15 Top-Rated Arcade Venues in the UK

Head to any coastal town in the UK and you’re likely to come across large amusement centres offering classic arcade games and family-friendly entertainment. With the sound of coins clinking down slots, the whirring sound effects, and the hustle and bustle of customers moving around the space, these venues offer fun-filled activities (with a lot of nostalgia for those who grew up in the 80s and 90s).

As the UK's leading supplier of new, hand-built arcade games machines, we lovingly create arcade cabinets and table arcade machines inspired by the original retro arcade machines we all know and love!

However, we know that arcade gaming continues to evolve and adapt... As many of the gamers that once populated traditional arcades grow up, barcades (boozier, more-adult oriented venues) and VR-powered arcade-based gaming venues can be seen as an entirely natural evolution of the traditional arcade. Outside of the online environments of modern multiplayer console and PC gaming, there are very few places to mingle with fellow gamers, and these venues bank on offering a social experience on top of nostalgia for the good old days. 

With all this in mind, we decided to analyse TripAdvisor data to discover the top-rated arcade-based venues across the UK. We also took the time to analyse the search volume data to discover where in the UK there is high demand for such venues, based on Google searches. 

Read on to find out more…

Analysing TripAdvisor Data on UK Arcades

We focused on TripAdvisor’s top suggested attractions for arcade-related keywords – including ‘arcade’ and ‘arcade games’ – based on results from 'Things to Do' in the United Kingdom, correct as of 11/05/2022, before comparing them against each other to form an overall ranking order.

We filtered by average rating (to highlight establishments with between a 5* 'Excellent' and 4* 'Very Good' average rating only) until 50 were left, and then these 50 were first ranked based on actual number of 5* reviews received and then by percentage of 5* reviews to determine the venue’s overall index rank. 

Of the 50 venues analysed, 41 were in England, 5 were in Wales, 3 were in Scotland and 1 was in Northern Ireland. 

The findings revealed the following:

The findings highlighted that 15 venues were amongst the top-rated, with an average rating of 5 stars, and were made up of a mixture of classic arcades, amusements, ‘barcades’, and VR-powered arcade-based gaming venues.

These venues included Electric Gamebox (London), Arcade Club (Bury), Hyper Reality (London), PimpShuei (London), DNA VR Battersea Power Station (London), R-CADE (Glasgow), High Scores Arcades (Newbury), DNA VR (London), The Arcade Vaults (Cardiff), High Scores Arcades (Southampton), Timewarp Arcade (Bridgwater), Retro Arcade Warrington (Warrington), Insanity Gaming Arcade (Poole), Retroids Arcade Bar (Worcester), and The Geek Guys Video Games & Arcade Collectors (Grangemouth).

Demand Across the UK

As well as analysing TripAdvisor data, we also delved into search volume data to discover the demand hotspots for such venues. For this, we looked at 2021’s average monthly searches per capita (in this case, calculated per 100k population) across 20 of the UK’s major cities, looking at three search terms to gather insight – one search term was generic (‘arcade’), one was product-based (‘arcade machine’), and one was location-based (‘arcade near me’).

The findings revealed the following:

Based on the per capita calculations, the findings revealed that residents in London, Edinburgh, and Reading were most likely to be searching for arcade-based terms, highlighting a particular demand for this type of venue in these cities.

In London, for every 100,000 people in its population, there were an average of 175 searches per month across these terms. In Edinburgh, this was calculated as 153 searches per month across these terms (per 100k), and in Reading there were 123 searches per month across these terms (per 100k).

Bournemouth, Coventry, Liverpool, Leicester, Stoke-on-Trent, Sheffield, and Birmingham all made up the remainder of the top 10. Sitting at the bottom end of the list were Middlesbrough, Manchester, Southampton, Leeds, Belfast, and Newcastle upon Tyne, each with less than 50 searches per month across these terms (per 100k population).

Arcade Machines

Our range of top selling machines and accessories includes everything you could possibly need to enjoy or upgrade your machines performance – from USB controllers and cables to light guns and full-size Pacman machines.

Our retro-style, multi-game arcade machines are available to buy in either 2-player or 4-player configurations, pre-loaded with up to 9000 single and multiplayer games. All of our arcade machines are fully tested prior to shipping and always include one year's warranty.

If you have any special custom arcade machine requirements or questions, please get in touch with us by emailing sales@bitcade.co.uk