As a child of the 90s, I find myself fondly remembering the (short-lived) period when my local mall had an arcade. Something about the sights, sounds, neon aesthetic, and all of those games just brings me back. So, when I saw a trailer for Arcade Paradise, I couldn’t help but feel the urge to check it out.

Arcade Paradise puts you in the shoes of Ashley, a girl who is forced by her father to take over one of his businesses, the laundromat known as King Wash. To her overbearing, successful businessman of a father, she is nothing more than a screwup who should get her act together. To Ashley, all she sees is that he wants her to go into a “Stable” (boring) career and give up her dreams.

At first, you’ll be running mostly laundry, with just a few arcade machines in the back, purchased by Ashley’s sister when she was forced to run the joint as a teen. Over time, however, you’ll start taking steps to phase out the laundromat, slowly building the place into a proper arcade. The interesting thing is that every aspect of your work at King Wash is gamified in one way or another.

Every “chore” in Arcade Paradise is connected to a mini-game of some sort. Whether you are taking out the trash, doing the laundry, cleaning the toilets, or even pulling chewing gum off of things, there are mini-games to keep it interesting. On top of that, you’ll be able to actively play over 35 different arcade games.

Each arcade machine is designed to be its own game, inspired by things such as Brick Breaker, Pac-Man, and a whole lot more. The tradeoff here is that you can’t spend your whole shift playing games. There’s laundry to be done, and the longer it takes to do a load of laundry, the less money you get for it. So, you’ll have to steadily juggle all your responsibilities, trying to make the most of your day and make the most money.

The arcade machines also passively generate money over the course of a day, but you’ll have to go around and empty the hoppers so they don’t get full. You can’t get paid if the arcade machines are too full for people to spend money on them. There are ways to upgrade your arcade too, allowing you to have more machines. Depending on how popular your machines are (and where they’re placed) you may find yourself making more and more money over time.

Additionally, if you can do any of the three To-Do List tasks each day, you’ll get Euros, which you can use to upgrade various aspects of your work. Whether you get a bigger garbage bag that holds more trash or you buy a book that somehow manages to lengthen your workday, these upgrades are worth your time.

Arcade Paradise is the epitome of a time management game. Truth be told, these are not my forte, but there is something strangely compelling about running the laundromat. The story is actually interesting too, and Ashley’s dad is voiced by Doug Cockle who voiced Geralt of Rivia, which is also cool.

The attention to detail in Arcade Paradise is what sells it best though. Every game is fully playable and unique, the mini-games are fun, and they even recorded an entire soundtrack for the game inspired by 80s and 90s classics. I never thought I’d see the day when I’d find myself actively wanting to play a game where I did laundry for a living.

Arcade Paradise does have a few issues though. There were a few instances where I couldn’t pick up certain pieces of trash. Additionally, the font is stylized and can’t really be changed, which I can imagine would be difficult for visually impaired folks or people who are dyslexic. I also had a few crashes, but they were usually at the end of a workday, and I never lost any progress. I also wish there was more room for customization, perhaps giving you the opportunity to decorate the laundromat (and arcade) or simply change its layout beyond where your machines are.

Overall, I love Arcade Paradise. It might seem like a strange concept, but the game itself is almost flawlessly executed. I might even go so far as to say that it is one of my favorite games that has been released this year, especially in terms of Indie games. I can’t recommend it enough. Check out this game if you love management-type things.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Arcade Paradise was provided by Wired Productions for this review.

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Arcade Paradise

$19.99

9.5

Score

9.5/10

Pros

• Tons of Mini Games
• Great Gameplay
• Lots of Attention to Detail
• Fun Management Elements
• Bouncy Retro Inpired Soundtrack

Cons

• A Few Crashes
• Feels Like it is Missing Customization