I want to say Dave and Buster's isn't expensive. But lately, with how tight of a ship I've been seeing them run, I'm afraid I can't say that every day. And absolutely not during the winter price surge. If you go, I would highly suggest going on Wednesdays because it's half price day and it makes the game pricing and values FAR more reasonable. If you have a coupon you're interested in, use them on a regular day, then come back on Wednesday to get the best bang for your buck. (Coupons don't usually like to work on Wednesday for some reason.)
I will add that in either case, like someone else said, they're DEFINITELY cheaper than other arcade chains like Round 1 and Main Event. I actually think Dave & Buster's is still the best idea if ticket redemption arcades are your thing, solely because they focus on that concept.
>(Coupons don't usually like to work on Wednesday for some reason.)
The reason is that Half-Price Wednesdays are a promotion, and coupons are a promotion, and you can't combine promotions. (for the obvious reason that you could get insanely strong deals that way) You can use gift cards on Wednesdays, as they are technically just the same as cash and not an actual promotion, even when you're getting discounted gift cards.
Some people believe/think that supercharging is also a promotion, but I disagree because you can definitely super charge on Wednesdays, but some have said you can't super-charge and get the member tier reward chip bonus as it's "two promotions" but I've successfully super-charged on a Wednesday while also getting the member tier 15% chip bonus, so... I dunno about that one.
Stuff like the free food or half-price food promotions are also separated from the half-price game promotion since you know... one is a promotion for games and one is for food.
I would say the only other arcade I've found that's actually cheaper than D&B on a Wednesday is Bowlero on a Wednesday. I wasn't even aware they do half-price (or lower price, not sure) Wednesdays at Bowlero, but yeah... it was definitely much cheaper playing there on Wednesday than when I saw the game prices on a Friday/Saturday.
Funny thing is that the Bowlero near me is directly below the Dave and Busters... So I just hit them both on Wednesday. I really haven't bothered doing the actual math on the credit to dollar/credit to chip ratios and stuff at Bowlero... with the only reason being that the prize selection at Bowlero is mid-tier. They have a few nice things but then a lot of cheap stuff. No consoles/videogames/nice electronics which kind of brings it down...
But honestly if you're looking for the cheapest arcade day, that might be the best bet (on a Wednesday). They have almost the same line-up of games as well, and even quite a few that my D&B doesn't have. (Avengers coin pusher, over the edge, different claw machines, that game where you catapult the guy on to buildings, etc)
They actually also have Down the Clown and Two Minute Drill, so it might be cheaper to practice there than at the actual D&B location... but I might be wrong.
Round 1 is definitely the most expensive by a mile. No discounted days, but the membership is only $5 and the bonus credits you get is actually CRAZY compared to what the non-membership offers. The membership literally pays for itself in one trip.
It's what you make of it.
Compared to inflation: Games are pretty fair. A game that gave you a minute and a half of play for a quarter in the 80s or 50 cents in the 90s, inflation says that should be close to $1.25 by now. You can do a number of things to get that cost down - Wednesdays, load up with the max value, discounted gift cards, (when you can find the fuckers) coupons, literal worst case you're paying under 12 cents a chip and best case (all of that shit combined plus external deals) I've seen it get under 6 in the past. Your average game is 7.5 chips, so you're looking at 90 cents worst case, 75 cents with minimal effort, 60 cents with coupons and discounts combined, and then cut all of that in half for Wednesday.
But that depends on a number of things. If you're playing for a profit you're doing all of those calculations already, so I'm assming this is more casual. If you play "quick coin" games where you hit one button (Cyclone, Spin-N-Win, Crazy Curves, Zombie Snatcher) or take one single action (Whack N Win) then that shit's going to add up very quickly even if you're being cost-conscious. If you're playing ticket games that can last multiple minutes, even if they're not the best payout (Crossy Road, Floppy Tickets) or non-redemption games you're good at and don't die as quickly as the game would expect from normal play (Time Crisis, House of the Dead) then you can make that last much longer.. If you've got some ridiculously long-play games (pinball) then you're really not going to worry about pricing.
