Press Start Gamer Lounge

10/17/2026

I am currently planning for a freeplay day at Woodstock Public Library! However, I don't want to reserve the room until I see what kind of interest we get since it's a bit short notice.

Date: 10/24
Time: 10 AM - Close
What's included: Free Play for all ages, all consoles, all games

Anyone can come in to the library at any time with their friends/family and enjoy some gametime. I will run a free junior Mario Kart tournament (ages 8-15) throughout the day if enough people want to join!

If you are interested in joining and/or bringing your kids, please comment or ❤️ this post!

10/08/2026

The bad news: we are still on the search for a permanent home.

The good news: we have been communicating with Woodstock Public Library and will be working out hosting free play days and free junior tournaments at the library in the near future!

10/06/2026

The lounge may not be open, but you can still book parties! The best part? Do it in the comfort of your own home!

10/02/2026

Hey everyone! We are still around and still working on providing a fun space for gamers. A few promising options fell through, but we're not giving up!

09/26/2026

Pro gaming tip: save 5 seconds of your life by spinning the USB plug twice BEFORE attempting to plug it in.

08/29/2026

Two Major announcements!

tl;dr:
1 - It's our last weekend before a temporary hiatus and I am scouting for new locations to provide a gaming space for all ages for FREE during the schoolyear.
2 - I made a tabletop card game and I want to give this community first access to information about how to play it, buy it, or support it!

#1: Don't forget that today and tomorrow are the last two days that the lounge will be open until we re-open in 2027. Anyone is welcome to come in to support the lounge, play games, get information about our upcoming plans, or just drop in to say hi!

I am still exploring options to give gamers a place to come in an enjoy games with other members during the schoolyear, but I have not set up anything concrete so far. If you have a space available for peoppe to come and play video games (must be public and accessible by the community), please contact me!

#2: Last year, I launched a Kickstartee campaign for a card game that I made called Culler Party. Similar to the lounge, it was a learning experience that, while unsuccessful, helped guide me toward making better decisions and better planning to hopefully help it become successful in the future. Now that I will have more time to focus on other aspects of the company, I am excited to reintroduce it to this community of gamers. Please continue to follow this page for more updates soon, and watch for links to buy the game in the coming months!

In the meantime: If you are a fan of board/card games or know someone who is, please follow my other page for the game production company!

facebook.com/TildeKeyGames/

Independent Game Developer

08/26/2026

Hey gamers!

It's been a minute since we posted so I figured we can provide a quick update on the state of things.

As of now: We have gotten used to the new schedule with the schoolyear.

We have been spoken to one place that *MAY* be able to house our gaming equipment and provide a place for kids and youth to game all year for free! However, that is still in the planning stages and we can't guarantee any time frame there. BUT: I am determined to make sure there is a free space available for everyone to go.

As for everything else we have planned: I will be working on securing a location for tournaments over the coming weeks and already have a few promising locations in mind. And now that the schedule is becoming more consistent, you can check this page more often to find our streaming schedule and online community events coming up!

Please don't forget to bookmark our web page to keep up with our future plans and join our discord to find other local gamers and watch as we build the community!

Website: pressstartlounge.com
Discord: https://discord.gg/f2hVVHcUyJ

Hourly gaming by the controller, private event bookings, and tournaments at the Historic Woodstock Square. Play classic and modern games — walk in or book ahead.

08/16/2026

We have a lot of Sprites in Fortnite! If anyone is trying to build up their collection, you can add us as a friend in Fortnite and we will play and transfer some to you!

We have a Gem Zero Point Sprite!

08/13/2026

Friendly reminder that with the start of the school year, we will be closed weekdays and only open weekends. Here are our hours until September 1st, when we will close for the season.

Monday- Thursday: CLOSED
Friday: 5 - 9
Saturday: 12 - 6
Sunday: 12 - 6

08/11/2026

Hello, friends!

We have some major news of the "down but not out" variety.

tl;dr:

The Bad News - The lounge will be closed for an extensive period of time starting September 1st. You can read the full post below to get more of an understanding of the reasons for this, but just know that we are *not closing permanently*, and this is the only part of the business that is shutting down.

The Good News - With all the experience, traction, and following the business has gained, we will have a lot of opportunity and time to focus on running tournaments, major gaming events, and establishing our online presence for the community.

For The Future - The lounge itself will likely be a seasonal activity. It will never be an expensive experience for the gamers, but because it's not free to run the business, I unfortunately can't keep it open all year in these early stages. I *will* be working on tournaments, online gaming activities, and community building all year, though.

Full explanation:
Opening this lounge has been a wonderful experience for me and I have learned a lot of lessons about running a business, marketing, outreach, and time management. And each one of those lessons branched into even more lessons. But here are the biggest factors influencing this decision.

Business Goals - Over the past several months, I have realized I enjoyed bringing a community together more than anything. Nowadays, gaming is inherently more of a private experience and the social experience is almost entirely online. I want to bring back couch co-op and provide a place where people and families game together in the same room. I don't think that will be easy to do with the lounge as it is. I have decided I need to reassess how to make this a true family and party experience.

Business Failures - Although every business fails to some degree, I need to fully acknowledge that my attempt at outreach and activity hasn't been successful at all. My tournaments didn't go as expected, foot traffic didn't go as I hoped, and I could not find the right way to get enough interest in any special event. BUT, instead of being so discouraged that I call it quits, I am determined to build on what was successful and bring more of that to the community.

Time Management - For those of you that don't know, I work for District 200. I tried to postpone this decision for a long as possible, hoping there was a way to avoid it or make them all work together. But the truth of the matter is that with the school year starting, I simply won't have the time to balance between running the lounge, work, family time, and home responsibilities.

For those of you that read this whole post, thank you for taking the time to follow this business as we continue to grow and expand from the baby stages. Although we will not have a physical space for a while, rest assured we are still hard at work making a big gaming community and our lounge WILL come back before you know it!