What are the opening hours?

Monday 2pm - 10pm Tuesday 2pm - 10pm Wednesday 2pm - 10pm Thursday 2pm - 10pm Friday 2pm - 11pm Saturday 10am - 11pm Sunday 10am - 10pm

The Arcanist's Tavern: Board Game Café

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The Arcanist's Tavern: Board Game Café

Roll dice and uncover mysteries in a real fantasy tavern!

We are a queer-owned immersive tabletop gaming cafe located in Shoreditch, with custom tables for TTRPGs, Wargaming and a Board Game Library.

25/09/2026

We still have tickets available for our Halloween Vampire Ball! Here's what to expect when you join the immortal courts of Duskveil for an immersive evening of intrigue and indulgence...

For tickets and more info, visit: arcaniststavern.uk/events

19/09/2026

We are rounding off our October "Month of Horror" events with one last big new Addition:

"All Hallow’s Eve: A Vampire the Masquerade one shot"

Tickets live: 20/09/26 - 6pm

Run by our GM Ella

"How do you spring a trap? First, with bait. They say it is easiest to catch flies with honey.

I find that is true, even when your quarry has rather bloodier appetites…"

Vampire the Masquerade is a storytelling game of personal and political horror set in a world that looks like ours but with deep wells of darkness beneath.

Be a vampire. Fight for survival, power, and what remains of your humanity.

In this Halloween-flavoured one-shot, players take on the role of fledgling vampires who have each received a mysterious invitation to attend a Halloween party in a luxurious new nightclub gracing the city. It will certainly be a night to remember. The only question is, who will be left to remember it?

Designs by Tavernkeeper Georgia

Tickets as always through the link in our bio and on Design My Night 🖤

🎃

18/09/2026

!!New Month Of Horror Event Added!!

Moonlight On Roseville Beach: A Q***r game of Disco & Cosmic Horror!

Run by our GM Dave

Tickets live: 18/09/26 - 6pm

It’s hard to enjoy your gaycation when there’s…

A mystery to solve!
Q***r pulp meets cosmic horror! It's 1979, and you're spending the summer working in Roseville Beach, the most beautiful vacation town on
Rose Island.
You might have come here looking for an escape, some fun, a little extra money, or even love, but now panicked g**s speak of phantasms, twisted creatures—and strange old gods—wandering the island, what of these strange eldritch monoliths? Or that enchanting melody that plays just on the edge of earshot.

Clip on your carabiner and join us for a pulp cosmic mystery, this is…
Moonlight On Roseville Beach!

Tickets as always through the link in our bio or on Design My Night 🖤

Graphics by Tavernkeeper Georgia

17/09/2026

!! New Dates Added - A Particularly Peculiar Predicament!!

Tickets Live: 17/09/2026 - 6pm

Following a successful mission, a newly formed party kick back and enjoy a well earnt pint at a local tavern. However, they are soon pulled into a rather unusual emergency…

Embark on a new D&D multi session journey full of mystery and magic. Roll Dice, uncover secrets, fight powerful foes and make a few friends along the way!

Please note, this ticket is for a multi-part event running on the following dates:
Thursday 15/10 - 6:30PM
Thursday 22/10 - 6:30PM
Thursday 29/10 - 6:30pm

Your ticket will get you access to all sessions for the month.

Tickets available as usual through the link in pir bio and on Design My Night 🖤

16/09/2026

!!New Event Added: Monster Hunt: Reign of Iron !!

Tickets Live: 17/09/26 - 6pm

An ancient dragon has taken lair on the snow-capped peaks hanging over a mining town and begun pilfering the locals' supplies. The strange creature is unlike any dragon the townsfolk have ever seen! Adventurers are needed to ascend the treacherous mountain and confront the tyrant atop its icy throne.

Monster Hunt: Reign of Iron is a lvl 14 D&D adventure run by our GM Milan and taking place in two parts on the 20/10/26 and 27/10/26.

Expect: combat, role-play, and a bit of mystery.

Design by Tavernkeeper Georgia

Tickets as always through the link in our bio and on Design My Night 🖤

15/09/2026

!!New Month of Horror Event added!!

Mork Borg - A Night of Masks and Monsters

Tickets live : 15/09/26 - 6pm

You have the honour of an exclusive invitation to Volkenhard Manor to attend the annual secret Masquerade. The Lord of the Manor, Arturus Volkenhard promises a night of dancing, feasting and debauchery the likes of which few have seen. What will you find in the halls of Volkenhard Manor? What secrets lurk beneath? And once you enter, will you ever want to leave?

