Empire Amusement Arcade Skegness

Empire Amusement Arcade is centrally located on Grand Parade in the tourist centre of Skegness. It neighbours the Tower Garden Playground to one side and the Plaza Arcade on the other.

Formerly shops with upper living accommodation, this huge venue has recently been transformed into a family entertainment centre, which boasts a huge arcade, full sized ten pin bowling alley, sports bar, American diner and a large café seating area with fantastic views of the Skegness beach and tourist area. There is even an interactive darts section and six pool tables to enjoy. 

Arcade Entrance

The frontage of this entertainment venue is wide and there are several double door entrances. Along the outside is a range of magic claw machines and other crane grabbers for passers-by to enjoy and perhaps entice them inside. 

The ground floor consists of the main amusement arcade area, with an ATM and toilets at the rear. There is also a large prize window along the rear wall and a ticket redemption prize shop, where players can exchange their tickets for a great range of prizes. 

In the central foyer there are many young kiddie rides dotted around and also a double set of escalators and stairs, which take patrons up to the first floor. This is where the ten-lane full-sized bowling alley, pool tables, virtual darts and a fully licenced sports bar and American diner are located alongside the balcony café and another large area of arcade games and machines. 

Coin Pushers

Empire arcade has a fantastic range of both modern and classic arcade coin pushers. There are so many themed modern coin pushers here including Pac Man, Caterpillar, Looney Tunes, Ice Cream, Tom & Jerry, Sweet Falls, Scooby Doo, Deal or No Deal, Homers Doughnut Daze and Rainbow Riches. Many of them have the three reels and payout generous ticket wins. There is also a great range of the latest ticket coin pusher that include an upper feature board where players can win huge ticket jackpots. These include Haunted House, Cops & Robbers, Monopoly and Space Invaders. 

Fans of classic machines will love the Cromptons Carousel coin flippers. With high usage the tuppennys fall generously and there is also a great range of shelf prizes to be won. These include toys, keychains, mini plushies, sweets, lollies and much more. 

Crane Claw Machines

From the rows of Magic Claw machines out the front to the giant Monster Drop Extreme at the rear, there is a wide range of claw grabber crane machines in this amusements complex. There are Block Stackers with gadgets and electricals to win, Sweet Land Premia for those who have a sweet tooth and Find the Key / Tickety Boo style claw machines.  

Near the front entrance there are Toy Box / Shining Cube half-sized machines for pint-size players to enjoy with mini plush prizes such as Steven the Seagull to be won. There is a real crane grabber machine called Happy Minor, which is a four-player game where players control a miniature crane to scoop up sweets as prizes. 

Upstairs there are even more claw machines to enjoy including a Block Stacker, Find a Key golden egg grabbers and Prize Zone ‘prize every time’ games at two pound per play, perfect for little ones, who want to grab hold of a teddy. 

Classic Arcade Games 

Empire Amusements has one of the largest ranges of classic and retro arcade machines in the Skegness area. So if you are a fan of classic style gaming then be sure to check out this venue. 

Fans of arcade racing games will love the row of full-sized two-player Outrun and Sega Rally arcade machines near ground floor left hand entrance. Fans of motorbike racing will love the Moto GP and Fast & Furious Super Bikes (upstairs) to enjoy. Mario Kart DX can also be enjoyed by two-players who want to race and battle at the same time. 

There are several air hockey tables on both floors, and these include Air FX and Pac-Man Smash, which can be played alongside the many pool tables throughout the complex. There are also several variations on the popular Dance Dance Revolution Dance machines available to play and a two-player Guitar Hero game. 

Classic arcade shooting games include The Walking Dead, House of the Dead, Jurassic Park Arcade, Terminator Salvation and Rambo by Sega. Retro fans will also love the Atari Pong table arcade machine, which is a modern remake of the classic game. 

Fairground Games

Quite possibly the strongest suit of the Empire Arcade complex is its huge array of the latest fairground style ticket arcade redemption machines. There is a game of every type available that combine luck and skill to provide an exhilarating experience that can result in big ticket wins. 

On the ground floor players can enjoy Hyper Shoot basketball shooting game, Down the Clown, Milk Jug Toss, Let’s Bounce, Lane Master, Coconut Shy, Ice Ball (skee-ball) and Pixel Chase. There is also a Sink-It game where players have to aim balls into the American style plastic cups.

