About Us

We are Secret Solstice Games.

Our mission is to provide space, resources, and community for creatives and game-players in Edinburgh.

Hi! Welcome to Secret Solstice Games.

Founded in 2023 by three nerds who wanted to create a space to gather all their friends and like-minded people together to make hang out, make cool stuff, and play some games. There are three main ways that we have set out to accomplish this:

Space

Our site by The Shore in Leith is where the magic happens. We have built a safe, inclusive space that is welcome to all as a board game café, and also a workplace, a meet-up spot, a venue to perform, run workshops, play games, hold meetings, or just to sit quietly with your thoughts.

We serve up great coffee (and other snacks and beverages), we’ve got a huge collection of games to play, and we’re also super friendly, and happy to meet new people!

Sign up to our mailing list to hear more about the development of the space!

You can check out our accessibility, on Euan’s Guide. We’ll be working to improve this continually.

Resources

Our café is stocked up with all you’ll need to fuel your work, and we’ve got plenty of games for a bit of healthy distraction.

We also want to be able to provide you with some tools and resources to help bring your vision to life. We currently have a 3D Printer, and a laser cutter available to hire in our space, as well as presentation materials, a projector, and plenty of other bits an pieces we’ve assembled. We’ll be adding to the tools and equipment we have over time based on suggestions and the needs of our community of creators!

Join our Discord to find out more!

Community

The most important thing we want to provide you is a community of like-minded people to work and play with.

At the heart of this endeavour is our Bounty Board. This should be the first place you go to look for someone with the skills you need to help you with your project. The Bounty Board is a place where any member of our community can ask for help, advertise their skills, post a job, list a project, or ask a question.

Think of it as the big glowing quest marker hovering over our heads, where you can make a connection with another member, or members of the community and go adventuring together.

The Bounty Board exists both as a physical notice board in the café, and on our Discord! Can’t wait to see you there!

Meet the Team!

Secret Solstice Games came out of the brains of three friends who knew they wanted to make something frickin cool, and that they were going to need help. What began as a half-baked idea rattling around in three separate domes, took its first steps towards reality with the opening of Case Closed, our award-winning escape room. We’ve come a long way since cobbling together the office of Max Sinclair in the dusty old attic of an axe-throwing venue, but we’ve kept that scrappy spirit and the values that underpin our work.

Since founding Secret Solstice Games in June 2023, we’ve taken on a lot (and we’ve a long way to go) but we couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve built together. Here’s to building much much more, with more hearts and more minds along for the journey.

  • Official spokesperson / Skeleton

    Kenneth has been with us ever since we took up residence in our venue. He was left here by a forgetful necromancer, and has been an invaluable member of the team ever since. Kenneth loves you.

    Likes:

    • Darkness

    • Dice

    • Hugs

    Dislikes:

    • Ghosts

    • Bullies

    • Eyelashes

A man smiling while pouring a cup of coffee behind a bar

  • Director/ Captain of the High Seas

    Our game-designer-in-chief, Ronan is a veteran of the escape room scene, and one of the people at the forefront of changing what they can be.

    Likes:

    • Star Wars

    • Rum

    • A loud print

    Dislikes:

    • Frogs

    • Toads

    • Frogs

  • Director/ Time-travelling Cyborg

    If you’re ever in Secret Solstice Games or Case Closed and think to yourself ‘That looks nice!’ that was almost certainly Bliss. Another veteran escape room builder, she’s out here making dreams come true with nothing but Duct Tape and Mitre Fast.

    Likes:

    • Bad action movies

    • Trashy romance novels

    • Bruce Springsteen

    Dislikes:

    • Mornings

    • Coffee

    • The difficult position that puts her in

  • Director/ Former Eldritch Horror

    When Tom says the words, ‘How hard can it be?’ great and terrible things are sure to occur. A writer, game-maker, axe-thrower, and sometimes website-builder, they’ll have a bash at just about anything. Results may vary.

    Likes:

    • Scary Stories

    • Swimming

    • Dressing up

    Dislikes:

    • Running

    • Slugs

    • Tories

  • Experience Designer/ God’s Favourite Cryptid

    Every evil corporation needs a minion. Oran is ours. Our minion is a great sound designer, game maker, and has generally been critically helpful in everything we do. Our minion is better than yours.

    Likes:

    • Podcasts

    • Collecting shiny things

    • Pats on the head

    Dislikes:

    • Caterpillars

    • Parsnips

    • People who watch TikTok out loud on the bus

  • Experience Co-ordinator/ Interdimensional Detective

    Ray is the coolest person we know, and that’s why we hired them. We just lucked out that they also happen to be a fantastic artist, games master, and storyteller!

    Likes:

    • Brooding

    • Solving Mysteries

    • Walking away from explosions in slo-mo

    Dislikes

    • Live-action remakes

    • AI

    • That one unsolved case that keeps them lying awake in the dead of night. Nothing but the sound of traffic and the buzz of neon lights for company. It doesn’t make any damn sense. But that’s Midnight City for you.