A new entertainment venue which gives customers the chance to throw axes at a target has opened in Stirling’s historic Arcade.
Game of Throwing is a franchise run by Graeme Riddell who also operates the city’s only escape room – Escape Stirling in Murray Place. It is one of a number of axe-throwing venues which have opened across the UK in the past year after the new entertainment experience took off in the USA and Canada.
Participants are given axes and taught how to throw them at wooden targets, painted with concentric circles and dots, which are at the end of specially built lanes.
Game of Throwing, which is in the Arcade unit previously used by The Yoga Tree, opened in early April this year and is already proving a huge hit with residents and visitors.
Graeme says: “People are loving it and I think the uniqueness of the experience is key to its popularity. It’s still a fairly new opportunity in the UK and when people hear about it, they are surprised it’s something they are able to do here and then they try it and end up having an amazing time.
We are pleased with how business has taken off so far and we’ve been getting quite a few repeat customers. Axe throwing appeals to a lot of people and we’ve had birthday parties, a retirement party group and corporate clients in as well as families, couples and friends coming along to have a go.”
Graeme opened Escape Stirling, which features two exciting adventure rooms, in 2020 and after hearing about axe-throwing and the Game of Throwing franchise realised another entertainment venue could complement his current business well.
He says: “I had the chance to look at an axe-throwing venue in England and thought it seemed a unique and fun activity and something that would be amazing to bring to Stirling.
I thought it would be a good way to keep people in the city – and to encourage visitors – rather than people travelling to Edinburgh or Glasgow for this kind of experience.”
Graeme and his business partner John Murphy began pursuing the idea and realised the former yoga and dance studio in the Arcade could be transformed into the perfect location for their new venture.
They have installed three lanes at the site – with the option to add more in the future – and each lane can take up to six people. Customers are given 10-15 minutes tuition – often by Graeme himself who regularly dresses in a kilt for work – before spending an hour throwing axes and aiming for a great score.
He says: “We show people how to throw an axe properly – which is actually much more about technique than about power – and how the scoring system works. Then they go off and have a fun time.”
Customers can also combine their entertainment venues and make a day of it by spending time in one of the nearby Escape Stirling escape rooms after enjoying an axe-throwing session – as part of a package deal.
Game of Throwing is open from Wednesday to Sunday (closed Monday and Tuesday) from 12pm (10.30am on Saturday) until 7.30pm.
More information and a booking system can be found on the website –
www.gameofthrowing.co.uk/game-of-throwing-stirling – or call 01786 445430 for more details.
Game of Throwing, based at 25 Stirling Arcade, also has a Facebook page – www.facebook.com/gameofthrowingstirling/ and is on Instagram – www.instagram.com/gameofthrowingstirling/
