Playland Arcade

This arcade is tricky to review. It’s an arcade on a beautiful pier, so expectations were high. The prices were high, but that did not bother me. What bothered me is that the older games are VERY POORLY maintained. Every classic arcade game had issues with the joysticks, monitors, and coin slots. The flippers on the three pinball machines I tried were all worn and did not work properly. The only reason I give this place two stars is that they had the Deal or No Deal game which I love — and I feel that with a little tender love and care, this could be a great place.

Horrible — zero stars. We are big pinball fans — they have a couple of machines, but they charge one dollar per game for 3-​balls, which is a total ripoff, and the machines are not well maintained. They even charge one dollar for skeeball. Atmosphere is bad, crowded, hard to park, etc.
Don’t waste your time.

I was really hyped to come here, especially after Maximilian Dood has a video featuring it. Unfortunately, many of the games had faulty buttons and things not working. They do have some rare gems like some pinball games and even a DDR USA machine in good condition, but overall it just didnt feel like a good arcade. Please fix your games and lll modify my review accordingly

A bit pricey for games but expected for where it us. Love some of the old school video games. Nice atmosphere with the pier but can get crowded. Open late also.

All of the change machines were broken, and we couldn’t find an employee to buy tokens. Ended up leaving.

I love arcades, but this place is pretty bad. A lot of the equipment is very old and broken in some way. Its very difficult to get the puck out of the air hockey table (after you get it in) because the dispenser was broken and damaged and never fixed properly.
Some of the equipment they have is probably 20+ years old. Some of the skee ball machines and air hockey machines are for sure. I remember them when I was younger being the same. So is the big bertha and a lot of the stuff they have.
This place is very expensive when it comes to a lot of games as well. 75 cents to play galaga and a whole bunch of OLD games. This is ridiculous. I’ve never seen anyone charge more than 50 cents, some places are even 25 cents.
This place needs to properly maintain their equipment and replace a lot of it. I love older games, but at least fix them properly.

My son and I regularly visit this arcade and it keeps going downhill. The place is very noisy, which is to be expected, but it is compounded by the volume of the games. When you leave you will be relieved to hear anything other than the arcade noise, which seems to approach 90db.
The biggest con for this place is the condition of the machines. They are poorly maintained, PERIOD. Expect 75% of your quarters to register, and it will be much lower if you play some of the old-​school games.
When the machine eats your money, good luck. The staff is sometimes helpful — and many times not. One guy questioned me about two quarters and when he opened the machine six fell out — all jammed in the slot.
The second biggest con is the pricing. They raised the prices on the older games so it is $ 1 to play anything.
Unfortunately, this is the only game in town — and it is in very bad condition with poor customer service.

Big disappointment! Everything is broken!
I LOVED that they had the really old arcade games here (Big Bertha, Big Mouth [the clown teeth one], the knock down Indian one)…but these were all broken!
One Big Bertha machine ate my money, while the other’s mouth didn’t move, and most of the balls were missing. One clown teeth machine had no air pressure when shooting the balls out, and we only got like 2 balls! The other one just ate our money. The knock down game was the same.
Skee ball worked (the machines were raggedy, but who cares!), and air hockey worked. Perhaps some of the other new machines worked too.
What’s really upsetting is that none of the broken machines had signs on them, so putting quarters in was a gamble. And who’s going to try and chase down an employee to get $ 0.75 out of a machine? This place must be a cash cow for the owners — just don’t bother fixing the machines and dupe people into putting quarters in.
The patrons were often janky too. Even the young children with their parents were climbing all over machines and acting unruly.
Even if you’re looking for a bit of nostalgia, you’re going to be really sorry you came… AVOID!

I love arcades, mainly the ones with classic games not all the new stuff. This arcade has a nice selection. It is not very big though and a few more games would have been nice.
The prices were a bit high though in my opinion. It was 75 cents to play Street Fighter 2 and $ 1 to play Marvel vs Capcom. 50 cents should be the price for these, every other arcade I have been to that has these types of games they have never been more than 50 cents.
They also have about 10 pinball machines which is awesome, but again they are $ 1 to play. The little basketball hoop game also $ 1. If it wasn’t for the price I would have gave this place four stars. Those older games shouldn’t cost so much to play.
It is cool though to see a decent arcade with some classics and pinball machines because you don’t find them that often anymore.

