Arcade Paradise – Starting with our Arcade Lounge – Gameplay No Commentary – IDC Plays
0Are you a 90's kid or young enough to want to experience "the good old days"? Then Arcade Paradise is your game. It's a unique blend of laundry simulator, coming-of-age storytelling, and retro arcade mini-game fun. It takes all the hallmarks of the idle game genre and puts them into something more tangible and is much less a spreadsheet in disguise.
We play Ashley and our rich British father has forced us to work in the family's old, run-down laundromat. We will start each day focused on putting clothes in and out of the washers and dryers as quickly as possible to earn money. Another daily task that we will have to do is to clean up all the rubbish left by our clients and take it to the dumpster nearby, which becomes another fun minigame. To further encourage us to play, we'll discover some vintage arcade machines in a back room, kicking off the endeavor to transform this simple, unassuming laundromat into the liveliest arcade the city has seen in a long time.
Something that catches people’s attention is the style of the user interface. Every goal we achieve reports a pixel-style goal achievement that is both humorous and really cool looking.
The entire game setup captures the best of idle clickers. We have a large number of tasks that we will have to execute manually to start and, with time, we will be able to have it automated thanks to dad's money. Over time, you hardly have to do anything in the laundromat to earn thousands of dollars. It might seem a bit slow at first, but there's no real penalty for ignoring the job if you'd rather play games. It is a calm and relaxing game that allows us to increase stress to earn more money if we want, but it is never an essential requirement.
The game features meters for measuring almost anything you do, so there is a feeling of progression always fueling your dopamine receptors. Even playing the arcade machines can help you level up so that you get more passive income and increase the popularity of your business. We must transfer all the money we earn to the safe before we spend it, which, of course, becomes another minigame.
We have more than 35 fully playable arcade machines. There are some very fun mini-games. A lot of work has gone into the game and the gameplay of most of the titles. Humor is everywhere, and while some games may be too basic to hold our interest, others are very fun to play. In addition, a large number of them have local co-ops, which makes it very attractive.
Each machine has a hopper in which our customers accumulate their money. At first, we will have to collect it ourselves, but later, we can hire an assistant to take care of it.
All the money we get from the laundromat, the machines, and the maintenance work will be in dollars, but we will need sterling pounds to unlock certain improvements, like having the assistant mentioned before. To obtain this currency, we will have to perform a series of daily tasks that will be assigned to us. Some are easy, but others are impossible, and it must be said that this can be a little frustrating. Many of the tasks involve obtaining very high scores in a game, for example.
Visually it's an attractive game that smartly stays within the limits of its budget and scope. Although 99.9% of our time will be spent inside the laundromat and the arcade, the graphics are pretty good. The textures can be quite blurry and low-res up close, especially once you unlock the zoom option, but the arcade itself looks fantastic. It is bright, colorful, and noisy in such a way that it inevitably awakens nostalgia.
When it comes to audio, we must say that there is not much work put into it outside of the arcades, but once we buy the jukebox, we'll be treated to a handful of good songs that we can play while we work.
To manage our salon, purchases, etc. we have a PC inside our office which, by the way, is hilarious for someone who was a teenager in the mid 90's. It's 100% a Windows 98 computer.
In conclusion, Arcade Paradise is a delightful surprise. It's packed with wit, heart, and fun mini-games. It is worth buying it and giving it a try, although you will have to endure the tough beginnings of the laundromat.