Keen eyes will also spot the two pence roll-down machines and this venue there are many including Ticket (tomb) Raider, Monopoly and Bingo King. 

Upstairs there are even more fun fair inspired arcade games and these include Down the Clown, Meerkats whack-a-mole, Gold Fishin, Plants Vs Zombies and Sonic (basketball) Allstars. A special mention should be made here to the interactive darts area which has two virtual dart boards next to the bar and these are certainly an ode to the fun fair games of old, whilst being perfectly located next to the bar. 

Big Ticket Arcade Machines

Go big or go home is our motto and it is always encouraged to try out a new giant-sized arcade machine on each visit to find new games to love and achieve high scores and ticket wins on. 

Some fan favourites at the Empire Arcade include Pearl Fishery, Space Balls, Gum Drop, SpongeBob SquarePants Pirates of Bikini Bottom, Space Invaders Frenzy, Pac-Man (Raw Thrills), DC Superheroes, Avengers Stacker, Fishin Frenzy and the Giant Connect 4 two-player game. 

Wheel Spinner Arcade Games

If you love simplicity then check out these fantastic wheel spinner ticket arcade games including Crank It, Fidget Spinner Frenzy, Blue Blast, Monopoly Roll-n-go and Wheel of Fortune, which combines the fun of the popular TV show with single-spin ticket redemption. A unique machine that we discovered is called Paw Patrol, which seems to be similar to the popular Treasure Quest. 

Ticket Slot Machines

There is no shortage of exciting ticket slot machines throughout Empire amusements and most of these can be found in the rear section of the ground floor near the ticket redemption window. 

Empire has a great range of stand-up triples (with upper feature boards) including Pieces of Eight, Temple of (doom) Tickets, Cops and Robbers, Ticket (tomb) Raider and Crazy Chicken, which has a huge jackpot of 1600 tickets!

Players can also enjoy sit-down quadruple versions of the ever-popular Count Dracula and Temple of Tickets. There are many standalone ticket slots in this section also including Adders & Ladders arch-top cabinets and many more. 

£5 Jackpot Fruit Machines

One of the strengths of this arcade is the great range of standalone £5 jackpot fruit machines that are available to play on both floors. With the casino gaming area being located 2 arcades over in the Plaza Casino, it seems there is an abundance of fruit machines here and that suits us fine!

On the ground floor, players can enjoy triple version of Lady Luck Moonstruck, Astra Party Time, Gold Vault, Bullion Bars and many more! There are also standalone fruit machines including Crazy Fruits, Monopoly, Queen, Golden Keys, Hold Your Nerve, Alice’s Wonderland, Deal or No Deal and many more. 

In the fruit machine area, next to the entrance to Carnival Street Amusements, there is also a wide range of Skill Ball style machines including Skill Ball Deluxe, Zingy 2 and Pac-Man Skill Ball. 

On the first floor there are even more fruit machines, and these include the original Rainbow Riches, Monopoly Hot Property and Monopoly Boom or Bust, Clockwork Oranges and Banker’s Birthday. There is also a House of Riches triple upstairs for fans of modern oxo machines. There are further Skill Ball machines here as well. 

Casino Slots Area

With Empire Amusements being internally connected to both Carnival Street and the Plaza arcade, the idea seems to be for the high rollers to play on the casino slots games at the Plaza Casino, with is the adult gaming area, which is only a few meters away. There are however three conveniently located Blueprint gaming machines located in the sports bar upstairs. Perfect for patrons who are watching sporting events or after a game of bowling with friends, whilst having a beer. 

Venue Verdict

Empire is a fantastic entertainment venue, with the convenience of having many amenities under one roof. Being able to wander through the venue, enjoy the bar and bowling upstairs and get to the Plaza without having to step outside makes this a great location to spend a day in both high sun and/or windy rain. 

As with any large entertainment venue we only make mention of a small fraction of the machines and games on offer, so highly recommend enthusiasts visit and explore the great range of fun on offer. 

Empire has a huge range of ticket arcade machines and coin pushers with a huge range of quality prizes that all ages of the family can enjoy together.  Certainly, a Top 5 amusements arcade in the Skegness area. Highly recommended. 

Featured Machine: Rainbow Riches Races Slot Game