Side Quest Arcade — Attraction in Garland

I am an avid arcade fan. I have gone to almost every single arcade in the DFW area and while Side Quest is not the worst, I do have several complaints which I will list here.

First, the prize games at the entrance: These games are set incredibly fair. In fact, they are set so fair, that they are a loss for the arcade. While I was there I was able to completely clean out a side of the funko machine multiple times. The cut-to-win machines were cleared out multiple times as well and I saw many of the claw machines set to pay out too much. This is great for customers but a giant licensed plush is not cheap and to give them out multiple times for less than $20 is losing your arcade money.

When I mentioned to an employee that the Funko machine was now empty and the screen showed that multiple small and medium prizes were due to be on the playing field, he did not know what I was talking about. He finally got the machine opened after searching for keys for over 5 minutes and dumping all of the master keys on one of the tables in front of me (it was not a good impression). Once he finally realized how to open the machine, he put some prizes on the field and then for some reason turned around to me and asked me if that was the right way to do it... Listen, I know the right way to do it. But why does he not? Is he not the employee here? Also, he did it wrong. I proceeded to clean out the machine a second time.

Multiple claw machines are completely unlocked with duct tape holding them closed. I would have to assume this is due to the keys being lost or not included when they bought the machines. Call a locksmith and get new keys...

I have many more things to say about the prize games but let's move on to the free-play arcade games:

The alien skee-ball is not functioning properly. It is not keeping score and the target is not moving when it should be.

The basketball games are not working properly. One of them is completely off, they don't seem to be linked, and the balls are so deflated that it seems like they haven't been aired up in months. It takes a long time for arcade basketballs to get that deflated and it makes the game very hard to play since the balls will easily get stuck. Also, the hoops are not moving back and forth as they should and the middle one is not keeping score properly.

The demolition game is not working right. The building is not moving, there is no sound, and the lights inside the cabinet are not working.

There is joystick drift on the multicade. I don't even know how that's possible...

The duel pinball game has duct tape covering the player's side facing the back. If you can't figure out how to close your game, don't put it on the floor and definitely don't duct tape it.

Bishi Bashi Channel has issues. The LEDs on most player's green buttons do not work right and pressing the green button on Player 1 does not work at all. Only the spin is detected. This makes the game unplayable in a 4-player format or if anyone plays player 1.

Many racing games have duct tape all over the seats. These companies sell replacement parts. If they are no longer available, the seats are fabric and cushion. They can be fixed.

All of the rhythm games have their speakers low. Some games have headphone ports but many do not and it's impossible to play a rhythm game without being able to hear the music.

Many games were off completely. Without any sign that said "out of order" or that they were to be repaired.

The pinball could be an entire review in itself. Most of the machines have burnt-out lights or are simply not functional at all. While their selection is okay, I would never recommend playing here if you are a pinball fan.

Arcades are 90% maintenance. If you don't maintain your games and set your prize games properly you will disappoint customers and lose money. This arcade looks like it has been open for 20 years and maintained for only the first 5. Consider this my application. I can help.

Also, they offered my friend free coins to give a 5-star review which makes me question many of...

Update: 11/28/24 - Moving up to 4 stars! Definitely made some improvements. I came out for the Turkey Pinball tournament and had a good time.

While there were a few machines down I can see progress has been made on the lineup and they have some titles you don't get to see other places, nice! I should also mention some of the arcade games had some very questionable repairs (looking at you, Vewlix, with an unnecessarily drilled controlled panel).

I would love for you to offer some more food options and update the beer selection (there was a bunch of sours and not much else).

One last thing... chairs! You have sit down games with no chairs for them.

Original Review==== Checked this place out last Saturday. Overall a ton of potential but it felt like a soft-opening vs being ready to go.

Interior was clean, but very sparse. The Food area had a mostly empty fridge up front, but did have a decent selection of beer.

Games - this place has some rare games, especially if you are into rythm, fighting games, or just plain rarities (looking at you Cup of Noodles game).

The problems: the place was HOT like 75 degrees or something. Keep in mind, the place had maybe 10 people in it. It was just the machines and whatever food prep that was going on heating the place up. I could feel myself beginning to sweat just standing around. I did ask one of the staff about it but they sort of shrugged...

The inventory of games while great at first glance lets you down immediately when you go to play something and its not working. I believe one machine had an obvious sticker for 'out of order' and one had a tiny label from a label maker saying "coming soon". Print out some 'out of order signs' and give them to your staff!

After perusing everything I went to play pinball at the impressive row they got, and immediately noticed.... None of these games have been maintained/cleaned up. Old rubbers, dirty playfields, burned out lights, games just plain not working or working poorly. I'm fully aware pinball machines take a lot of maintenance, but it became clear looking at these and around the arcade that the owners must have purchased a bunch of machines at auction or elsewhere and just stuck them in the arcade. One arcade machine had a sticker from a kids police badge from California...

Fix the A/C and fix your games and I'll give you all another shot. I see a lot of potential and I hope...

The best way to sum up Side Quest Arcade is that its an arcade with tons of potential, just not quite 100% ready yet.

They have a wide selection of games, dating way back into the 70's as well as current era ones, and for the $10 price tag for admission, it is definitely a good value. The quality of the games vary, and it really seems like these games were either scooped up at auctions, bought from other arcades that closed, or the like. Most of the arcade games worked as expected and there were definitely some rare ones I've never seen before. Thumbs up for that.

However, if you're here to play pinball, with their 20+ machines, only about half worked correctly. Some wouldn't start, others were missing balls, some had bad flipper coils. This is why I'm giving this place 3 stars. I can excuse an arcade game looking old and run down since most will still function just fine in that condition. However, pinball needs more maintenance. They even have some older games that have been shopped much nicer than some of the newer games! (making me think these were just scooped up and arranged together)

The claw machines in the front are great, and the value for them is just fine. I would surely come back just to play the claw machines, but probably not the rest of the arcade at this time. Hopefully they can get all of their games to function properly and then I'll give it...