Artcade — Local services in Winter Haven

Stopped in here to celebrate my best friends birthday and we had a blast! It's a very chill environment and a local hidden gem. Lots of classic arcade games, pinball machines, skee ball, billiards, and air hockey as well as board and card games. There's also an N64 and Super Nintendo set up, and I think Guitar Hero. It was very affordable and despite being a small building, there was a lot to do. The hours flew by and we had lots of fun! Personally tried one of the Capcom machines to play Rage of the Dragons, Skee Ball, and Cruisin the World, as well as tons of board games I've been wanting to try out. The lady working there was very friendly and had her dogs there with her (they were chill and friendly and didn't even approach us) which added to the feeling of the relaxed and homey environment. The music was a bit loud when we first got there, but it didn't bother us and at some point she turned it down so if you're noise sensitive you might be able to ask (or just bring some sound protection). I didn't see anywhere to buy drinks but I also didn't ask. They had water fountains where you could refill a refillable water bottle so I suggest bringing your own if you plan on spending the day there like we did. Drinks are allowed, just make sure you're respectful of the equipment! Will definitely become a regular...

AN UNEXPECTED HIGHLIGHT of our LEGOLAND TRIP -- we made an unplanned visit after a lightning strike to a transformer had knocked out the power across the street and across downtown, delaying our dinner plans. I had expected a very brief stay -- thinking the power would be restored any minute -- but my nine-year-old son was quickly befriended by a young lady there, and I found some vintage pinball machines that I remembered from the 70's and 80's. There was a cool Spotify station playing The Clash, Ramones, Iggy Pop, etc at a moderate volume, and before I knew it, an hour or more flew by in what felt like an instant.

This ended up being one of the high points of the Legoland trip; instead of more "screen time" (which we were trying to escape for a bit) my son and the girl played foosball, skeeball, board games, and ran around generally raising hell and having a great time. I won't forget the big hug she gave him when the street lights finally came back on, and we left. We'll definitely come back next time -- power...

Had a really good time at Artcade. We used a Get Out Pass to get in for free and paid for our son. We went on a weekday which meant we could always find something to do. I had fun doing the ski-ball, pin-ball, retro games, air hockey, pool, and foosball. I recommend coming with a friend but you could have fun going solo. Day pass was reasonably priced. There were some games that you had to figure out the trick to make it work so if it is something you want to play don't be afraid to ask. The music was fun and at a reasonable level. The only time it was challenging was when I tried to play guitar hero. I couldn't concentrate on the song of the game. But the room music was good to drown out the repetitive beeps of one of the games I was playing. I like how it had a lot of traditional games and crafts. There were toys hiding in fun places for really little kids too. My son liked petting the dog. Very family friendly. I'd recommend this to pretty...