Meet Gabrielle Mann | Owner of Golden Game Guild

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gabrielle Mann and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gabrielle, how do you think about risk?
It’s no secret that I am not a very risk averse person. I have always had big dreams, so has my husband, Ryun. After college, the two of us moved to Manhattan with hardly any money, no jobs, but a ton of drive. That was a small risk. In comparison, we moved back to Colorado (during COVID), and a couple of years later, opened a game store. Bigger risk for sure. A life-long commitment. Just a few months later we got married. Without risk, we would never be where we are today. All of the things I am proud of having accomplished, all had an element of risk.

What should our readers know about your business?
Golden Game Guild is a board game library and cafe in downtown Golden, Colorado. We house a game-play library of over 600 games, a retail selection of games and accessories, and a craft beer bar with a ton of local options. We also host events! We have everything from “Teach Me to Play…” nights where we select a different game every week to teach to our gaming community, to Magic: the Gathering events throughout the week, and even after-school Dungeons and Dragons programs. We are a community driven space first and foremost. We built The Guild in the hopes to create a comfortable, fun place for people to interact with one another through games, and forget about the outside world for a little bit. It has honestly turned into something greater than I could’ve have ever imagined. We have such a beautiful community that has grown over the past two years, here at The Guild. So many friendships formed, families growing, it’s just so amazing to feel like we’re a part of something greater than ourselves. It wasn’t easy to get where we are. There were a lot of scary times, of course. We had a lot of stuff we had to figure out by trial and error, but we also had a little bit of luck, and a whole heck of a lot of support.
I think our story is just beginning. I think every time someone visits us, even if it is just to chat with us at the counter, or to pick up a party game for their brewery visit later, or to check out what D&D campaigns we have going on for the evening, the heart of what The Guild is grows a little bit more with each and every person who comes in our doors.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
First- I would take them to Generous Coffee for a Haitian Latte. They have such a good selection of beverages and are always switchin’ it up with cool new seasonal stuff. Local places we would have to make stops at for sure would be Golden City Brewery (such a cool local spot), our Golden Game Guild (such a good mid day stop, especially if you’ve been doing stuff outside and need a break from the heat of the day), hike up South Table Mountain (it’s a relatively easy and fun hike, so good for everybody).
I would definitely take a day trip into Morrison, it’s small but has such fun lil spots.
Oof, there are so many options for fun stuff to do. It’s hard to narrow it down.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people who helped us get to where we are today. Starting The Golden Game Guild was a lot of hard work. We really had so much support, be it from our friends helping us until the wee hours of the morning, painting walls and building furniture, to covering the store when I couldn’t be there. I think the one person I’d like to thank more than anyone is my mother. Gwen Mann, was an incredibly amazing woman, growing up she always helped to foster a creative and adventurous spirit in me, I think that’s one of the reasons I’ve never been too scared of trying new things. When we came to her in our time of need, (everything was set to move forward with our business, but we just needed one final small push as far as capitol to get started), she believed enough in me to help get us there. When Ryun and I got married in 2021, she was able to visit The Guild and see everything that it has become. I could see she was proud of me. That was the greatest feeling in the whole world. My mother passed away last year. I wish she could be here to be a part of this incredible community our store has fostered. None of this would have been possible without her.

Website: goldengameguild.com

Instagram: instagram/goldengameguild

Facebook: facebook/GoldenGameGuild