Third star for the number of pinball machines, minus 2 stars for condition and price. The high speed machine rebooted twice, many/​most of the bumpers on the machines were mostly «dead», the south park machine auto shot the ball, etc, but the «cheapest» machines were 75 a play. For a premium per play, the machines should be above average, if not pristine. As I write this, I am debating the 3 stars for having multiple machines and dropping to 2 for charging 75 for machines that tend to be slightly below average. This would be a good time for a half star…

I love the Playland Arcade. It’s where I grew up and will be stamped in my heart forever. First off, I love that it’s a family owned arcade that’s been around for over 50+ years and is still run and owned by the same family. I also love it cuz all the games still take quarters and give actual tickets instead of some dumb plastic card that rips you off and gives points instead of tickets.
Secondly, it’s in an amazing location on the Santa Monica Pier.
3^rd — this arcade has a TON of games! It has skee ball, air hockey, a bunch of pinballs, basketball, a shooting gallery, driving games, claw games, and a whole bunch of new games. It even has a Fruit Ninja and Doodle Jump game!
The Playland Arcade will always be my favorite arcade.

I’m sorry but this place totally blows~
How can you have an arcade store and not have working arcades! the only ones that work are the clunky GIANT ASS racing arcades which I think are boring anyway. HOW CAN THEY NOT HAVE WORKING FIGHTING ARCADES!!! It makes me sad seeing classics like MK or Street fighter arcades pilling dust. If it wasn’t for the air hokey I would give it 1 star. This place needs MANY MANY retro games LIKE METAL SLUG or at least CONTRA!

I would give this place 5 stars if several of the machines weren’t broken.
I know arcade machines are so much more expensive then when I was a child but there’s nothing better than having a couple of happy hour drinks on the Promenade or Rusty’s and then coming down to Playland for a little nostalgia. I wish they had a couple more early 80’s games like Simpsons, TMNT or Randy Savage’s Off-​Road. But always a good time.
Expect to pay at least $ 1 per game for most things. Even the old school games.

There are a lot of old and new games here. They have Doodle Jump and Big Bertha. More of the games were older rather than newer, which is good for those who want to play the classics.
I really liked the basketball shooting games. This is my go-​to at every arcade. There was an adequate amount of balls and they weren’t all flat. Yay!
We had difficulties two times (machine stole my coins and we were missing the puck for air hockey), but we were helped quickly.
Also, the only way they’ll break a $ 50 bill is if you get $ 10 worth of quarters.
The thing that I didn’t like most were the flies flying around. I guess they can’t do anything about it, since it is an open arcade, but they were not fun to dodge while playing games.
Overall, this is a good addition to the pier. The midway games at Pacific Park can get expensive, and this place is a lot cheaper with a lot of options. I deducted two stars because I think it needs a major facelift and because of the flies.

I haven’t been to an Arcade in years!!! So this was definitely fun and I love Skee Ball!!! A nice day day for some video games and walk on the pier.

OKAY its an Arcade so yes its a tourist money trap but come on!
My son saw Zoltar and let me tell you that thing is as real as any psychic! Gave him just what he needed!
Its like the one in BIG just glad he did not ask to be bigger! Glad to see while much of the pier has gone to be Disneyland this place is true to its roots!

On the Santa Monica Pier. bf and I decided to go in a play a game.
Air hockey was the choice.
I kicked his arse. :D
The end!
In better detail, there’s tons of games. so many little kids running around. and kind of looks like it could be the perfect date spot for young adults who are low on funds. Enjoy!

LOVE IT!
This place has stolen a piece of my heart.
They have ALL the OLD SCHOOL arcade games! Skee Ball, rifle shooting games, punching bag games, Dance Dance Revolution, and many more!
I really had fun here. Sure, the tickets are not going to get you much, but I don’t think that’s why anyone would come here.
We had an absolute BLAST!
There’s not too many arcades left here in LA LA land, so I’d recommend if you have any love for such things, to support this amazing establishment!
Will definitely be going here AGAIN AND AGAIN!
PS
I DO NOT agree with some of the other reviews saying it’s dirty and dark and that machines are broken. We both found it clean, well lit, and only saw one or two non functioning games.

For a slightly grimy, old school arcade experience you’ll want to stop by Playland Arcade. They have lots of classics such as Skee Ball, PacMan, pinball and air hockey, as well as some newer games like Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution. Out back they have the kind of rides for little kids that they used to have in front of K-​Mart or grocery stores (carousel, cars, and horses that move up and down over and over again).
The old school games cost 50 cents a pop. The best part is that you don’t have to worry about unused tokens as all the games take quarters. Just use a change machine or find a worker to make change for you.

Cute little arcade located on the Pier…
My favorites:
Skee ball (note — fairly easy to win tickets on the machines. I got the balls all in the 40 and 50 cups!)
Dance Dance Revolution (great work out to burn off calories from a day full of eating) ;-)
Air hockey (competition’s fun!)
Prize selection isn’t that great if you’re in it to win; takes a lot of tickets to get anything ‘decent’.
The arcade is a nice break for an afternoon stroll or just a place to be a kid agian.
It’s a bit crowded but still fun nonetheless!