As the students return and the new academic year comes around once more, there's plenty of new bars with cosy corners to meet your mates for a good old catch up.
But how many of them allow you to lose yourself for hours playing different games?
Board games are the original ice breakers and Christmas classics for good reason - they get everyone involved and no matter your age or ability, there's always something suitable.
And now there's space in Leeds combining the best of board games and bars together.
Opening from Monday 18 September, Beyond Board will be open to everyone: students and non-students alike (and is perfect for taking the kids over too - it's completely child-friendly), over at The Hive, inside Leeds Beckett Student Union.
The game selection on offer is going to be vast - you'll find everything from Cranium and Connect 4 to Mysterium, a ghost-murder-mystery game, and Sushi Go Party!, a game that involves creating 'a party platter of mega maki, super sashimi, and endless edamame'.
Best of all, it's not going to break the bank either.
It's just £2.50 per person, per hour for students and £4 for non-students to rent a game or you can take on a Beyond Board membership for £15 a month for unlimited game time.
You'll also be able to bring your own snacks into The Hive, although food is available from the bar.
In a world where you'll struggle to get a pint for under a fiver and a day out seems to cost more than ever before, it's great to see a new spot open with budget-conscious Loiners in mind.
The full list of games currently set to be available at Beyond Board include:
7 Wonders Duel
A Game of Life
Agricola
Anomia
Ark Nova
Arkham Horror: The Card Game
Articulate
Bananagrams!
Battleship
Betrayal at house on the hill
Blokus
Blood Rage
Boggle
Brass: Birmingham
Carrom
Cascadia
Catan
Chess / Backgammon / Draughts
Chinese Checkers
City Skyline: Thames and Kosmos
Cluedo
Codenames: Duet
Connect 4
Corks
Cranium
Dobble
Dominos
Dune: Imperium
Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of Ashardalon
Exploding Kittens: Good vs Evil
Game For Fame
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the lion
Guess Who
Jigsaws (different options with 250 pieces)
Jaipur
Jenga
Kerplunk
Kluster
Ludo / Pachisi
Mahjong
Macala (Ayo / Oware / Kalah)
Monopoly
Mysterium
Pandemic
Payday
Project L
Ring Toss
Risk
Root: A Game of Woodland Might & Right
Rummikub
Scrabble
Scythe
Shut The Box
Slingshot Hockey
Small World, World of Warcraft
Snakes and Ladders
Splendor
Splendor Duel
Star Wars: Rebellion
Subbuteo Champions: League Edition
Super Hazard Quest
Sushi Go Party!
Taboo
Terraforming Mars
The Chase
The Witcher: Old World
Trivial Pursuit
Undaunted: Normandy
Uno
Unstable Unicorn
War of the Ring
Wavelength
Wingspan
Xiangqi Chinese Chess
Beyond Board said: "We wanted to create a space that really embraced board games.... not just by being a bar and having the odd dusty game of Monopoly or Jenga pulled off a shelf (don't get me wrong, we'll have plenty of classics too)... but we wanted to have the latest and greatest board games that are coming to market... in an extensive list that will only ever grow, as customers can use our site to recommend more games to us that we can add to the collection."
Some of the games available at Beyond Board. / Image: Supplied
The Wombats aren’t just still going strong - they’re getting better. And honestly? Long may they reign.
The Wombats absolutely tore the roof off the First Direct Arena in Leeds last night, Wednesday 26 March and what a night it was.
From the second they hit the stage it wasn’t just a gig, it was a full-blown indie-pop spectacle, packed with infectious energy, nostalgia, and a whole lot of dancing.
They kicked things off with “Moving to New York,” and honestly? The crowd was in from the first note.
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Matthew Murphy’s unmistakable vocals rang through the arena and suddenly, thousands of people were screaming every lyric like it was 2007 all over again. It was one of those moments where you could just feel how much this band still means to people.
Despite the massive venue, The Wombats somehow made it feel intimate. The lights? Pure chaos in the best way - vibrant, colourful, and totally in sync with the band’s wild, bouncy sound.
Murphy’s cheeky banter between songs made it feel less like a polished arena show and more like a jam session with a few thousand of your closest mates.
Setlist-wise, they nailed it. “Let’s Dance to Joy Division” and “Greek Tragedy” had the whole place losing it, while the stripped-down version of “Techno Fan” gave everyone a minute to breathe (and maybe get a little emotional).
Image: The Hoot Leeds
Those quieter moments just made the high-energy choruses hit even harder. It was a rollercoaster - in the best way possible.
Then came the encore. If you thought the crowd was loud before, “Kill the Director” took things to another level. Pure, chaotic indie bliss. The kind of moment you don’t want to end.
Here’s the thing about The Wombats: some might say their older songs hit harder than their newer stuff, but is that just nostalgia talking? Or maybe it’s a generational thing?
Either way, they proved they’re still one of the most exciting live bands out there. They’ve still got the hooks, the humour, and the ability to turn a massive arena into a sweaty, euphoric singalong.
Get Baked’s viral ‘Bertha’ cake has a sister on the way – and she sounds just as cheeky
Danny Jones
She's big, she's green and she's ready to ruin your figure.
A lot of you will have seen the viral ‘Bertha’ cake by Leeds born beloved sweet treat specialists Get Baked.
They recently opened another site in Manchester's Northern Quarter, where queues literally formed round the block of hungry punters wanting to get their hands on the infamous sugary treats.
And now it's going to happen all over again, as they've recently unveiled their newest flavour which is sure to go down a storm.
We’ll give you a hint: it’s a current food and drink trend that’s about as big as Bertha herself – it’s not matcha, it’s not hot honey (duh), and it’s not Guinness…
Images: Get Baked
Yes—scratch that; HELL YES!Get Baked is set to welcome Bertha’s equally beautiful twin sister, and she’s officially a pistachio girlie.
Having started out life simply as ‘Bruce’, after taking inspiration from the iconic scene from Matilda, this thing has become a phenomenon in its own right, and who doesn’t like more flavours of a good thing?
Probably one of the biggest foodie crazes going at the minute, thanks to the popularity of pistachio cream, cookies, lattes and the similar social media sensation that is the ‘Dubai Pistachio Bar' people are rather fittingly going nuts for this particular flavour of almost absolutely anything.
With that in mind, the Leeds-born bakery and dessert shop – founded by Rich Myers over in Headingley back in 2011 – have shown no hesitation in hopping on the bandwagon and creating a new twist on their own viral menu item.
Teasing the full details in a post on their Instagram this week, they wrote: “What’s big, green, and is going to destroy your life in a couple of weeks’ time? Pistachio Bertha. Strictly limited to 5,000 slices. Coming oh so soon. GB.”
In case you were wondering just how mad those with a sweet tooth could possibly go for a slice of cake, just look at the recent queues when they finally launched in Manchester city centre:
Speaking on the grand opening here on our turf and his partner Amy’s hometown, Myers said simply: “Manchester, what a launch. Thanks for much for the warm welcome. Stay baked.”
Sophie Smith -
13th September 2023 
