Arcade Club is a chain of
amusement arcade
An amusement arcade (often referred to as a video arcade, amusements or simply arcade) is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers (such ...
s located in the United Kingdom that originally opened in 2014. Its venues contain original
arcade machine
An arcade cabinet, also known as an arcade machine or a coin-op cabinet or coin-op machine, is the housing within which an arcade game's electronic hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the Japanese Amusement Ma ...
s from five different decades of video gaming history.
History
The first Arcade Club opened in
Haslingden
Haslingden is a town in Rossendale, Lancashire, England. It is north of Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the ...
in 2014, after the successful trial of its "Free Play" model in the back of a computer shop during closing hours in an effort by the owner, Andy Palmer, to bring business to his chain of computer stores. The original location included 100 original arcade machines, with an emphasis on games from the
Golden Age of Arcade Video Games
The golden age of arcade video games was the period of rapid growth, technological development and cultural influence of arcade video games, from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. The period began with the release of ''Space Invaders'' in 1978, ...
. The venue would go on to be featured on the
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Collectaholics,. The increased popularity of the venue forced a move in location to bigger premises, and Arcade Club moved to Ela Mill in
, which included a venue that offered a variety of food and drinks. Containing over 400 original arcade machines/games, it is the biggest arcade in the continent of
, filled with original arcade games from across five different decades. In autumn 2019, it was announced that a third venue would be opening in
, once dubbed the mecca of arcade games.
While it is not the first arcade to operate using the Free Play model, wherein no coins are necessary to play the machines, it has popularised the model in the