Carolina Arcade Museum — Attraction in Forest City

Great selection of classic cabinets, barely any "all-in-one" machines in sight (though they are necessary at times). They also have a good pinball selection. Most of the machines work fine, though in the two years I've visited this place, some of the popular machines such as Daytona USA 2 definitely need some TLC. Service sucks.

It's a very small space inside. There's a basement accessible across the entrance down some stairs which features a few extra arcades, some pinballs, and a Foosball table. Nice to take a breather in if the main level is too crowded, which it can be pretty often. There's an upstairs level which I have yet to see, but I believe you can host a party up there.

So, three stars. What gives? I'll cut to the chase: this place is small, cramped, hot, and the service, in my experience, leaves much to be desired. I've only seen two different people running the front since I've been coming here, and both of them are younger guys. We asked one of them if Daytona USA 2 had been fixed, and he looked at us as if we had just said something awful about his mother. Without a word, he slinked out from behind the counter, walked to the back, and sarcastically waved his arm at the machines. He ignored me as I tried to explain that the manual gear shifters weren't working and that the monitors were starting to go out. I guess some things never change from how arcades used to be back in the day, huh?

It sounds funny, yeah, but I guess I expected an arcade museum to be kept by people who want to preserve the best parts of going to the arcade,...

We were in town and decided to do a little shopping and what teenager likes to go shopping so we found this cool little arcade close by that we can pay either $7 for one hour or $12 for the entire day and that’s a no-brainer. The entire day is the deal to choose. This time around we got to meet the two owners and they were an absolute pleasure to speak with. Funny enough this is not just for kids. Grown adults will be transported back in time with some of the old arcade games as well as pinball that they have in this cool location. It seems like they had hundreds of games there and all the arcades are in great working condition. Everyone in the arcade younger old was having a great time and this is exactly what we would expect from a small town. What a genius idea for either kids to have fun with their parents or shopping or for the whole family to get together and enjoy a day of gaming and laughs. If you’re in the area, we highly recommend you check this place out and if possible, speak with the owners, they’re...

I CAN NOT WAIT TO GO BACK!!! 😍

The family and I went as a late Mother's day present for me (we wanted to go in the middle of the week when it was less busy.) It was the best! 🥰

However, it was just us and a few others in their. I'm not sure if it would have been as enjoyable if it was crowded, as there is not a lot of room in between the games.

As a kid from the 80s, I cannot express enough how extremely enjoyable it was to be able to play the games over and over again without the worry of having to need more quarters. XD

They even have some retro games hooked up to TV's!

There is also a lower bottom floor which also has arcade games, pinball machines and a foosball table. As well as a top floor which I believe is reserved for parties.

We got there at 12 when they opened in Wednesday, got an all day pass, went out for lunch and came back and stayed until they closed at 7!

It was a BLAST and you should Definitely go! 🥰🥰🥰🥰

(It was difficult to take photos in there because it was low lighting, but I...