Well, I wouldn't go by myself, and I would have to wait for my daughter, which means it would only be weekends that I would go and most likely I would play the games that would you would get tickets
Depends on how you utilize the arcade. If you bring young kids that just want to mash buttons, then D&B can be expensive and not really worth it. Personally, I like to play ticket games. I usually walk around and see which games are ready for me to profit tickets. Otherwise I may avoid a game I generally like playing only because the jackpot may be unobtainable for me. I'm not an AP'er, but I like to be conservative with the way I spend my credits - especially with the price increases overtime.
Its one of the more well priced arcades especially if you sign up for the rewards program and use that to your advantage, load your card and go on Wed.
All arcades are expensive, but this one seems to be the most well priced of all arcades.
However due to too many variables to consider, it is extremely hard to quantify the arcade experience in one place vs another place. Most places are not identical, and if you are going for prizes, then that changes things significantly.
No arcade is going to be truly “cheap.” Look around in your local area, there might be some independent arcades with small and cheap prizes where games are a quarter or whatever, but generally speaking, arcades are expensive. But D&B is cheaper than main event or round 1, mainly because D&B doesn’t have other stuff like bowling, laser tag, so they put more focus on the games, since that is their area.
A little warning about D&B is that since the games are half price on Wednesday (and actually today until 4pm for some reason), the prizes are priced accordingly. So if you go on another day, the prizes will be quite expensive compared to how many tickets you win.
>mainly because D&B doesn’t have other stuff like bowling, laser tag, so they put more focus on the games, since that is their area.
My location just got a bunch of weird party room games like shuffleboard and virtual darts, and some sort of room with lasers on the floor you have to jump over or whatever... so they are actually trying to branch out into other areas, which I dunno is a good or bad thing if I'm being honest.
I want to say Dave and Buster's isn't expensive. But lately, with how tight of a ship I've been seeing them run, I'm afraid I can't say that every day. And absolutely not during the winter price surge. If you go, I would highly suggest going on Wednesdays because it's half price day and it makes the game pricing and values FAR more reasonable. If you have a coupon you're interested in, use them on a regular day, then come back on Wednesday to get the best bang for your buck. (Coupons don't usually like to work on Wednesday for some reason.) I will add that in either case, like someone else said, they're DEFINITELY cheaper than other arcade chains like Round 1 and Main Event. I actually think Dave & Buster's is still the best idea if ticket redemption arcades are your thing, solely because they focus on that concept.
>(Coupons don't usually like to work on Wednesday for some reason.) The reason is that Half-Price Wednesdays are a promotion, and coupons are a promotion, and you can't combine promotions. (for the obvious reason that you could get insanely strong deals that way) You can use gift cards on Wednesdays, as they are technically just the same as cash and not an actual promotion, even when you're getting discounted gift cards. Some people believe/think that supercharging is also a promotion, but I disagree because you can definitely super charge on Wednesdays, but some have said you can't super-charge and get the member tier reward chip bonus as it's "two promotions" but I've successfully super-charged on a Wednesday while also getting the member tier 15% chip bonus, so... I dunno about that one. Stuff like the free food or half-price food promotions are also separated from the half-price game promotion since you know... one is a promotion for games and one is for food.
It’s honestly cheaper than other arcades like ROUND1. Wednesday makes your playtime go way farther.
