Arcade Paradise: A Slow but Fun Arcade Simulator – Weekly Indie Spotlight

Arcade Paradise is a sim game that takes place in the 90s, where you get to build and run your own arcade. Not only that, but you can play the arcade games. That sounds amazing, right? Well, the fun is there, but it’s hampered by the game’s slow start.

Arcade Paradise: Arcade Sim or Laundry Sim?

Arcade Paradise is developed by Nosebleed Interactive and published by Wired Productions. You are Ashley, a young man who gets put in charge of his father’s laundromat. However, unbeknownst to your father, you plan to turn the laundromat into an arcade. While the concept is solid, the game takes a little while to get off the ground. Since the story only advances after you make certain purchases, you will be spending a lot of time at the beginning doing laundry, picking up trash, and unsticking gum from various spots. There’s even a minigame to clean the toilet – I’m not kidding.

Play the Arcade Games!

Unlike Arcade Tycoon, which uses a standard business-sim formula, Arcade Paradise strips down the business elements to their minimum and instead focuses on playing the arcade games. As the story progresses and you gain more machines, you can spend more time playing the games, which is where the game truly shines. There is a large variety of games, all of which have different goals that boost the games’ popularity when you achieve them. There’s a game that puts a Grand Theft Auto skin on the Pac-Man formula, an OutRun clone that uses a Star Wars-style space speeder instead of a car, and other creative concepts. You can even buy a functioning jukebox with different original songs.

Conclusion

While the game is slow at first, it starts to shine once the story progresses a little. As time passes, you’ll spend less time doing laundry and more time playing fun arcade games. If you were around when arcades were everywhere, you might find yourself getting a little burst of nostalgia for the long-gone nineties. The game can be purchased on Steam for $19.99. If you love arcades and arcade games, give Arcade Paradise a shot.