A night of Masks and Monsters will run on the 16/10/26 and is one of the first Mork Borg sessions we have ever run here at the Tavern!
it will be run by our GM Pip and it will be beginners friendly!

Artwork by Tavernkeeper Georgia

Tickets as always through the link in our bio and on Design My Night 🖤

14/09/2026

!!New Month of Horror Event: Vaesen - Horror in the Mythic North!!

Tickets live 15/09/26 - 6pm

“We heard the raucous laugher from inside as we approached the door,
almost the entire village must have been present, they drank, they sang, they
played cards, unaware of that unseen, monstrous force lingering above their
heads like a heavy guillotine"

Welcome to the Mythic North – northern Europe of the nineteenth century, but
not as we know it today. A land where the myths are real. A cold reach
covered by vast forests, its few cities lonely beacons of industry and
enlightenment – a new civilization dawning. But in the countryside, the old
ways still hold sway. There, people know what lurks in the dark.
They know to fear it.

This sessions will use the popular horror system Vaesen and will be run by our GM Dave.
Its a two part mini arc and sessions will be on Monday the 12th and Friday the 30th of October 2026

Tickets as always through the link in our bio or on Design My Night 🖤

13/09/2026

New "Month Of Horror" Event Added!!

Strahd must die tonight! - a ShadowDark Dungeon Crawl

Run by our GM Jamie

Tickets live: 14/09/26 - 6pm

Under raging stormclouds, a lone figure stands silhouetted against the ancient walls of castle Ravenloft. Count Strahd von Zarovich stares down a sheer cliff at the village below. A bitter, chill wind whistles through, billowing his cape in the darkness.

This is a double session (8h) of Shadowdark, an old-school D&D game taking place on the 11/10/2026 .
We will be playing through the 1983 classic adventure that introduced the legendary vampire Count Strahd Von Zarovich to the world.

Get into the Halloween mood early with a dungeon crawl around Strahd’s castle in search of legendary weapons to finally put an end to his reign of misery.
The session assumes no previous experience with Shadowdark; it will include a system introduction and optional character creation. Many mechanics will be familiar to 5e players (roll a d20 plus a modifier to beat a difficulty class). Extra characters will be on hand should anything terrible (almost certainly) happen to your character during the game.

Artwork by Tavernkeeper Georgia

Tickets as always through the link in our bio and on Design My Night 🖤

12/09/2026

!!New "Month Of Horror" Event Added: Mothership - the Wages of Sin V!!

Tickets live: 13/09/26 - 6pm

Run by our GM Jamie

You are part of a rag-tag group of bounty hunters, based out of the notorious criminal haven of Prospero’s Dream.

Whilst on your way back from a simple smuggling job, you receive a distress signal: MAYDAY - EXCAVATION TEAM COMPROMISED IN CAERODOR SECTOR - DISPATCH RESCUE - MAYDAY!

This is a pair of linked games of Mothership; a retro-futuristic sci-fi horror game (think Alien and Aliens) taking place on the 8h and 22th of October . No prior knowledge of the game is required to play and it’s quick to pick up; d100 roll-under, with a small number of stats and skills. The main thing required is a willingness to throw yourself into an 80s horror movie!

PLEASE NOTE: Your ticket will get you access to both sessions, as these are meant to be experienced together.

Artwork by Tavernkeeper Georgia

Tickets as always through the link in our bio and on Design my Night 🖤

11/09/2026

!!New Tickets Love now for 10 Candles- a Tragic Horror TTRPG!!

Run by our GM Gilli

10 Candles is a Tragic Horror TTRPG, where everyone dies at the end of the game.
You and your fellow players will role play as your characters, and together you will tell the story of how you gave everything to try and survive.

Ten days ago, the world went dark.

It crept in quietly while you slept, blissfully unaware that anything was even wrong. Until you woke up, and the sun hadn’t risen, and never would again.
Now there’s…nothing. No stars. No moon. Even the satellites went down.
Just an endless dark.

Then They came.

Each game of 10 Candles will have a different, horrible, high stakes setting and goal.
The GM will teach you the rules of the game, guide you through creating your character at the table, and then you’ll dive head first into telling the story, deciding where you end up, how you get there, and what difficulties you’ll face along the way, until the last candle goes out and the darkness takes you.

Artwork by Tavernkeeper Georgia

Tickets as always through the link in our bio or on Design My Night 🖤

Address

87-91 Hackney Road
London
E28FE

Opening Hours

Monday	2pm - 10pm
Tuesday	2pm - 10pm
Wednesday	2pm - 10pm
Thursday	2pm - 10pm
Friday	2pm - 11pm
Saturday	10am - 11pm
Sunday	10am - 10pm

Website

http://arcaniststavern.uk/

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