Quarters, Cards, or Tokens: What a location’s chosen currency says about them
We live in a capitalist society. Deal with it, buddy boy. Sure, you might have dreams of some insane reality where we trade Phish tickets for jars of marmalade, but that’s just not the world we live in. Our world deals in cash. Cold, hard, cash. You wanna play a game, we wanna see the cheddar. Money talks, shit walks.
That said, arcades are a fun frickin’ micro-economy, right? Each one a little kingdom with its own set of rules and exchange rates for your hard-earned (or not) dollars. What each location decides on can tell you a lot about the society they’re trying to run. Don’t believe us? Fuck off! Just kidding, here we go.
Quarters
Bowling alleys, pizza places, laundromats
These games are usually beat to hell and located in places of business that do stuff other than pinball. It’s like 95% about the ambiance in this situation. It can make or break the whole evening. Especially when the people watching is real good. Oh, and a change machine. That’s the other 5%.
Money-wise? Quarters are the best of all options. I mean, it’s real money. You don’t have to worry about them being worthless after a couple months just because two dumbasses don’t know how to run a brew-cade or whatevs. They’re quarters! They’re already worthless! I love quarters, and I love the places that you usually find quarter games.
Give me a good laundromat Stern any day of the week. Like, preferably something weird from the early 2000s. Playing that thing while also doing my laundry – and using quarters to pay for the whole thing? Sheesh. Ten bucks makes you feel like you’re in a lil’ yachty video. Unlimited quarters? Flex up, big bands.
Tokens
Arcades, Brew-Cades, and Chucky Cheese-ass kinda spots
Tokens are fun. They’re bulky and they always smell kinda weird – but they’re nostalgic. And good design on a token means something. Like, that means that this location has - to borrow a phrase from the poets - put a little extra thought into how their shit looks. I love a good token. I don’t go as far as to say I collect them, but I’ll definitely hold on to a good token way longer than I should.
Did I mention they smell funny? Definitely did, but worth stating again. Why does every token smell like its a cup holder penny? Jesus christ. Figure that out, people. I also like when places give you bonuses for buying a bunch at once. I have no problem feeding a twenty into one of those machines if I feel like I’m getting a deal. I mean, it sucks to have a bunch at the end of the night – but then again, does it? I love walking around with a fat sack. It’s literally one of the most comforting feelings in the world. Sheriff of Nottingham style. Jinglin’ all over the place. Anyway, tokens are overall good. No notes.
Pay and Play all day
Chain arcades, legacy arcades, sales floors
This has become the go-to for locations where the primary reason for being there is pinball. When we recently stopped by Galloping Ghost, they had a play all day pinball pass for twenty bucks. The only problem? If I pay that much money to play somewhere, I’m going to keep playing pinball until I want to drop dead.
Is that the best way to think about this hobby? Maybe not, but by god there’s no way my midwestern frugality lets me spend anything less than 4 hours in a spot like that. If they have a bathroom? Psh, game over man.
The good news? Spots that have this CARE about their games. Usually its run by hobbyists who really want to feature their collection – and also understands how much these games cost. This is never the cheapest option, but it’s probably the one I love the most. There’s nothing like going in an all-you-can-play spot and they have at least like five games that you’ve REALLY wanted to play. I gotta stop writing about this. I’m getting too excited.
Cards/card readers
Wacky Dave and Buster’s-ass spots, arcades run by guys wearing bluetooth headsets
This is BY FAR the most dystopian option for currency. These guys don’t give a fuck. You’re swiping cards that you put WAY too much money on, they convert it to some base-12 credit system, and then just let you guess how much you’re playing for pinball. This costs 425 credits? What does that mean? Will anyone tell me?
The employees at places like this are almost always behind counters with glass shields – I guess for good reason. If I’m paying 45 dollars for a night of kinda broken Ghostbusters pinball, I should at least be able to get a buzz on. But nope, most of these places are non-alcoholic only. It’s rage inducing sugar or nothing. Best to just to pack it in early, give up, get some pixie sticks, snort a line in the bathroom, and think about all the people you’re letting down by being at this spot in the first place.
