08/01/2026
An Update on Dirty Gertie's Game Room
Over the past seven months, Chris and I worked alongside the owner of the Empire Theatre to help bring Dirty Gertie's Game Room to life on Block Island. We helped change the town ordinance, licensed our games, moved two games into the Empire, and then returned with another twenty after reaching an agreement on how the game room would be operated.
We invested thousands of dollars, countless hours, and an enormous amount of physical effort transporting, cleaning, repairing, moving, and setting up the games. When we arrived, we also spent time cleaning and preparing portions of the theater that had not yet been made ready for opening. When the doors finally opened, the response was incredible. For three days, Dirty Gertie's Game Room was everything we had hoped it would be, with attendance doubling each day.
Unfortunately, the moment after we moved the games in, the owner began unilaterally changing the terms of our agreement. The operating arrangement we had accepted gradually became something entirely different, and despite our best efforts to adapt, we reached the point where we could no longer continue.
As a result, we have made the difficult decision to remove our games from Dirty Gertie's Game Room. We're heartbroken that this chapter ended so quickly, and we're especially sorry to everyone who made plans to visit, supported us, or followed our journey. Your encouragement over the past seven months meant more than you know.
One lesson we're taking away from this experience is that documentation matters—but it isn't enough by itself. Agreements need to be documented, but they also need to be honored. Looking back, we can see warning signs that we didn't fully appreciate at the time. If sharing our experience helps another operator ask harder questions, recognize those warning signs sooner, or better protect their investment of time, money, and equipment, then something good will have come from this difficult chapter.
This isn't the ending we hoped for, but it won't be the end of our journey. We love this hobby, we love this community, and we're already looking forward to whatever comes next.
— Amy McDonough & Chris Cardaci
