Luxury Game Studios & Pro-DMs in Singapore! (Anywhere else?)

[Cadence]

Reading Chapter 18 by Kellynn Wee in "Fifty Years of Dungeons & Dragons, collection of essays published by MIT Press" and came across the following about gaming in Singapore:

"In the 2020s, a new wave of specialized studios [...] rose to popularity in the play scene [...]. Unlike previous shops, which were primarily retail spaces that occasionally hosted community games, these studios market themselves as offering the D&D experience as the primary part of their operations. They differentiate themselves in two ways: first, with the material constitution of their studios, which offer state-of-the-art lighting, sound and furniture to facilitate play, as well as an enormous range of miniatures, battle terrain, and game books for players to use as part of the game experience; and second, with the gameplay style, which promises a focus on the narrative experience over all else as delivered by professional GMs. [...].

The cost of a game has risen sharply alongside the promised elevation of the _D&D _ experience; a player can now expect to pay an average of SGD $25-$35 per person for a game lasting three to four hours, and up to $50-$70 for games that require extensive preparation." (pg. 290)

Any of you in other places have anything like this? Would you use it if so?

Earlier she wrote: "[M]any of the newer players I have encountered in play communities here mention the widely acclaimed actual-play show Critical Role [...]" (pg. 288)

Also, googling around, a Singapore dollar was worth between 0.70 and 0.76 USD since 2021 when the chapter was written. In terms of cost of living (in USD) it looks like the US average is around 20% lower overall. After adjusting for everything, does that put this in the ballpark of an escape room?

 

[Umbran]

After adjusting for everything, does that put this in the ballpark of an escape room?

In Boston, an escape room will run you $40-$50 (USD) per person for a one-hour event. So, escape rooms here are much more expensive than what you are talking about.

While I might pay that cafe price for a game if a friend had said that they wanted to do it as a special occasion, for a birthday or something. But most of the time I prefer campaign play, and I'm not going to shell out that kind of money repeatedly for an experience I can mostly get at home for next to nothing.

 

[Cadence]

In Boston, an escape room will run you $40-$50 (USD) per person for a one-hour event. So, escape rooms here are much more expensive than what you are talking about.

While I might pay that cafe price for a game if a friend had said that they wanted to do it as a special occasion, for a birthday or something. But most of the time I prefer campaign play, and I'm not going to shell out that kind of money repeatedly for an experience I can mostly get at home for next to nothing.

They mention that for some, multiple session games are popular, but they don't give an idea of what percent of the business those frequent users make up.

The big selling point sounds like the "actual play production values" (I assume like Critical Roll), and it will be interesting to see how much staying power it has.

 

[Blue]

A friend of mine ran something very close to this in the US, but it closed with the pandemic. He had previously been an a FLGS owner for a number of years with gaming space but the store wasn't working financially. Competing with Amazon was big part of it.

He got to "undesirable" retail space - the street front property was a business, but it sloped down in the back and there was a lower level accessible from the parking lot. He started up a paid D&D club called N&N Adventuring Company. Adventurer's League even did an article on them, but their website is down. It was two rooms, with room for three games. (The larger room had sound-baffling dividers.) Wals full of books, minis, and various geek paraphernalia. A seat to play was $7 USD, DM's played free and got a ticket to play at some other time. He ran Adventurer's League, but also a store-wide shared world with a meta-plot and the ability to run with any of the DMs doing it with the same character. Organized so all the tables always had DMs on the days they were open so you could just go and join a game.

They sold various snacks and beverages at a flat $1 each - it was more to keep them stocked then a money maker, plus you were allowed to bring in/order food.