Kingpin Cambridge — Attraction in Cambridge

We're pretty active here, as well as the Bingemans location for arcade.

A few weeks ago, we showed up a little while before closing - maybe an hour. We were going to load our card, play some games, and leave as they were getting ready to close... Well, half the games were broken yet still took our credits (accessories not working, some games wouldn't play at all after taking our credits). Not a big deal, it happens.

However, around 15-20 minutes before closing, the staff turned off the music, shut off the machines, and turned all the lights out WHILE US AND OTHER GUESTS WERE STILL INSIDE! We knew that they were closing soon, and we were finishing up anyway. But no warning, no staff talked to anyone, no announcements. Just pitch black! We had to find our way out by using the light coming in from the lights out front in the parking lot...

This is unacceptable and a serious safety hazard for all guests - while ignoring the fact that they closed 15 minutes early. I'm just glad no one got hurt trying to find their way out of the arcade in the pitch black darkness. All of this, while disregarding the serious safety issues of not ensuring all guests are out at a location catered to CHILDREN!

Another time, years ago after they opened, they had a giant 'Squirtle' Pokémon plush prize available for 6000 tickets. I spent MONTHS, and hundreds of dollars reloading my card, and collecting tickets to win this plush (17 years old with no concept of saving money back then).

The day finally came, 6000 tickets! I went to redeem them for this Mega-Prize. I was so happy, only to be told that they DON'T actually have it available as a prize, and it's purely for DISPLAY only. I was so upset, so mad. I ended up redeeming the tickets for a panda that I gave away to the first kid I saw. Talk about spitting on your most loyal customers...

Overall, the staff will ignore opening and closing hours, ignore guest safety and closing protocols. The large prizes are "just for display" (which I do believe technically falls under the 'False or Misleading Advertising' law under the Competition Act. Since it incentivises you to continue playing, under a false narrative that you will get something specific in return, that is not actually intended to be given). It is visibly dirty in the children's playground, clearly undusted for a LONG time. And the lazertag arena is far too small compared to the price you pay to play...

Looking at my Local Guide account and reviews, I hardly give out bad reviews. But time after time, my experience has made this is a location that I would recommend NOT visiting!

Do...

I finally took our family here and was very disappointed. We are a family of 5 (kids 9,7,2) and were joined by our friend’s, family of 4 (kids 9,7). We booked our lane prior, arrived 20 min early and they didn’t give us our shoes until 10 min prior. By the time we had everyone in proper shoes, it was 5 min into our 1-hour. We had the two farthest lanes which was great for our group. The farthest lane had issues with the iPad, so it needed to be restarted, which also restarted our kids lane beside us. By the time we got to start our game, it was 25 min into our hour. One of the pins on our lane never triggered as down, so every strike on our lane was counted as a spare. Not a big deal, but annoying. We pressed the request food service button 6 times on our lane iPad before finally going to the front desk to place a food order. However, we were informed there were no servers working (7pm Saturday) and we had to order at the bar, which was busy. Since we now only had 15 min left in our hour, we decided to skip the food and drinks until later. Our time ended at the hour mark and we were a bit surprised it hadn’t been extended due to the technical difficulties. We decided to go elsewhere to spend money on food and drinks. We were amazed at the lack of service and services provided. Cambridge is a hard town for any business to survive in and if this is the standard, then I assume they won’t last long. We were very disappointed because our family had been excited about Kingpin in Cambridge since we first heard word of it opening. Oh, and when we left and mentioned the pin not resetting, they said ”ya we know”. ...thanks for putting us on a dysfunctioning lane at full price!!! Much appreciated. Not likely going back unless I hear from others that it's...

Recently had a birthday party here for 2 of my children. Overall the kids enjoyed the party, it was clean and staff were friendly but very very disorganized. We had booked the arcade party from 3-5 and the party room was to start at 4. There was nowhere to keep our stuff while at the arcade. The staff gave us a table in the arcade to use, however it made the logistics of the party rather difficult. We had aprox 20 children to watch and now one adult had to keep an eye on the gifts, jackets, water bottles etc. I felt it compromised safety and made me feel uncomfortable as the host being able to supervise children and items. I did have other adults that helped but someone had to stay at the table and not enjoy the party for the first hour. I also ended up with a credit for 1 child that fell ill, and I ordered additional pizza & drinks for parents who stayed. We ordered the extra food when checking in for the party to start. The credit wasn’t applied to the order. They made us pay for the additional food in full and at the end of the party I had to ask for the credit. A supervisor came and questioned me on what I was told, what happened etc, however was very friendly and refunded the money. We also received gluten free pizza in error but they did bring a replacement pizza. I had to go find someone to get the cake from the fridge, and am still unsure if who the party host was as never introduced. overall eveything worked out and the kids had a blast. I’m not sure I would book again as I felt very uneasy with having to watch the table with out stuff and kids plus trying to entertain some...