Ready Player One: Best Video Game Arcades in Dublin


Posted May 15, 2018 in More

While there’s no shortage of fun and increasingly extravagant ways to spend a Saturday afternoon in Dublin, sometimes the best way to do it is to escape the city altogether. Rather than literally skipping town and heading straight to the Wicklow Mountains, you can easily escape the city for the day without ever leaving D01. When it comes to avoiding reality, nowhere does it better than Dublin, with the city centre still retaining plenty of fun and neon-drenched arcades where you can spend a stimulating afternoon with friends drinking cheap beer and trying to beat each other’s high score on Daytona Racer or House of the Dead IV. Here’s our round-up of the best arcades to be found in Dublin.

 

Token

A winner for more reasons than one, it’s never a bad time to join the growing legions of Dublin’s moustache-sporting hipsters at Token, the ultimate millennial dreamland. Rather than your typical dreary shopping centre arcade, this happening hotspot in the city centre is decked out in minimalist decor and industrial chic, where you can not only play all the classic video games of your childhood but also chow down on some hipster street food and craft beer. Once you’re loaded up on kimchi tacos, fully loaded waffles and halloumi fries, and are sufficiently buzzed on local ale, try your hand at one of the hundreds of fully original games consoles which line this funky space. Warning: this place gets incredibly busy at the weekends, and is definitely the most expensive option on this list, but is a strong contender for one of the trendiest and most fun places in the city right now.

Dr Quirkey’s Good Time Emporium

The name of this place alone means that this should be on any self-respecting Dubliner’s bucket list, but Dr Quirkey’s is guaranteed to never disappoint. A bit more of a classic arcade than Token, this neon-drenched paradise is the kind of place you go to feel like a kid again. Again most of the games are mostly retro fare, with plenty of Ms Pac Man and Dance Dance Revolution to be found, but that trip down memory lane is the beauty of a good arcade. This place is equal parts arcade and casino, where you can have your fill of slots and fruit machines with a pretty impressive range of prizes, as well as old-school video games. If the trip over to Dr Quirkey’s is a little too much for you, you can even play slots and casino games at home on sites like William Hill, without the need to convert all your money into burdensome change. Dr Quirkey’s is certainly a more adult-oriented arcade and has garnered quite the reputation as an after-hours spot, given the late opening hours.

Century City

As far as arcades go, Century City is a piece of history, with an unchanged 80s-style decor that looks straight out of Blade Runner, which is why the place is hugely popular with fashion photographers and music video filmmakers looking for a colourful and sexy backdrop to their latest pieces. This place is also cheap, with most of the machines offering games for less than 1 Euro a pop. So pop in, complete your latest Instagram photo shoot, and play the day away.

If you know of any arcades in Dublin that deserve a shout out let us know.

Feature Image Source: Pixabay

Image 2: Source: Pixabay

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