Looking for gaming arcades in Yorkshire?
If like me, you have a child who is passionate about gaming, a gaming arcade might be the ideal place to visit for a family day out or a birthday treat. There are a number of excellent family-friendly gaming arcades scattered across the county, offering hours upon hours of retro gaming, competitive fun and opportunities to introduce your kids to the classic titles of your youth.
Unlike the video game machines you find at seaside amusements and in family-friendly pubs, the machines at these arcades are free to play once you have paid your entry fees. Costing an average of £40 for a family of four for unlimited access to vast numbers of games, a day spent at one of these will often cost significantly less than a day at some of the bigger family-friendly attractions in Yorkshire.
We’ve put together a short guide to the best gaming arcades in Yorkshire…
The Best Gaming Arcades in Yorkshire
Arcade Club Leeds
Abbey Retail Park, Savins Mill Way, Kirkstall, Leeds LS5 3RP
Admission Prices: Adults £17, Children £9, Family Ticket (2 adults, 2 children) £43
Opening Hours:
Thursday – 4 pm to 11 pm
Friday (adults only) – 6 pm to 12 am
Saturday – 11 am to 11 pm
Sunday – 11 am to 8 pm
Bank Holiday Mondays – 11 am to 8 pm
Arcade Club Leeds is a huge gaming arcade in Kirkstall, just outside of Leeds. Europe’s biggest video and pinball arcade has more than 300 games to play for free once admission has been paid. Relive your youth with retro favourites like Space Invaders and Street Fighter or test your gaming skills with a diverse range of modern releases and games imported from around the globe. Kids and grown-ups will love the vast and varied selection of games on offer and there’s a fully licensed bar and kitchen too. Spend an hour or two trying to beat the top scores and then refuel with a pizza, burger, hotdog or pile of loaded nachos. Great fun for all ages!
Retrodome
Retrodome, Upper New Street, Barnsley S70 1LP
Admission Prices: Adults £12, Children £8 (free admission for under 5s), Concessions £10
Opening Hours:
Friday – 2 pm to 10 pm
Saturday – 11 am to 10 pm
Sunday – 11 am to 8 pm
Wednesday and Thursday ( school holidays only) – 11 am to 8 pm
Retrodome in Barnsley is housed in a former car parts warehouse. Housed across three industrial-styled floors, it boasts retro and modern arcade and pinball machines, all the top home video game consoles, three virtual reality booths plus a fully licensed bar and eatery. The extensive games collection covers a whopping 5000 square feet and includes games from the 70s, 80s, and 90s in addition to more modern releases. Battle against the machine to beat top pinball scores, introduce your children to the top games of yesteryear, enjoy some good old family fun with Retrodome’s ready-to-play Super Nintendo and Sega Megadrive consoles and then game the contemporary way with VR boxing, sporting and shooting games.
Funstation
Unit 30, Xscape, Colorado Way, Castleford WF10 4TA
Admission Prices: FREE
Opening Hours:
Monday to Thursday – 11 am to 10 pm
Friday – 11 am to 10:30 pm
Saturday – 10 am to 11 pm
Sunday – 10 am to 10 pm
There are no admission fees for Funstation and you don’t need to carry around pots or pockets of loose change either! You simply load one of their handy cards with your required amount and use the card to play a fantastic array of carnival and arcade games.
We took advantage of Funstation’s most popular deal and loaded our cards with £25. This option gave us an additional £10 worth of free tokens. Each £1 is worth 4 tokens so do check out the number of tokens required to play the games you wish to play before loading. The bigger machines like basketball and VR Racers cost 4 tokens per play.
A popular choice for families, this gaming arcade in Yorkshire is similar to the amusement arcades you find at seaside resorts as many of the machines reward players with tickets. These are loaded directly onto the Funstation cards and can be redeemed for prizes at any point. We ended up with around 1600 tokens and left with a water gun and a dinosaur toy.
There are a few of these scattered around the UK but you’ll find this one at Xscape Yorkshire – the excellent entertainment hub in Castleford. We spilt our visit to Funstation into two halves – breaking up our gameplay with a memorable 4DX Cinema experience and lunch at TGI Fridays.
Flashback Arcade
Drake Street, Bradford BD1 1JA
Admission Prices: Adults £15, Children £10 (free admission for under 5s), Family (2 adults, 2 children) £40
Opening Hours:
Saturday – 11 am to 9 pm
Sunday – 11 am to 8 pm
Thursday and Friday (school holidays only) – from 11 am onwards
Flashback Arcade is just a short walk away from Bradford Interchange. Open weekends only (except during school holidays), this gaming arcade in Yorkshire offers classic and modern arcade gaming with titles dating back to the 90s. In addition to contemporary favourites and retro hits, Flashback Arcade also exclusively houses imported games, some of which have never been released in Europe. You’ll find a few carnival-style games too, such as rollerball, basketball and boxing. A great city centre arcade with plenty to keep the whole family entertained. There isn’t a licensed bar but hot food is available as well as sweets, ice cream, milkshakes and slushies.
We spent a couple of hours at this one and had such an enjoyable time! The fighter pilot simulator is superb and I would go back for that game alone. We all enjoyed racing one another Mario Kart too.
Arcade Hub
Unit 11G, 30G Princes Dock Street, Hull HU1 2PQ
Although not quite as large as other popular gaming arcades in Yorkshire, Arcade Hub in Hull is one of the cheapest to enter! Independently owned Arcade Hub gives gamers unlimited access to retro games from the 80s and 90s and visitors are free to come and go throughout the day if they have paid their admission fees. Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat, Space Invaders and Sega Rally will bring back fond memories for older gamers and undoubtedly amuse youngsters used to more realistic graphics and VR technology. A compact but ever-so nostalgic gaming arcade offering hours of fun for very little cost.
Retro Station
Southgate House, Ward’s End, Halifax HX1 1DE
Admission Prices: Adults £15, Children £10, Family tickets (2 adults, 2 children) £40. No children are allowed after 8 pm.
Opening Hours:
Thursday – 2 pm to 10 pm
Friday – 2 pm to 11 pm
Saturday – 1 pm to 11 pm
Sunday – 1 pm to 8 pm
Retro Station in Halifax is a family-run gaming arcade housed on the ground floor of a former nightclub. There are 15,000 games to play at this family-friendly gaming arcade in Yorkshire including classic arcade games such as Sonic and Street Fighter plus pinballs, water shooters, pod machines and racers.
In addition to a great selection of games, Retro Station also offers a very reasonably priced food menu comprising paninis, burgers, hot dogs, chicken strips and pizzas. A pizza costs just £5.00 at Retro Station and kids can enjoy a full meal for £4.50. There’s also a selection of wines, beers and ciders available at remarkably low prices – £2.30 for a bottle of Madri! Head over with the kids for a fun-packed day out or pop in with your other half for a date night with a difference!
As with all our articles of this nature, we will be adding to this list as and when we discover new businesses. To make a recommendation or request our media kit, please email business@theyorkshirepress.co.uk
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