Felixstowe Pier Amusement Arcade

When approaching Felixstowe seafront from the main town, most drivers will arrive via Convalescent hill. From here you are immediately greeted by both the leisure centre and the magnificent Felixstowe Pier. They mark the beginning of the commercial tourist area of Felixstowe beach and a welcome starting point to explore the seafront. There are two large car parks here and plenty of options for disabled access. 

Though, if you’re savvy and prefer not to pay for your parking you might drive to the other end of Sea Road to see if you can find one of the many free on-road parking spaces available. 

It’s likely you will either be walking down the promenade to the pier or looping back toward it. Either way, it stands as a familiar landmark on the coastal landscape that families can use as a meeting point. 

Felixstowe Pier Amenities

Felixstowe Pier provides a great range of facilities with (The Pier Fish Co) a Fish & Chips shop on one side of the main entrance and Lorenzos Ice Cream Parlour on the other. 

Exploring the outer boardwalk of the Pier patrons will soon spot ‘The Boardwalk’ Café / Bar, which wraps around the right-hand side of the pier and provides a large outdoor seating area where it serves lovely restaurant standard meals and a great range of drinks and snacks. 

This includes an outside bar, which seems ideal for summer events and public holidays. There are also many shade umbrellas for when the sun is strong. With indoor seating and direct access to the main amusement arcade, this really is a convenient place to take a break, knowing the kids can play safe in the arcade next door. 

Walking round to the rear of the pier, you will notice that the boardwalk extends a very long way out into the sea. This is sadly off limits to visitors (at present), though there is a great little food kiosk here (The Deck), where visitors can grab a coffee, whilst admiring the views or an ice cream (or even a delicious panini).

Circling back around to the front area of the pier, patrons are greeted by a large mural and the entrance to the main building (which is the amusement arcade in its entirety). At the front there are a range of young kiddie rides, perfectly positioned for photos with ice creams.

Amusement Arcade Atrium

Upon entering, guests will notice the large open plan arrangement of the arcade. With very high ceilings it gives the building a nice airy feel. Keen eyes may even notice the front mural is also a modern-day stained-glass window, shining a rainbow of beautiful colours through into the arcade on a sunny afternoon. 

The open plan layout boasts a mixture of games and machines dotted about the place. There are coin pushers with ticket prizes nestled between the latest giant arcade machines and games. There is a four-player Super Mario Kart DX machine on the right-side wall and an array of arcade games and large fairground style machines. 

Modern coin pushers include Monopoly and Sweet Falls, Minions, Scooby Doo and Tom & Jerry. These have some great shelf prizes including sweets and small toys and keyrings. 

The left-hand side of the atrium is dedicated to the adult over 18’s area. Though just before you enter here, there is a fun Austin Powers £5 jackpot Fruit Machine triple and also a Batman Begins £5 Jackpot triple, both with upper feature boards at 10 pence per play.

These were the only noted £5 Jackpot fruit machines in the venue and it seems like this is a running theme in Felixstowe, where the focus is on kids ticket games or casino machines with not many lower stake (Cat D) machines. 

On our visit, the main arcade was absolutely packed out with kids, and it was even hard to find a space to play on the coin pushers, though the casino area had no more than three or four people in it at any given time, whilst occupying a huge portion of the complex.

Casino Slots Arena

The casino slots area is very large and has a great range of different fruit and slot machines available. There are many different digital slot machine terminals offering the latest and greatest games. They have community slots including Rainbow Riches and Cops & Robbers, Blueprint and Golden Greats terminals and jackpots ranging from £100 to £400 and even some £500 jackpot slots available.

There is also a good range of mechanical fruit machines with £100 jackpots including the 2 classic yet modern Eclipse machines Batman and Queen. There are also several fruit machine triples including Party Time, Bullion Bar X and a Lucky Clover. Dotted around the slots lounge area are also lots of 2-reel mini slot machines with £5 jackpots. These included Crazy Fruits and Clockwork Orange branded machines, which are just a fun side game to play on. 

There are also several modern change machines and a drinks machine in this area for added convenience. 

Mini Bowling(o)

Exiting the casino slots area and heading to the rear of the complex, visitors are greeted by a long row of crane claw grabber machines and also some modern ticket roll-down machines. Just behind this is a 6 lane Mini Bowling / Bowlingo area, which is directly opposite the prize shop. There was a queue to exchange tickets for prizes when we visited though this was in peak season and the arcade was packed full, so it was to be expected. 

The prize shop stocks a fantastic range of prizes available from electronics to plush toys and teddies to sweets and lollies. There is something satisfying for everyone. 

Venue Verdict

A 'no expense spared' venue with a huge range of the latest games and modern arcade machines. 

From ticket coin pushers and fun fairground games to casino slots and mini bowling, there really is something for the entire family here. Great entertainment, fun modern games and the chance to win big around every corner. 

Featured Machine: Fishbowl Frenzy ticket machine