Looking to add a gameroom in our design but unsure of size requirements. Anyone have experience with a gameroom, what size, number of games, any issues you had to deal with etc. Thanks.
We have 3 games, a video game, a pinball, and this thing where you try to roll a ball up a hill to get a prize. They honestly don’t get much use, but I expect that depends on the type of crowd you get.
I remember our hometown pizzeria where I spent way too much time had/has a gameroom and it always seemed to be busy. I am sure I spent tons of $$ on the games.
We are marketing to families in our town as we are limited to just a few (3) family friendly restaurants, none being pizza. I figured part of the experience would be the game room.
I know when we head down the road to the next town with a Round Table, the kids head to the game room and we don’t see them until the pizza shows up. A few minutes later they are back in the game room.
I remember reading an article (I think it was in PizzaToday) about adding game rooms, although I cannot find it online.
I don’t remember much about size of the room, but I do remember a lot about the debate of purchasing the games or leasing them, etc. Leasing sounded better, but the cost wasn’t too bad.
I have 3 games not in a separate room though- just split profits with the owners so it pretty easy. Best I ever had was hunting game for .50 Brought in good money very fast game. You boys will shoot at anything I guess. LOL Been trying to get that game back…
Our game room is 15 by 20. We have 19 redemption games. We have a nice little redemption area for the prizes as well. We stayed away from video games because some aren’t very family friendly.
I am looking to add some games, but it will not be in a separate room. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while.
This has been my debate as well. With the leasing IIRC from our hometown pizzeria it was a 50/50 split. Seems good to me as you don’t have to deal with maintenance, repair, etc. I think I will go with this set up as most of the games seem to run $3-5K to purchase. Purchasing 10 games can set you back rather quickly.
Plus if a game is not performing well on a lease you can swap it out, with the purchase you are stuck selling it yourself or hanging on to it.
I am thinking a game area that is enclosed to keep the sound down for the rest of the dinning area and put the b-day parties, youth groups etc towards the back near this room so kids aren’t running around the place.
Thinking somwhere between 8x10 to 12x12 should be enough space for the games, looking at around 10 games give or take a little.
i do not want to sound negative…but the best thing i did was to get rid of my game room.kids running around yelling screaming out of control.they would come in without parents,beat on the machines,make a mess of the area.
after i removed them,customers said “thank god you got rid of those games they were so annoying with all that racket”
something to think about…
An alternative to buying (or leasing) new games would be to stock your gameroom with older, used machines and market it is a retro arcade. I have been to several amusement auctions in the midwest where fully functional machines went for as little as $25.
My wife and I were just talking about this last night. She wants Ms. Pac-Man, Centepede, etc. I have a hunch she wants to play the games along with the kids 
Still debating this one however, with limited space to set up shop (65x28 at 1820sf) things are tight. I can go a little wider, but for every foot wider I go my lease increases by $176 a month. At $28sf + NNN of $4.50sf it add up quickly.
I am thinking of cutting the room size down and having games along just two walls instead of the 3. In this configuration I think I can get away with a space of about 10 or 12 long by about 7 or 8 ft wide.
If you want to have a little fun, get arcade games. If you want to make MONEY, get redemption and toy prize games…
Price games meaning those crane things where you can get stuffed animals etc…people love those (I dont know why). And redemption games like skee ball, basketball shooting etc.
If you want to know what sells and makes money, go to a Chuck E Cheese on a friday night, camp out at a table and watch for a few hrs and see what gets the most usage.
From experience those “smokin tokens” do well…and token pushing games…the ones where you can get a big jackpot…
As for the arcade games, get an Ultracade…they are a monster combo arcade game and can have hundreds of games on one machine.
Also, a car game and a gun related game are a must. If you have a ton of room, getting a mini kiddie area works well too…(slides etc)