Ever wanted to own your own arcade? Me neither. I think most of us just want to play the games, or perhaps faff over our game collection and decide what to play next out of the backlog, only for the weekend to finish, and then you’ve got to go take the dog for a walk. However, if you do want to make your own arcade, Retro Arcade Shop Simulator is the game for you.
A first-person simulation, I’ve been handed the keys to a location that could moonlight as a laundromat, and allowed to place a couple of arcade machines in there. Without mucking about, I open the shop, and without any word of mouth, the punters are quick to hand me their money and credit cards for some tokens to play. With a couple of basketball games and two generic beat ’em ups, it’s nothing special, but they like it.
Now it’s time to add a vending machine to earn a few pennies, but each time I stock up, someone wants to purchase another token or two. Sure, that’s how we stay in business, but these customers are distracting my feng shui. What’s that? Can I hire someone to take the tokens? Boom! Freedom. Now my arcade, originally Bonus Stage, now Game On, for lack of any imagination, is allowing me to expand my business.
And now that Retro Arcade Shop Simulator is bigger, I have a cafeteria. However… Johnny Public now wants me to serve drinks. Sure, this is fine, but I need to get the latest cabinets in for the kids, stock up on snacks and take the trash out. Can I hire someone to do this? Amazing! In fact, I can hire someone to take tokens, collect tokens, serve drinks, clean up, and even fix the machines. With some roles, there are multiple vacancies. It’s nice to be hands-on, but by the time I got to level 12, everything was automated except stock.
Before I can hire more folk in Retro Arcade Shop Simulator, I have to do it myself. Tokens need to be vacuumed up from machines and returned to slots (automated machines can be installed, too), trash gets dumped in a tiny bin outside, and there are two variations of minigames for the cabinets. They will either break down mechanically, or the software will play up. In this case, a simple Simon Says or QTEs to fix them. I never failed a single one, but they’re fun. Just hire someone to do them later on.
As for the variation of equipment, it’s excellent. Under the impression I was stuck with a generic arcade cabinet, completing early objectives and later winning the hearts of the customers, new gear and decor open up. The location can continue to be expanded (if there’s the money), and extensions are available too. Cram in more pinball machines, flight simulators, and even modern PC and console stations (that’s not an arcade!!). There are also bowling alleys and go-karts. But there’s one sad truth I have to divulge:
You can’t play any of the games.
The cabinets look excellent – some with scanlines, too. Unfortunately, though, you can’t interact with them besides moving them around or fixing them. The walls, floors, lighting and signage can be customised, and to be fair, this is actually one of the standouts and adds plenty of longevity to it. The cabinets can’t be customised, and they will essentially look the same. Again, the modelling is great and not the usual garbage you see regurgitated in these types of games with shoddy textures.
Besides accessing your tools, pressing tab is for accessing the tablet that orders in equipment, stock and decor. Bank loans are up for grabs (not needed), and prices can be adjusted, though I never needed to do this in the end. As Retro Arcade Shop Simulator is in Early Access, there are a lot of features currently unavailable, such as Camera, Photos, Social Media and News. These aren’t deal breakers whatsoever, nor is the lack of some items such as CDS.
And aside from not being able to interact with the games, while the staff are adept at their jobs, they will not touch stock. Ordering stock gets slung out onto the street and will stay there, fortunately without being stolen, until you stock your shelves or place it in the storage area. At one point, I had about 60+ boxes, and the staff didn’t help once. Carrying each box is a ballache, and it’s equally frustrating when the person behind the bar stands there without replacing the kegs or coffee filters.
With that said….Retro Arcade Shop Simulator is actually very good. I’ve rinsed it until the very last expansion at the time of writing, own every unit and with multiple ones at that, and have to say that my decor is the most garish you’ll ever see. Throw up on the carpet, pee on it – even wipe your bum on it, and nobody would know. I do believe that I have hit a wall, though, and apart from reorganising my cabinets for the umpteenth time, I will have to keep an eye on Alt Tab Game’s roadmap to see when they’ll have new features. At six hours, I’ve seen it all, and very much enjoyed it. What happens next?
