For Dann’s Birthday, he wanted to play a specific type of arcade machine. Bishi Bashi machines were something we’ve played a few times in our lives, at places that are now closed down in London. In search of a fun arcade machine, and a lovely day out that everyone would enjoy, we ended up at Freeplay City, a pay to enter arcade with tons of rhythm-based games that can keep kids and adults engaged.
Finding Freeplay City was already a task in itself. We arrived, parked up on street parking and then started walking around trying to find some sort of entrance. It turns out, the venue itself was opening a bit late, and so we found an area of people just standing around then rushing towards an entrance when the shutters, covered in graffiti, opened. There isn’t a sort of sign or big explanation that there is an arcade behind this shutter, making Freeplay City feel like a bit of a hidden exclusive club. Inside, you walk down a sort of messy corridor to a little desk that has tons of snacks on it. There is a warning on their Facebook page that says no children are allowed, but they let Robin, and of course, Kai and Amelia who are teenagers.
Upon entering, there are tons and tons of arcade machines. Freeplay City has a big focus on rhythm games, which are some of my favorite type of games. I really enjoyed the fact that they had a really well maintained Taiko drum game, full of tons of music, that we all played together. Kai even started playing the drum game against me! We have the Nintendo Switch version at home, but none of our kids had seen the arcade version before. There was a Bishi Bashi machine that Dann set up on, playing round after round against anyone who would come. If you aren’t familiar with Bishi Bashi, it’s a sort of mini-game filled game where players all try to do as well as they can on individual, quick-fire mini-games to not fail out. It’s just really fun!
There were tons of games I had never seen before, along with some classics like large dancing games with those huge mats allowing you to dance around. Amelia and Robin really enjoyed a tablet-style rhythm game, where you needed to trace lines in time with the music, ending at dots. Another machine had a bunch of cubes to tap! There were also driving games, which are often Kai’s favorites, and a few gun-games that him and Dann played. Robin started enjoying a few fighting games, which had their own sort of hall of them, so there was plenty of variety.
Freeplay City has a few different snacks – candy bars and energy drinks, that sort of thing. The place itself does feel a little chaotic, but it has a real “this is someone’s collection that I get to play” vibes, which is quite fun. I like the variety of rhythm machines and it made for a lovely time out, though it was a bit loud inside.
You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!
This sounds like such a fun activity to do with the family! I can’t remember the last time I was in an arcade but your post relit a fire. I’m glad you guys ended up having a great time, thanks for sharing!
This sounds like such an interesting and unique place to check out. I can see why your family enjoyed it there! It is nice to have some family activities to do together.