The Merchant’s Guild by Session 0 wants to be the Heart of Gaming in Glasgow

The Merchant’s Guild by Session 0 is the biggest nerdgasm I’ve ever had in Glasgow – except for that one time I accidentally walked into Anime Con at the DoubleTree. Imagine your favorite pub’s board game night, but it’s happening all week long. Then take that pub and add Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer 40k, Magic: The Gathering, and throw in a whole Super Smash Bros. tournament for good measure. Now you might start to get a good picture of The Merchant’s Guild. But this friendly gaming locale is only just beginning to emerge from the dark and deplorable history that preceded it.

Quinn Westwater, co-owner of The Merchant’s Guild, quit managing Geek Retreat for ethical reasons. It was the last gaming hub in Glasgow until it allegedly became a hotbed of racist and anti-LGBTQ+ behavior. A manager at Geek Retreat – not Quinn – had an alleged reputation for treating staff like objects and laughing at people who tried to protest his behavior on social media. The corporate headquarters closed the Glasgow location after cutting the staff budget in half instead of firing their problematic manager. Complaints abound online. But despite all the horror, a quick reddit search reveals a glimmer of hope: ‘Honestly. Quinn was a legend managing the store. He was probably the only push back on head office and it shows.’ – crimson_ruin_princes

Unfortunately, gaming culture can sometimes be insular. Social interactions often happen online, and can allow the spread of toxic misogyny, abuse, and hate. But Quinn is committed to ending this environment for gaming. He is determined to build an inclusive and friendly space for gamers, and he actively works with charities to do so. The National Autistic Society has an event at The Merchant’s Guild every month, and Glasgow Association for Mental Health meets for some casual gaming once a week.

On any given day, this geeky paradise is working with any number of charity organisations to not just entertain, but support its community. The Merchant’s Guild is built in partnership with its other co-owner Gofur – I tried to get his last name but this is what he insisted I call him. He runs Geekszilla, a not-for-profit community enterprise created with the goal of making a more accessible space for tabletop gaming that lives inside The Merchant’s Guild. Their tiny but well stocked gift shop plays host to many local vendors including Sassenach Minis, who sell 3D printed miniatures and give 100% of their profits to Whizz Kidz, a charity that provides equipment for young wheelchair users. Gofur told me, ‘We want to be the heart of the community, not just the middle.’

Gofur has been a gamer since D&D was called Men & Magic. He worked for the NHS until he began a valiant battle with cancer. When he slew the foul beast that attempted to harm his body, he decided to step down from his position on the board of G3 Gamers to follow his dream of opening a gaming shop. That’s when he joined up with Quinn.

I went to The Merchant’s Guild on a cloudy Saturday afternoon to see what had risen from the ashes of Quinn’s previous venture. When I stepped in, the place had a warm feeling, furnished with wooden tables and lit by not-too-bright lights. There were bookshelves filled with every board game from Cluedo to Catan, and a small café area serving coffee and pastries. But I had arrived late. The gamers were already getting down to business. No less than three games of D&D were already on the go, with trading card games and esports in the basement. While some gaming spaces can have an austere, sterile feeling to them, this felt like stepping into your local.

Downstairs, three long tables were packed to the gills with nearly 30 people playing Magic: The Gathering. Down here, associations like Glasgow Wonders, a queer board gaming group, fill their halls every other week. And just recently, they hosted Critical Chance Collective, another not-for-profit organisation that ran a geeky quiz night and donated all their proceeds to charity.

Deeper in the dungeon, there was a room dedicated entirely to esports. A registered Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament was in full swing. Monitors lined the tables along the walls, with the big matches featured on a projector at the far end of the room. Around 10 to 15 people competed while officials ran around adjusting brackets and announcing results.

Quinn told me about many parts of the building that were still in development. ‘We’re still new,’ he said, ‘but the alcohol license is coming!’ The café area will soon be expanded to include a proper bar and kitchen that serves pub grub.

There’s one area still under construction where Quinn is going to build a private streaming room. He wants to attract gamers that might want to record an actual play or stream on Twitch. The plan is to have the room fully equipped with minis, streaming gear, and a table with a monitor in it just like the one on Dimension 20.

Also downstairs, there were surfaces with model terrain ready for games like Warhammer. Some game stores won’t let you use their tables until you’ve purchased and painted a full army. Not so at The Merchant’s Guild. ‘We’re here to facilitate what you want to do,’ says Gofur. Customers can rent Gofur’s workshop if they want to paint or assemble models using resources they might not have at home. There’s even a 3D printer. Players can design their own mini on a website like Hero Forge, print it out at The Merchant’s Guild, paint it in the workshop, and play with it all in the same day.

For Gofur, it’s all about the love of the game. ‘It’s something you can’t fake,’ he says, ‘If you know you’re not into it, they know you’re not into it.’ He showed me his workshop located in the basement. It was loaded with paints, brushes, modelling glue, and materials for creating realistic terrain, along with tons of already finished buildings and miniatures. ‘Kings of War is my game of choice,’ he said, referring to another wargame.

One thing is for certain, there is always something going on at The Merchant’s Guild. It’s determined to be a space for everyone, offering a mixture of free-to-play and rentable games that could take you from Faerun to Tatooine in a night.

You can follow The Merchant’s Guild on Facebook or Instagram @sessionzeroglasgow