Nickel City — Attraction in Orem

May 17, 2017

My husband has been going here since he was a boy; so he was excited to take me on our date night. Everything was fun until we went to go cash in our tickets. Every 10 tickets we put in we received only five. We thought it was a fluke so we kept feeding in some tickets 10 at a time, and like clock work it shorted the amount going in by 5. That's when we heard other kids tell us they had the same thing happen to them. We had counted close to 800 in total tickets and walked away with 300. We went up to the admission counter to tell the employee and we were told someone would meet us over there. Ten minutes later and no one came. So my husband went up again and the guy just handed us a ticket and thankfully is was close enough to what we had won; so we let it go.

We then went up to the ticket counter along with one other couple. We waited about 5 minutes and a few kids came up. when the couple was done we go up to talk to him and he stops us and helps the kids first. we let that slide too until 25 minutes later after being constantly shafted from picking prizes and leaving. Finally we had enough and were about to leave when the guy from the complete other side came over to help after seeing us wait forever.

We walked out vowing to never come back again. The prices are awesome but when your tickets are getting cut in half and you have to make a big deal every time its not worth it.

Tips to management: 1. Stop ripping off your customers 2. Hire more people at least part time in the evenings when its the busiest 3. Start a line so you don't have unhappy customers waiting 30 minutes for a toy. Most important stop ripping off your loyal customers. You already have lots of people spending money there because of the cheap tokens so why do you feel the need to not fix or rig the ticket machines.

We will try again in a year our two but until then we will be going to...

Update : we went back today and had a good time. I think I've graduated from the old man "get off my lawn so I can use my manual push mower" to just going with the flow. My 17 year old spent 20 buck in 15 minutes and just had to tag along and watch everyone else be more prudent. We got fun snacks with our tickets and ended the night with a cheese pizza and some Dippin dots. The pizza was awesome and so was the ice cream. We left very happy. I'm giving this place a 5.

First, I know it's cool technology, but I hate loading digital money on to NFC capable cards. It's a technique to keep kids from realizing how much money they are spending. When they don't have to pump in 5 nickels, and actually experience the act of spending that many nickels for one game, and just swipe a card they lose track of the value of the money. You don't even look at game costs anymore because the action to play a one nickel game and a 10 nickel game is exactly the same. Look, I know it's not their job to teach kids to be responsible with money, but man my 9 year old can blow through twenty bucks in the blink of an eye... Even with me reining him in

Second, I know it's a nickelcade, but a fraction of the games cost less than 4 or 5 nickels and the new ones cost even more. They must be making money because it's packed with new games which are very expensive. It's too expensive.

I must be in the minority because this place is packed and people seem to be having fun, but I'm an old school gamer and I like value. This is losing its value to me for the sake of money and convenience.

That said the staff is nice and accommodating. They deserve praise for staying patient and giving good customer service even after dealing with crazy kids...

Let me be crystal clear: Nickel City is not just an arcade — it is a shrine. A cathedral of blinking lights and whirring machines, where joy is minted in nickels and nostalgia flows like golden syrup. I went in expecting a fun afternoon. I left questioning the very fabric of my childhood. HOW had I not known about this sanctum sooner?

The moment I stepped through those doors, time warped. I was eight years old again, wide-eyed and full of dreams, surrounded by the holy trinity of vintage cabinets, skee-ball lanes, and ticket-spewing wonder-machines. But this isn't some overpriced tourist trap. No, Nickel City is a benevolent kingdom where five cents still holds dominion. You don't just play games — you bargain with destiny at the rate of a nickel a wish.

The staff? Saints. Nay, demigods of hospitality, ready to replenish tokens, fix stuck buttons, and guide you to the exact air hockey table where legends are born. The prizes? Not mere plastic trinkets, but sacred relics bestowed upon the worthy.

And let's talk about the vibes: pure, electrifying euphoria. The air buzzes with the sound of victory and 8-bit triumph. Children laugh. Adults weep with gratitude. Somewhere, a claw machine whispers your name.

I went in for a game of Galaga. I came out a disciple.

Nickel City isn’t just an arcade. It’s a portal. A revelation....