Funtopia Amusement Arcade Southend

Funtopia Amusements is part of Adventure Inside venue, which is part of the Adventure Island theme park in Southend. Centrally located, the wider amusement park occupies a large area on both sides of the Southend Pier, which stretches out over a mile into the Thames estuary and claims to be the longest pleasure pier in the world!

The wider complex is free to walk around, and they have some good deals on the amusement park rides if you book in advance. The Adventure Inside building is large and a great place to start exploring the park. Inside the building, visitors are greeted by a large carousel style merry-go-round and a selection of food and drink kiosks and seating. 

Behind the merry-go-round there are stairs that lead down and open into a large lower ground floor area, and this is where the Funtopia arcade is located. At the rear of the building is a gigantic kid’s soft play area which spans the lower and ground floors all the way to the ceiling. This play area offers an exciting adventure for every budding explorer!

Lower Ground Arcade Zone

Walking down the main staircase will take visitors directly into the middle of the arcade and here there are many different arcade games presented around a large pirate ship in the middle. The pirate theme seems to feature in many different parts of the venue so see if you can spot any other pirate treasures!

Coin Pushers

In the middle of the lower ground floor is the coin pusher section. Here there is a great range of modern ticket paying coin pusher games and these included Clockwork Oranges, Snakes and Ladders and Space Reels. There is also a circular pirate themed coin pusher with a large pirate standing on top carrying a chest of gold! Behind this is another coin pusher called Pirates Treasure, which is a six-player game with a colourful design. 

To the side of this section is the main change kiosk and prize shop. Here, one can exchange tickets for prizes and also purchase credits on a card system that many of the machines accept. The idea is that you load credits on the game card for cash and they give you additional games to incentivise it’s use. 

This is also the main way to pay for some of the larger arcade machines which do not accept cash, so be sure to head to the change kiosk to ask about how game card the system works, and a friendly staff member will be on hand to help. 

Amusement Park Side Area

Next to the change kiosk is a walkway through to another section which also houses a huge amount of classic and modern arcade games. There is a café in this area and also the main entrance from the lower ground floor outside to the theme park ride area. There are also customer toilets in this area. 

Crane Claw Machines

There is a large amount of different crane claw machines across both sections of the arcade. These are mainly placed along the outer walls and only accept the game card payment system. The range of claw grabbers here is impressive and they have many modern machines such as the E-Claw and Shining Cube for pint-sized players. As well as modern machines there are also some retro style crane machines where you can win sweets and lolly prizes.

The range of prizes on offer at Funtopia is impressive and most of the plush time wins are branded quality toys including Disney characters such as Micky, Minnie, Donald, Bambi, Pluto Lilo & Stitch and many more cartoon classics. They also had Spiderman, Hello Kitty and miniature Steven Seagull to win.  

Classic Arcade Games 

Interestingly Funtopia amusements has some retro and classic treasures that have been converted to the modern game card system. 

In the main arcade one can find Star Wars Trilogy Arcade and Star Wars battle pod. Two licenced classics that any retro arcade machines enthusiast will love. There is also a Guitar Hero arcade game in here as well as Space Invaders joystick cabinet and two pinball machines – Star Wars and Ghost Busters. 

Exploring the amusement park side area will make any classic arcade enthusiast happy as there are even more classic games to be played in here. There are two air hockey table games and a row of classic arcade racing games including Overdrive, Dead Heat NOS, Batman Racing and Mario Kart DX. Fans of arcade shooting games will be happy to find Terminator Salvation, Aliens Armageddon, Halo Fireteam Raven and even a Sega Rambo game. 

Fairground Ticket Arcade Machines

If you enjoy playing aiming and skilful fairground games with friends, then Funtopia amusements has you covered. There is a great range of fairground style ticket games in both the main arcade and the side area. 

In the main arcade one can enjoy Down the Clown, Milk Jug Toss, Big Bass Wheel and Carnival Cups. There is also Fishbowl Frenzy and Genie’s Jewel. If you love shooting games, then there is also Skill Shooter and Air Sniper featuring both handguns and sniper rifles. 

In the side arcade one can enjoy the Sideshow shooting game and Wild West Shootout. There is also a machine called Up & Away which is like a modern skee ball style arcade machine. 

Big Ticket Arcade Machines

Go big or go home! Check out the Space Invaders Frenzy game where you get to play the classic space invaders style shooting game on a huge modern screen with tickets as prizes. There is also a two player Lane master Bowling machine tucked at the rear of the arcade next to a young kiddies ride-on train.

Adult Gaming

With this venue being geared toward families and younger children, there are no ticket slot machines, Fruit Machines or Casino slots here. With the huge amount of fun things to do in both Funtopia and the wider Adventure Island, adult gaming machines aren’t needed to have a great day. 

Venue Verdict

Funtopia is an absolute must-visit for anyone going to Southend. To be able to simply walk around and explore this arcade venue is a pleasure for any groups or families. With lots of different food options and fun ticket arcade games with convenient game card system, this is a perfect safe space to let your little ones run around and have fun in. 

A perfect venue to enjoy when the weather isn’t perfect, Funtopia amusements can be visited in all seasons come rain or shine. Check for opening times direct on the Adventure Island website.

Featured Machine: Star Wars Battle Pod Arcade Machine