Arcade Tycoon: A Charming Sim for Arcade Nostalgia – Weekly Indie Spotlight

Developed by Squidpunch Studios and Vincent Ltd, Arcade Tycoon gives players a wide variety of games to fill their arcade, including retro games, pinball machines, ticket redemption games, and more. Of course, most of these are locked when you first start playing; you need to purchase them with “stars” that are collected from happy customers. In addition, you have to manage your finances, wattage level, staff’s wellbeing, and more. If you’ve played games like Rollercoaster Tycoon or Two-Point Hospital, you’re already familiar with how these kinds of games work.

Humor and Chaos

The game also has a sense of humor to keep you playing. Sometimes, you might randomly have an alien invasion where the aliens might scare your customers while playing games. Other times, the aliens might beam up one of your machines to keep for themselves. Thieves might rob your arcade, unruly guests might break machines (and cause them to electrocute people), or there might be birthday parties with kids running around everywhere. You can also decorate your arcade with items that cleverly reference games like Super Mario Bros or Sunset Riders. While the alien invasions might be funny the first time, eventually you’ll want to just send those aliens home for good.

Conclusion

At its heart, Arcade Tycoon is a nostalgic trip back to the days when kids were given a handful of quarters to go wild with whatever games they wanted. Even if you weren’t alive during the eighties and nineties, you might still feel nostalgic for when you went to Chuck E. Cheese’s as a kid. Arcades will forever be special, and this game reminds us of how special they still are. The game can be purchased on Steam for $14.99.