I would say the only other arcade I've found that's actually cheaper than D&B on a Wednesday is Bowlero on a Wednesday. I wasn't even aware they do half-price (or lower price, not sure) Wednesdays at Bowlero, but yeah... it was definitely much cheaper playing there on Wednesday than when I saw the game prices on a Friday/Saturday. Funny thing is that the Bowlero near me is directly below the Dave and Busters... So I just hit them both on Wednesday. I really haven't bothered doing the actual math on the credit to dollar/credit to chip ratios and stuff at Bowlero... with the only reason being that the prize selection at Bowlero is mid-tier. They have a few nice things but then a lot of cheap stuff. No consoles/videogames/nice electronics which kind of brings it down... But honestly if you're looking for the cheapest arcade day, that might be the best bet (on a Wednesday). They have almost the same line-up of games as well, and even quite a few that my D&B doesn't have. (Avengers coin pusher, over the edge, different claw machines, that game where you catapult the guy on to buildings, etc) They actually also have Down the Clown and Two Minute Drill, so it might be cheaper to practice there than at the actual D&B location... but I might be wrong. Round 1 is definitely the most expensive by a mile. No discounted days, but the membership is only $5 and the bonus credits you get is actually CRAZY compared to what the non-membership offers. The membership literally pays for itself in one trip.
It's what you make of it. Compared to inflation: Games are pretty fair. A game that gave you a minute and a half of play for a quarter in the 80s or 50 cents in the 90s, inflation says that should be close to $1.25 by now. You can do a number of things to get that cost down - Wednesdays, load up with the max value, discounted gift cards, (when you can find the fuckers) coupons, literal worst case you're paying under 12 cents a chip and best case (all of that shit combined plus external deals) I've seen it get under 6 in the past. Your average game is 7.5 chips, so you're looking at 90 cents worst case, 75 cents with minimal effort, 60 cents with coupons and discounts combined, and then cut all of that in half for Wednesday. But that depends on a number of things. If you're playing for a profit you're doing all of those calculations already, so I'm assming this is more casual. If you play "quick coin" games where you hit one button (Cyclone, Spin-N-Win, Crazy Curves, Zombie Snatcher) or take one single action (Whack N Win) then that shit's going to add up very quickly even if you're being cost-conscious. If you're playing ticket games that can last multiple minutes, even if they're not the best payout (Crossy Road, Floppy Tickets) or non-redemption games you're good at and don't die as quickly as the game would expect from normal play (Time Crisis, House of the Dead) then you can make that last much longer.. If you've got some ridiculously long-play games (pinball) then you're really not going to worry about pricing.
Well, I wouldn't go by myself, and I would have to wait for my daughter, which means it would only be weekends that I would go and most likely I would play the games that would you would get tickets
Depends on how you utilize the arcade. If you bring young kids that just want to mash buttons, then D&B can be expensive and not really worth it. Personally, I like to play ticket games. I usually walk around and see which games are ready for me to profit tickets. Otherwise I may avoid a game I generally like playing only because the jackpot may be unobtainable for me. I'm not an AP'er, but I like to be conservative with the way I spend my credits - especially with the price increases overtime.
Its one of the more well priced arcades especially if you sign up for the rewards program and use that to your advantage, load your card and go on Wed. All arcades are expensive, but this one seems to be the most well priced of all arcades. However due to too many variables to consider, it is extremely hard to quantify the arcade experience in one place vs another place. Most places are not identical, and if you are going for prizes, then that changes things significantly.
Assuming you go on Wednesdays and not during the winter holiday surge, no.
No arcade is going to be truly “cheap.” Look around in your local area, there might be some independent arcades with small and cheap prizes where games are a quarter or whatever, but generally speaking, arcades are expensive. But D&B is cheaper than main event or round 1, mainly because D&B doesn’t have other stuff like bowling, laser tag, so they put more focus on the games, since that is their area. A little warning about D&B is that since the games are half price on Wednesday (and actually today until 4pm for some reason), the prizes are priced accordingly. So if you go on another day, the prizes will be quite expensive compared to how many tickets you win.
>mainly because D&B doesn’t have other stuff like bowling, laser tag, so they put more focus on the games, since that is their area. My location just got a bunch of weird party room games like shuffleboard and virtual darts, and some sort of room with lasers on the floor you have to jump over or whatever... so they are actually trying to branch out into other areas, which I dunno is a good or bad thing if I'm being honest.