… Back in time.
To a world where fun only cost a pocketful of change.
Where analog rules and digital drools!
Welcome to the Manitou Springs Penny Arcade, a blast from the past with such “back in the day” vibes, even its name is old school! But while pennies may no longer be getting manufactured, the Penny Arcade is still going strong — more than 90 years later!
So what’s their secret?
“It’s just a taste of the past. It’s just fun. It’s inexpensive. It’s family friendly. It’s technology, but it’s not on the cell phone. It’s old-school technology,” current owner John Weiss told 11 News last year.
You’ll often hear the Penny Arcade before you actually see it: the bells, the chimes, the bleeps, the bloops, the pows!
Then come the throwback white and red buildings, eight in all, boasting more than 450 games and kiddie rides.
“This arcade has been here almost 100 years, and it was in the same family for generations,” said Carol White, the Penny Arcade’s food and beverage director.
It got its start as a gaming hall in 1933 before its founder, Jack Kerns, pivoted to an arcade model after being informed by the Colorado attorney general that for-profit bingo games were illegal. A number of games still in operation at the arcade date back to those early Depression-era days, with some appearing even older than that!
“We do have those vintage games that actually still take a penny, still take a nickel, still take a dime,” said employee Alex Manjarres. “So they’re very old games.”
Keeping those old games playable in the 21st century takes a lot of specialized maintenance.
“Derby is amazing,” White said of one the arcade’s most popular attractions, a sort of “skeeball meets horse racing” mashup. “And that game was built in England many decades ago. So when we need parts, we have to go back [overseas].
“We have outside mechanics that come in and we have a few mechanics on staff too,” she continued. “And that is their whole job, is to keep things running. You know, everything from coins jamming to making sure that all the games are operating.”
To even get hired in those aforementioned mechanic roles takes having a special know-how about maintaining these older games.
“It definitely takes some expertise,” White said. “It’s interesting to me that there are people out there who can repair these things.”
But if peepshows, dancing clowns and knicker-clad English football players aren’t your speed, the arcade offers plenty of more modern arcade fare, including rooms full of video games! Many of those offerings still come with something gens z and Alpha may not be all that familiar with: a joystick!
“One of the things that brings me joy is seeing some of the parents showing their kids the games that they grew up playing,” Manjarres said. “You’ll see parents talking to their kids, bringing them up to the game and saying, like, ‘Oh, this is how the game’s played.’ Some of the younger kids just don’t know how some of these old games actually worked.”
All keeping in the arcade’s self-proclaimed mission and vision statement: “To inspire joy, connection, and retro fun for all through the preservation of our historic penny arcade. … To be the most beloved destination for vintage arcade nostalgia on the planet, in the universe, and in the multiverse.”
It may be an oldie, but it’s most definitely still a goodie; just this month, the Manitou Springs Penny Arcade was named the top U.S. arcade west of the Mississippi River and fifth best in the entire country by SIXT travel magazine.
“Over 200 arcades across the country were analyzed by SIXT magazine,” White said. “They looked at a lot of different things. For us, what they really talked about was the level of experience for visitors and that we are just a charming, old-fashioned arcade where you can find vintage games.”
While the Penny Arcade still — very intentionally — has one foot firmly in the past, it’s equally determined to evolve with the times.
Manjarres was hired to manage the arcade’s newest offering: the snack bar!
“I like the opportunity to come here, start from scratch a snack bar, and offer not just the tourists but the locals high-quality fast food. Make sure that they can enjoy the arcade and enjoy good food while they’re here,” Manjarres said.
Many of the snack bar’s items have a decidedly 21st century feel: paninis, smoothies with fresh fruit, locally produced coffee, vegan and gluten-free options. But, as with everything else Manitou Springs Penny Arcade, there’s history there.
“It is modern snack bar, but we do want to do the basically the old school vibe of having a snack bar … so we do have like the striped uniforms and the paper hats,” Manjarres explained.
Operating out of the very location the Penny Arcade previously had a snack bar, way back when!
“The area is based on model of the snack bar the original arcade owners operated in the historic Skeeball building decades ago,” the Penny Arcade said in a news release announcing the snack bar’s Aug. 9 grand opening.
Along with the snack bar, how does the Penny Arcade plan to keep up with the times, to continue to appeal to new, ever-more-techy generations, while simultaneously maintaining its retro spirit?
“I think it takes focus,” White said. “I think it takes paying attention to what people are doing, what they want to play, and making sure that it’s operational, that things work.”
In other words, just like the games it offers, not over-complicating things. Because sometimes, even in our AI age, nothing beats laughing with your family while trying to shoot wooden ducks and win a few tickets!
QUICK FACTS ABOUT THE MANITOU SPRINGS ARCADE:
Located at 930 Manitou Ave.
Open seven days a week (except for Christmas Day)
Started in 1933 and remains to this dayone of the largest west of the Mississippi.
Eight rooms with more than 450 games and kiddie rides.
Website:manitouspringsarcade.com/
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