The boss of a new Swindon arcade has reported having queues out the door at its peak, having opened in the town centre last year.

The High Scores Arcade opened last March in the Brunel Shopping Centre and has remained steadily popular since with Saturdays often selling out.

It lets customers pay a flat fee for an hour of as many games as they can fit in.

Swindon branch manager Angelus Rosenkreuz said: “The opening was absolutely phenomenal. The worst bit about it was having to turn people away. 

“Regularly during those first few opening weeks, it was absolutely roaring.

“The queue was going right out the door so Brunel had to furnish us with several sets of barriers to create a queue line just to organise the chaos that was pouring out of the store.”

The arcade has now even moved its entrance to the ground floor to provide more queuing space for customers.

One reason behind the success is the social element of playing in person, which allows friends to interact and play together as opposed to only through the headset of a games console.

According to Angelus, the games are popular because they are very intuitive and varied.

A racing game requires you to sit on a motorbike and to win at the arcade, while basketball requires the same skills as to win on the court.

The arcade caps the number it lets in to 50 so that there are always plenty of options available.

But High Score Arcade has faced some challenges.

The oldest machine dates back to the 1980s, and while this does attract nostalgic parents, finding spares when the games break can be challenging.

While the arcade is closed Monday to Thursday, it is busy with engineers maintaining the machines for the weekend.

The machines are rotated regularly, with smaller machines changing every two weeks, and bigger ones every year.

Bright with electric light and sound, they also have been hit hard by the energy price surge forcing them to put their prices up.

But Angelus still hears many parents remark at the good value of the arcade, with the £12 entrance fee being cheaper than paying for machines individually.

The arcade is also working hard at drawing a wide crowd - it runs exclusive special education needs sessions each month, and an adult event on Valentine’s Day.

Angelus hinted that the arcade might look to secure a bigger site, with new machines incoming as the arcade revival takes off.