Inside the new High Score Arcade in the Brunel Shopping Centre

In the last few weeks High Score Arcade has slowly been putting together a new branch of their free-play Arcade business inside the Brunel Shopping Centre and it will finally be opening to the public on March 4.

But, we were able to take a sneak peek inside before opening to see how they'd transformed the two-story former Waterstones bookstore into the place of every child's dreams. 

The former Waterstones bookstore is now a free-play arcade venue (Image: Newsquest)

Manager Angelus showed us around and explained a little bit about what the people of Swindon can expect. 

"High Score Arcades actually started because of lockdown and covid," he said. 

“It’s owned by a company called Corporate Amusement Solutions who take arcade games and rent them out to businesses and corporate clients, but that dried up when the pandemic hit, so they thought what else can we do to hit the ground running and High Score was born.

“With our arcades we’re essentially warehousing our machines we’d usually hire out to corporations and making them available to the public while we’re doing so.”

The entrance to High Score Arcade in Swindon (Image: Newsquest)

The company will buy old and broken arcade games in a state of disrepair and will recycle and repair them, to bring them back into use.

This allows them to use the free-play concept which means that people pay an entry fee and are then given a timeslot within which they can play whatever they want, however many times they want.

“We did a lot of research into how much people spend at existing arcades where you pay per amusement and we beat that by a country mile,” Angelus added.

Currently, there are 100 physical game cabinets, but there will be over 200 playable games, and that number is also set to rise as well.

Capacity for each session will also be set at 55 people to begin with, while they’re working out the new space and what feels right.

“The Swindon store is our biggest in terms of the number of machines and the second biggest in terms of size. We also have two floors full of great games which is unusual for us so we need to work out how things will work.

“But there will always be more games than people in each session and we’re aiming for something close to a two-to-one ratio of machine and person.”

The new arcade has caused quite a buzz in the area, with several passing shoppers stopping to look or ask questions.

“When we look for a location we try to gauge what the needs of location are and see if we fit in, and we think we do in the Brunel Shopping Centre. Since moving in there’s been a lot of hype, and we’re forever introducing ourselves to inquisitive people walking past.”

Inside the new High Score Arcade in Swindon's Brunel Shopping Centre (Image: Newsquest)

The new arcade has created seven new jobs in the area, and Angelus has moved over from another branch.

Angelus said: "Our staff are there to help make the experience better, they can help with working out the games, and they might even be up for a challenge or two!"

The new arcade opens to the public on March 4, and will be open Friday evenings, Saturdays and Sundays.

It has also been given special permission by the Brunel Shopping Centre, which usually closes at 6pm, to remain open until 8pm. 

The arcade is also fully accessible on both floors and runs several Special Educational Needs events throughout the year, where the volume on the machines is turned down and the capacity is reduced.