West Seattle Arcade scores major points for family fun on Alki; Grand opening July 17

May 01, 2024

Matt and Elyssa Cichy spent many hours of research and preparation to finally bring the West Seattle Arcade to life. A wide variety of games from pinball, to video, to driving and prize games provide a broad appeal.

photo by Patrick Robinson

Sat, 07/15/2023

Most great business ideas meet a need and that's so clearly the case with the West Seattle Arcade. Owners Matt and Elyssa Cichy drew on Matt's background both in arcades and technical expertise and Elyssa's retail experience and understanding of family dynamics to create the new business. Located in the former Top Pot Doughnuts location at 2758 Alki Ave SW the arcade is a feast for the eyes and ears.

It's set to open Monday July 17.

So many different games are available it's a challenge to catalog them all. Among them are driving games, pure video games, prize games, sports games, classic and new pinball games, dance games, claw games and some that defy description.

West Seattle Arcade is not like the old quarter driven days. In fact there's no cash on site. It's all operated by credits that are loaded on cards purchased via a machine on the game floor or at the Prize counter. Speaking of prizes there is a wide array you can win through successful game play. The credits are the equivalent of 25 cents.

Matt has a long history in the arcade business. His father operated the Waterfront Arcade in Seattle for many years and his brother still has one in Bremerton. But Matt left the industry for "a couple of decades" to go into software design and web development. He and Elyssa, whom he met playing air hockey, both love games and even have "about a dozen" in their West Seattle home. Matt's understanding of how the games work is invaluable since he can fix them or even rebuild them from parts if necessary. Elyssa worked at Click Design That Fits where she did office work, payroll and more but also raised a family and saw the value in games that require skill and a competitive spirit.

The couple spent a few weeks in Japan last fall doing research in arcades, gathering ideas and that resulted in not only falling in love with the culture there but bringing some of it back to West Seattle. It's reflected in some of prizes offered and in some of the games, at least one of which shouts at you in Japanese when you win. "We still don't understand what it's saying" Matt said laughing.

The Arcade will not serve food, though people can bring confections like cake in, to be served in the party area where seating is provided. It's also not a "barcade" meaning no alcohol will be served or permitted on site. This is in keeping with a very wide demographic appeal. Some games are meant for younger kids and others for teens and adults. Some are very singular in their appeal and others are competitive.

Matt pointed to a classic 1981 pinball machine called Xenon (Zee-Non) that plays beautifully, sitting just next to a 1991 Addam's Family game that he had to hand paint part of, next to a completely new Godzilla game. There's a state of the art Air Hockey game, an Asphalt 9 competitive driving game whose hydraulic action tilts and moves the players wildly as they drive, a mini-hoops game that requires timing and skill, older and newer sink the ship games, 45 in all somehow arrayed in that space.

"We have five games that we imported from an arcade in Japan. And they operate in Japanese. They're very interesting to play like this gun bullet behind you. It's just a fun shooting game. It's very self-explanatory what you do, but because it's in Japanese, it just has that extra level of brightness and like cartoon character," said Elyssa.

The games are not inexpensive so this represents a considerable investment. Pinball machines for example can cost between $6500 to $10,000 each. As new games are developed and brought to market they are shown at conventions where arcade owners like Matt and Elyssa can check them out.

"We really thought this was something West Seattle needed," Matt said, " and we took our time thinking about how it might work and what to include."

They even provide noise reduction ear muffs for people sensitive to sound.

It's a family business, aimed squarely at fun for families and really has something for everyone.

West Seattle Arcade will open at 11am on Weekdays and 10am on Fridays and Saturdays closing at 10pm Sunday through Thursday and 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

______________________________