We all remember the great experience with arcade and redemption games at the local pizza parlors or amusement parks. There were always the few categories they all fell into and it was easy to identify them. Whether the game gave you tickets or allowed you to write your initials at the top of the leader board, every game had their own rewards.

There was always a large group of kids, almost teenagers, gathered at the most popular fighting game watching as they created a little makeshift tournament. Their victories bought them nothing more than the respect of their peers and maybe a high five or two. What it cost them was probably a years worth of allowance in quarters anytime they had to go into a game binge. Though they would often grow out of that stage, the fond memories of the round joystick in their sweaty palm and their fingers pounding like lightening would stay with them forever.

The shooting games were always doing their best to be more creative and engaging, and everyone would get suckered in all over again. Whether using real footage as graphics or even sensing when you took cover, they all had their little quirks that made them all special. These games were mostly used to show off skill and impress anyone else who may be watching just how calm, cool and straight you can shoot that orange plastic gun.

Not everyone could appreciate playing a game and not getting a reward. After all, you were pouring pounds of quarters into the machines. Redemption games allowed you to earn tickets for the higher score you got, which then could be redeemed for fantastic prizes. Well fantastic for a kid.

Skee ball and all it’s variations could be found anywhere there was a ticket booth. Arguably one of the funnest and most popular redemption game, it took a long time to master or a great deal of luck to be able to properly score. No matter what you seemed to do, the ball would always bounce just a little further than you wanted, causing it to bounce off all the other top scoring holes down to the lowly bottom. Of course, there was always to option of climbing the long ball runway and placing the ball in manually, but at the great risk of being banned.

Another staple in the classic arcades is the Whack-a-mole’s. Lighting fast reflexes, or a buddy, is a required to be able to properly hit whatever may be residing in the machine. Whether it is alligators in a swamp or aliens in a spaceship, you can be guaranteed they only exist to torment you with tricks and movements too fast for the average human to react to.

When you were finally finished with wasting all of your parent’s quarters, it was time to redeem the large bundled mess of tickets. They always had things like televisions or speakers sitting on the top shelf, but in order to reach those, you would need to spend every week there for the whole summer. So you settled with the small stuff like a plastic comb or a bouncy ball you would end up losing the moment you walked outside.

Many childhood’s are based on the experiences they have had with their local arcades, and you can be guaranteed that everyone has a story to tell.

Author Bio: Canadian company offering a large group of family entertainment Toronto attractions. Visit our indoor playgrounds GTA, bowling alleys Mississauga, go karting, batting cages GTA and ask us for birthday party ideas.

Category: Recreation
Keywords: children, family, fun, video games, arcade, leisure, go kart, electronics, teenagers, birthdays