Wizards do battle and dragons are slain, all over a cup of coffee in a new venue in Gravesend.

The Mug and Meeple, in West Street near Town Pier, is a gamers’ cafe where people can either buy fantasy games or sit and play them with friends in a relaxed atmosphere with refreshments.

Visitors can take part in table top role-play games (RPG), the best known being Dungeons and Dragons, where they create and develop characters to take on adventures in imagined worlds.

Among the many RPGs available is a Star Wars one.

Then there are war games where players battle against one another military-style, using armies of characters, again, normally while sat around a table.

A number of board games can be bought or played in the Meeple but you won’t find Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit on these shelves.

These are fantasy board games, where figures travel through mythical kingdoms and overcome challenges with the aid of dice or cards.

Then there are trading card game (TCG), such as the globally popular Magic: The Gathering, where players spend years collecting and trading cards, before embarking on a battle between wizards, using spells, creatures and artefacts depicted on each card as weapons.

Really dedicated players can travel the world playing in Magic tournaments, with prize money often totalling $250,000 (almost £200,000) per competition.

And as if all that isn’t enough, the cafe also has a PokeStop where people playing the popular virtual game Pokémon Go can gather to “catch” characters, and charge their mobile phones ready for more playing.

Glen White, director of Gordian Knot Games, the gaming company that set up the cafe, said people do not need to be existing games enthusiasts to come along.

The 45-year-old has been running games in Gravesend for 15 years and has travelled all over Europe judging and organising TCG tournaments featuring thousands of players.

He said: “There was already an existing gaming community in Gravesend, many of whom are members of the Gravesend Gamers’ Guild, who we’re working with, and we are hoping to build on that.

“Everyone is welcome, we have no biases in here. Some people practically live here while others come down once a week.

“If someone is interested in board games but has never played we can sit them down and show them how to play. We had one person come in on a whim to see what we were all about and liked it so much they came back for their birthday party, which was great.”

The cafe, which opens from 11am to 11pm on weekdays and 10am to 11pm at weekends, is free to enter but players pay a £3 table fee.

Mr White said about 50% of regular attendees are female and people of all ages are welcome, although children under secondary school age must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

n Find out more at www.gordianknotgames.co.uk or by searching for The Mug and Meeple on Facebook. The gamers’ cafe will hold a ‘Rocket Con’ open day in conjunction with the Three Daws pub next door on Saturday and Sunday, November 5 and 6. There will be game demonstrations and a chance to find out more about what goes on there. The pub will host The Daws Barbecue and Fireworks from 6pm on the Saturday with fireworks starting at 8.30pm.