemed “the best nerd gathering of 2013.”

Now, due to it’s rapid, growing success, Trano says the group is ready to take his “experiment” to the next level by launching a Kickstarter project to fund a massive gaming bar in the Somerville or Cambridge area, giving the weekly night a home of its own.

Trano, cofounder of Game Over Boston, which has been taking place at the Good Life Bar every Tuesday night since September 2012, says his team has been working for the past 16 months on a concept to turn the weekly event into a permanent fixture. The brains behind Game Over’s original meetup even went as far as creating a video showing off design plans for their new establishment after working extensively with local contractors.

Within the next few weeks, Trano says the group will put the idea to open a bar, named after their current game night, out to the public in order to secure some cash for its eventual opening. “It’s a concept for a whole separate bar,” says Trano, adding that they have found a few spaces they are interested in, but still not “the perfect space.”

“We already have so many of the big-ticket items in our possession. We have arcade cabinets, and pinball machines … we have all the huge stuff and proof of concept, so hopefully people will realize we are legit with a great team behind us. We aren’t coming to the table hat in hand … we have 30 percent of the main [necessities] and are ready to go. We just need to find and renovate a place.”

Unlike the concept of Barcades, a company that recently expressed interest in getting wired into the Boston bar scene, Trano’s idea incorporates modern day video games as well, along with interactive card and board games. “Our concept would have booths where you could play games while waiting for food. We are going to have every console available. [Nintendo], Playstation 1, Playstation 2, and Sega Genesis.”

Trano says they will have both a food and drink menu, as well as a “console menu” where visitors could order which gaming system they would like to use and a waiter would bring it directly to the table. By simply plugging the system into a television housed inside the booth, gamers could play while waiting for their meal to arrive. He says customers would also have the option of playing board games while sitting at those tables.

Game Over, upon completion, will feature 50 to 75 classic video game arcade cabinets, pinball machines and a 16-computer land center, much like a cybercafé. Add to that a designated lounge and board game area with couches and chairs, which Trano hopes will create the ultimate gaming hub for varying interests. “Other places have only been doing smaller aspects of what we want to do. We want to go a little a further, and do really well with everything,” he says.

Based on estimates, Game Over founders are looking to raise close to $500,000 once they launch their Kickstarter campaign in late April or early May. Trano hopes to create a lounge for up to 400 gamers in a 6,000 to 10,000 square-foot space. “We have some time to find a place, still. And after the Kickstarter becomes popular—God willing it does—I think there will be a lot more people talking about funding this idea.”

Below is a video that outlines the basic concept design for Game Over: