Cards or Die: ‘I own more than 600 board games and take them to weddings’

Eight years ago, Ann had been working as a teacher but was looking for an “alternative” career.

Ann, now 50, wanted to pursue her love of board games now her children are older. That’s when she set up Cards or Die - a pop-up board game cafe – which Ann travels around with to events.

She hosts regular pop-ups at community centres, in a specialist school, festivals, and her most popular engagement appears to be attending weddings.

She said: "I set up when games cafes were popping up. I travel all over for weddings.”

Ann, lives in Horsforth, Leeds, has taken her board games to various weddings. She has travelled as far as Manchester, Wolverhampton, and Oxford.

Ann said: “It’s just a good way of getting people together. Since the lockdown, there's a big desire to connect to people.”

Ann meets the couple before they get married and finds out what kind of games they enjoy and recommends a range of them to fit in with their day.

Ann’s collection of over 600 games includes various retro and modern games.

She said: “There's something for everyone. There are team games, strategy games, and bluff games.

“Board games are perfect for weddings where guests are disparate and the only common denominator is that they know the bride or groom.”

Ann said the games people choose to play say a lot about a person's mood and who they are with.

She said: “Siblings tend to be viciously competitive and mess each other up.”

Ann said wedding guests who don’t know each other tend to opt for team building or cooperative challenges.

She added: “They don’t want to show their true colours.

“Escape from Atlantis from 1986 is my favourite. I loved it because it was mine specifically.

“It was the first game I got as a child - that's unusual.”

Players have to save themselves and sometimes each other from sinking islands, but sometimes “brutal” monsters appear,” explained Ann.

She believes the fact that board games are tactile means you’re having an experience with someone.

Ann said: “They transcend generations. You can come as you really are.”

After working as a teacher for 17 years, Ann understands the power of play.

She added: “If I can switch 30 Year 9s to Shakespeare on a rainy Friday afternoon in Barnsley, I can do pretty much anything.”