Family Run Family Fun
We're a local family with big dreams and big hearts, wanting to share our love of video games, board games, and good food with our community.
Our Story
The Story of Game Lobby begins with Tash and James deciding that upon Tash's return to work after being a stay at home parent, they wanted to open a business that has laser tag and hosted kids birthday parties. Knowing that the local area was not big enough for two entertainment venues, they ended up joining forces with the owners of the local gaming arcade "XSite Gaming" to create one larger venue that would host a bit of everything, and ease the stress on both families by sharing the work required to run a business. Arcades, laser tag, virtual reality, a café, board games, table top gaming, and parties of all kinds!
There were quite a few hiccups and difficulties along the way, the most significant of which, was the Covid-19 epidemic. Two weeks before Game Lobby's grand opening, nation wide lockdowns went into effect, and all our final installations and system tests were put on hold. We were devastated, but we did what we could to make sure the shop was ready to go as soon as the lockdown ended and we would be allowed to open. Months later, on the 4th of July 2020, we finally had our grand opening! It was a fantastic day, and the weeks and months that followed were just as good. Our local community showed us so much love and support. Without our community, our business would not have lasted long, as unfortunately, being a new business meant we were ineligible for any government grants for businesses affected by the lockdown at the beginning of the epidemic. Our first couple of years were a bit scary, with a few more smaller outbreaks and smaller lockdowns, and the knowledge that pretty much everyone was struggling financially now, so families were going out less. There was a constant nagging fear that the epidemic would cost us our business before we really had a chance to operate without restrictions, build it up, and see what it was capable of.
Fast forward to today, and we are very proud to say that we are still here! Still trying to grow and improve our shop and ourselves.
We've had some changes to management along the way, as the former owners of X-Site have left the company to focus on their families and new career paths. We've also said some sad goodbyes to staff (though they still come in to hang out and play games), gained new staff, and we have even started training some of our own teens who are eager to help out and gain some paid work experience. Throughout all of these changes we have made sure that our company's values have been upheld, and that our staff have always made customers feel welcome and safe. We pride ourselves on putting in that little bit of extra effort with each group, party, family or individual, to make their experience memorable instead of being another "laser tag vending machine" type venue.
What does the future hold for us? We would love to become successful enough to open more stores one day! But honestly, we're not really sure what our future holds. We can say with certainty though, that we will continue to grow as business owners and push ourselves to learn more skills and form more bonds with our surrounding community, with the goal of helping our business to bloom into the best it can be!
We have been so lucky to be surrounded by such a wonderful and supportive local community, and visited by so many friendly faces who have passed through on their travels, and we hope that everyone who comes to our store can feel the love and passion that we pour into this place.
Meet The Team
James
Owner/Manager
Interests:
Plants. Sci-fi, Pokémon, fixing things.
Favourite Video Games:
Portal, Portal 2, Portal Reloaded, Ark, Horizon Zero Dawn, Fortnite.
Favourite Game at Game Lobby:
Pistol Whip on VR.
Favourite meal at Game Lobby:
Any of the wraps, or the BBQ chicken & bacon pizza with added jalapenos. Omnomnom.
Favourite part of working at Game Lobby:
Hearing happy laughter from the customers having a great time. Teaching someone a board game and having them love it so much they buy one straight away.
Tash
Owner/Manager
Interests:
Sci-fi, fantasy, and horror movies/TV shows, craft hobby hopping, pinning butterflies and moths, video games, true crime podcasts.
Favourite Video Games:
Mass Effect, The Witcher, Tomb Raider, Borderlands, Ark, plus all kinds of puzzle games, detective games, and Survival games.
Favourite Game at Game Lobby:
Fortnite, and the board games.
Favourite meal at Game Lobby:
Chicken schnitzel with gravy, or the Tank.
Favourite part of working at Game Lobby:
Seeing parents and children bonding while gaming together. Parents get to show their kids some of their favourite games from their childhoods, and kids get to show their parents some new games that the parents have never played before.
Toby
Laser Tag Host/Service Staff
Interests:
Fantasy tabletop games, fantasy writing, roller derby, guitar.
Favourite Video Games:
Mortal Combat, The Witcher 3, Enter the Gungeon, Minecraft, Subnautica and Cs:Go.
Favourite Game at Game Lobby:
Dungeons and dragons.
Favourite meal at Game Lobby:
The classic beef burger.
Favourite part of working at Game Lobby:
Meeting all the people from the wide varieties of super fun and friendly gaming communities that come through game lobby each week!
Lachlan
Laser Tag League Coach/Service Staff
Interests:
Laser tag, Axe throwing, Anime, Basketball Officiating & Motorsport
Favourite Video Games:
Hunt: Showdown, AC Valhalla, Rocket League, Forza Horizon Series
Favourite Game at Game Lobby:
Dance Dance Revolution & Guitar Hero
Favourite meal at Game Lobby:
Healer! But the fisherman's basket is to die for.
Favourite part of working at Game Lobby:
The family like community that is Game Lobby, the vibe and colour of the shop and pumping people up for casual games of laser tag!
Jade
Service Staff/Kitchen Aid
Interests:
Drawing, exploring, nature, music, writing, and video games.
Favourite Video Games:
The Last of Us part 1 and 2, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.
Favourite Game at Game Lobby:
The Last of Us part 1.
Favourite meal at Game Lobby:
Chicken Parmigiana.
Favourite part of working at Game Lobby:
I really enjoy working in the kitchen and helping to prep plates and meals (I can cook an awesome cheeseburger!), and serving food to customers so I can see their happy faces when it's placed in front of them.
Ellie
Service Staff/Kitchen Aid
Interests:
art, and cooking.
Favourite Video Games:
Gang Beasts.
Favourite Game at Game Lobby:
Dance Dance Revolution.
Favourite meal at Game Lobby:
Crispy chicken wrap.
Favourite part of working at Game Lobby:
Making delicious milkshakes (especially if I get to make up new themed ones) and serving people at the counter.
Sheryl
Service Staff/Kitchen Aid
Interests:
Hanging out with Tash and my grand-kids.
Sci-Fi, The Supernatural, painting, GoT, The Witcher.
Favourite Video Games:
I'm old fashioned - Donkey Kong, Frogger, and Asteroids.
Favourite Game at Game Lobby:
Buck Hunter.
Favourite meal at Game Lobby:
Loaded Fries.
Favourite part of working at Game Lobby:
Meeting people, seeing them have fun.
Carmen
Quiz Assistant
Interests:
Favourite Video Games:
Favourite Game at Game Lobby:
Favourite meal at Game Lobby:
Favourite part of working at Game Lobby:
Dominic
Video Game Coach
Interests:
Watching YouTube videos about video games, Pokemon, kicking a football, roller skating, playing VR games.
Favourite Video Games:
Clone Zone in the Dangerzone, Minecraft, Roblox.
Favourite Game at Game Lobby:
Anything in Virtual Reality.
Favourite meal at Game Lobby:
Pancakes, and the Deathstar.
Favourite part of working at Game Lobby:
I really like helping people by showing them the controls and how to play different games when they are stuck. It makes me happy to help other people.
Teams that we sponsor
Our Distributors and Gaming Service Providers
