GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — Bars, restaurants, sporting events. Almost everything is either canceled or heavily restricted at this point in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. But some businesses are adapting to the crisis.
On almost any other afternoon at any of the three Gnome Games Locations in Green Bay or Appleton you’d see people playing games for hours on end–but with the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak, that’s had to change.
“We’ve shut down all of our social play areas, we’ve pulled the [game] libraries,” said Owner Patrick Fuge. “There’s no way to control who is there and when they’re there so it’s best to have everybody play at home.”
They’ve started a game delivery service. They’re calling it “Gnome Home Delivery”, and it’s easy enough to take advantage of.
“Our customers can contact us by phone or on our Facebook page and they can say ‘hey, bring me these games or these puzzles’,” Fuge said. “And we will deliver those to them anywhere within a reasonable distance.”
Right now, they’re going as far out as Shawano with their delivery routes. There is a charge for delivery.
Fuge has, so far, been doing the deliveries himself–often the same day they’re placed.
Popular options so far have been puzzles, escape-style games for quick diversion, and tabletop miniature games, such as Warhammer, that combine modeling, painting and gameplay.
“It’s easy [for parents] to say ‘go get on the laptop, go get on the tablet and play Fortnite for 73 hours’,” Fuge told WTAQ. “We want the ability to give parents a good, high quality experience at the table that is engaging with all the people in the household.”
Delivery at Gnome Games may continue even past the outbreak if it proves to be a popular option.
So if you find yourself staying at home a lot, at least a game of Risk, Monopoly, or Settlers of Catan is just a phone call, or a click, away.
