I grew up going to Chuck E. Cheese. The tokens were not cheap, and every game required a token (or sometimes, even two). In the world of Chuck E. Cheese, you never want to waste a token on a game that doesn’t give out a lot of tickets. The strategy is to stand and watch how other kids (or adults) are playing it first and see if it’s easy to win a lot of tickets. Then, when the moment is right, it’s your turn to play. I’ve always found it interesting when I see kids putting a coin into the machine but have absolutely no idea how to play the game. Sometimes they would walk away before the game ends, and I would get to play the rest of the game for them. No wonder they have so few tickets even with so many coins.
It has been so many years since I’ve set foot in Chuck E. Cheese or even played any arcade game, but on this special day, I was given a card with thirty minutes of unlimited play at Cal Bowl. Not only is there bowling at Cal Bowl, but there is also a small arcade with a good selection of games. With this card, I am able to play whatever game I wanted to without having to think about how much it costs to play each game. The only caveat was that you have to wait 90 seconds between each swipe, and you can’t play the same game too many consecutive times. This was actually pretty frustrating, because when you only have thirty minutes, 90 seconds is a long time.
For my first few games, I played games that I’ve never played before. Swipe after swipe, I would try a different game. I’ve never felt so rich. As time passed, I naturally gravitated towards the games that gave me more tickets, which also led me to find my new favorite game: Grand Piano Keys. In this game, all you have to do is press the piano key that matches the colored tile on the screen. The more you hit, the more points you get. If you make a mistake, there is a pause before you can continue. I was able to hit over 80 keys within the given time, and earned a couple hundred of points in just one game! I played this game so many times that the machine wouldn’t let me continue, so I went to find another game.
My next favorite game was the one where you drop a coin and watch it push the other coins into the hole. This was fun, but required more patience and took up more time. If you are lucky and there’s already a lot of coins near the hole, you have a much higher chance of getting more points. Otherwise, it will take some time before the coins get close to the edge! I ran back and forth between this machine and the Grand Piano Keys game, and ended up with enough points to get a Super Mario Super Star and a Snorlax plush!
It was so much fun getting to play so many games, so many times – and without needing to think about whether I am getting my money’s worth of points or tickets! Rather than trying to get as many points with one token, I was focused on getting the most points in the shortest amount of time. This is definitely an experience I would never forget!
Would I ever buy my own unlimited play card? No, it is not worth it. With the 90 second rule, so much time is wasted while your thirty minutes is still counting down. There also aren’t too many good prizes on the lower end of points, so unless you end up with a lot of points, you won’t get anything that’s good. However, if you don’t have enough points, you are allowed to combine points with someone else to get the prize you want!