Today I present to you one of the best values the world of arcades, an arcade bar that has an astonishing 160 games, ALL set to free play and a $5 flat charge to get in ($10 on the weekend). Not only are the games free, but they are beautiful and work flawlessly. This my friends is Free Play Bar & Arcade in Providence, RI... New England’s largest arcade bar.
This review has been six months in the making. I’ve been talking about visiting Free Play with the arcade’s cool co-owner, Jay Leone, for a while but my travels haven’t brought me near Rhode Island, until this weekend when I went to visit colleges in Connecticut with my oldest son (man time flies).
Let me tell you, it was worth the trip. Since the location is 21 and over, and I had my family along Jay opened it up early for us. We were completely blown away by the location. I had no idea that there would be so many games. Free Play has just about every single classic arcade game you could dream of, from the OGs like Donkey Kong and Galaga to much more rare classics like Zoo Keeper, Food Fight and the Mad Planets that used to reside in John’s Arcade, of YouTube fame (“Hey guys. We’re in the basement!”)
Beyond the classic vids, Free Play has over 20 pinball machines. That’s a big selection. All of the ones that I played worked flawlessly, which is no easy task to accomplish. The list of pins includes all of the popular titles from Bally Williams’ heyday, Theatre of Magic, The Addams Family, Attack From Mars, etc... as well as a number of cool older solid state pins like Sorcerer and Firepower. I spent most of my time on the pins playing NBA Fastbreak because I don’t see that one on location very often.
We’ve covered the classics and pins, but in addition to them Free Play has a ton of newer shooters and racers such as Time Crisis, Mario Cart, Super Bikes AND several dance games. They even had a Candy Cab loaded with Street Fighter III 3rd Strike. Man I want to get a Candy Cab. Those things are hard to come by in the U.S.
Since it was before hours, I didn’t partake in any of the adult beverages, but the selection looked plentiful. The decor was fantastic. Free Play has Neon Signs everywhere. I love Neon (my camera, not so much, it’s tough light to shoot in). The Neon and the roving DJ lights create a super cool vibe.
Those of you who live in Massachusetts are in luck, Free Play is in the process of opening a second location in Worcester, Mass. Here’s a link to Free Play’s website for more info: https://freeplaybar.com
Here is a whopping 80 pics from the visit. That’s not all I took, so I will share the rest on the Knapp Arcade Instagram page. Make sure to visit there for lots of cool arcade pictures.
One thing that I really like is that Jay has an inventory of extra games that he rotates into the location’s lineup to keep things fresh.
Below is a list of Free Play’s current game lineup:
Arcade Games:
1943
Altered Beast
Area 51 Site 4
Arctic Thunder x2
Arkanoid
Asteroids
Bezerk
Black Widow
Blitz 99
Bubbles
Bump n Jump
Burgertime
Castlevania
Centipede
Cheyenne
Circus Charlie
Commando
Cosmotrons
Crazy Climber
Crazy Taxi
Crossbow
Daytona USA sitdown drivers x4
Defender
Demolition Derby
Dig Dug
Discs of Tron
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr.
Donkey Kong 3
Double Dragon
Dragon's Lair
Dungeons & Dragons
Elevator Action
Fast & Furious Super Bikes x2
Frogger
Food Fight
Galaga
Galaga 3
Galaga 88
Gauntlet Legends
Golden Axe
Golden Tee Fore Complete
Gyruss
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Ivan Stewart Off Road
Joust
Jungle King
Jurassic Park 3
Kickman
Killer Instinct
Klax
Mad Planets
Mappy
Marble Madness
Mario Kart GP 2
Marvel vs. Capcom 2
Missile Command
Moon Patrol
Mortal Kombat II
Mouse Trap
Ms. Pacman
NBA Jam Tournament Edition
Neo Geo
Nintendo Playchoice 10
Nintendo Super System
Operation Ghost
Outrun cockpit
Pacman
Pacman Battle Royale 4 player
Pacmania
Paperboy
Pole Position II
Punchout
Q*bert
Qix
Rampart
Return of the Jedi
Road Blasters
Road Runner
Robotron 2084
Rolling Thunder
Silver Strike Bowling
Simpsons 4 player
Sinistar
Smash TV
Space Harrier (Full motion cockpit)
Space Invaders Deluxe
Spiderman
Spy Hunter
Star Wars
Street Fighter II CE
Street Fighter II Turbo
Street Fighter III 3rd Strike
Super Mario Brothers
Super Sprint
T2 (Terminator 2)
Tapper
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Tekken 3
Tekken Tag
Tempest
Tetris
The House of the Dead
Timber
Time Crisis 3
Time Pilot
Toobin
Track & Field
Tron
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Warlords
X-men 6 player
Zoo Keeper
Pinball Machines:
The Addams Family
Attack From Mars
Black Knight 2000
Dr. Dude
F-14 Tomcat
Firepower II
Fishtales
Funhouse
Guns N Roses
Monster Bash
NBA Fastbreak
Phantom of the Opera
Pinbot
Sorcerer
Taxi
Terminator 2
The Simpsons Pinball
Theatre of Magic
Transformers
Whirlwind
Other Games:
Air Hockey Tables x3
Chexx Bubble Hockey
Skee Ball Lanes x4
Pump It Up NX
Dance Dance Revolution Extreme
Dance Dance Revolution Super Nova 2