Arcade Manager Review (PC)

If you’ve ever so much as dreamt about establishing the patchwork for a bustling downtown arcade with a rich and diverse affiliation with retro hardware, sticky soda-smothered floors, and quarter-pounding guests, then you’re in luck — Arcade Manager has just made its formal debut on PC. That’s right, fledgling tycoons — you can now, in fact, manage, operate, and evolve your own arcade branch in Prosper Forge’s latest incarnation of a traditional business simulation IP.

Arcade Manager brings the same cutesy art style of MySims to a sizable campaign that’s bursting at the coin slots with interactive menus, animated cabinets, prize zones, and an in-depth progression hook that’s rife with engaging modifiers, ad campaigns, and even Legend Mods, with the latter allowing you to bend the rules of the game and supplement old regulations with new, more complex and profitable ones. There are a handful—dozens, even—of machines to unlock, staff members to hire, tournaments to host, seasonal events to attend, and an entire web of in-game perks, milestone bonuses, and Talents to unearth, too. And that’s us barely scraping the tip of the iceberg, believe it or not.

With all of the above out in the open, it’s easy to see how you might be able to lose a truckload of hours to the grind. And you could, provided that you have the righteous mind and tycoon-like ambition to transform even the smallest recreational spaces into functioning areas of utmost importance. However, it seems that I’m jumping the gun on this one, so for the sake of covering all bases, perhaps it’s best that we start from scratch. Care to join us as we navigate the gum-smitten carpets of Arcade Manager? Then let’s bust this cabinet wide open.

A Quarter Goes a Long Way

Arcade Manager operates like your traditional arcade simulation game. Like a lot of its ilk, you begin your managerial journey with a small pocket of cash, a dated allotment with no pizzazz or remedial aura, and a network of to-do lists that require you to hire the appropriate team, find the machines that rake up the most money, and explore prosperous ways to evolve your branch and tackle the circuit.

The journey starts out with a simple goal: purchase a cabinet, and allow your guests to funnel their spare coins into your wallet in exchange for small bursts of happiness and, if you can stomach it, a shot at the big payout on the other side of the claw machine. As this process continues, the game eventually begins to roll out the red carpet for additional perks and useful features, including Legend Mods, which grant you the chance to change certain rules of the game and, in turn, give you an advantage over certain financial burdens and what have you. Moreover, there are machine upgrades to consider, staff roles to allocate, and promotional opportunities to explore.

For a game that centers its entire existence around a small cubby of an arcade, there is a surprising amount of complexity to the process of building the business. And not just the structural elements of the business, but the financial aspects, too. Take the cabinets, for example. In a typical rags-to-riches manner, each machine that you purchase grants you the opportunity to bend the bar just a smidgen—a power move that involves altering payout rates, credit costs, and the size of the jackpot, for instance. So, while it may look cute and harmless, there’s actually a lot more to it.

Building an Empire

In regards to the gameplay loop, eh — it isn’t in receipt of anything that we haven’t already seen a dozen times before. It’s a simple yet engaging setup, though, so while the core progression is a little basic—arcade owner acquires land, and guests arrive to feed the ecosystem and evolve the business with their own cash and influence—it is something that has a good amount of depth to it. And it helps, too, that the Legend Mods also provide you with additional ways to tweak the rules and source fresh incentives to elevate your career prospects. To that end, the game does have a good amount of replay value — which is always a good sign, more so in the eyes of the sandbox-loving community, no doubt.

As far as the presentation goes, well, let’s just say that the guests are a little on the clueless side of the coin. For the most part though, you needn’t fret over their behavior; they splurge on their favorite cabinets and skip between jackpots (if you enable them, that is) like they’re going out of business. And that’s great, as it gives you enough wriggle room to flex your power and wrack up more coin for your purse. On that basis, you could argue that it’s a relatively easy game to work through, though I suppose this largely depends on how you supplement your lack of winning jackpots with other cashless incentives to raise your guest’s happiness level and keep their money flowing. Saying all that, with numerous upgrades and a plethora more Legend Mods to choose from, the likelihood of hitting a dead end is slim to nonexistent.

Verdict

While Arcade Manager doesn’t break tradition with a never-before-seen network of unique features, it does provide a palatable alternative to the usual arcade-centric sandbox, with a structurally sound interface and a quality selection of tailorable components, to boot. It’s a good-looking game, too, with some cozy aesthetics and a visual presence that isn’t overly taxing on the eyes. Sure, it’s a little dated in some respects, with wooden numskull being the appropriate description for the in-game clientele and the staff who aimlessly roam around the world. But that’s a small issue in an otherwise healthy and all-round enjoyable business simulation, to be honest.

Of course, if you take a gander at most, if not all tiers of any reputable game catalog, you will come to find that arcade sandbox-simulation titles are a dime a dozen, and so, you’re pretty spoilt for choice, all things considered. However, if you’re after one that offers an extensive selection of cabinets, slideshow features, and plenty of pathways to explore and business arcs to unpack, then it’s likely that Arcade Manager will generate just enough value to warrant your attention for a handful of hours. Note, however, that while it is still in its Early Access, you may stumble across a couple of technical issues and audiovisual notches in the general framework.