South Pier Amusement Arcade Blackpool

The South Pier is one of three piers located on the Blackpool Promenade. As the name suggests, it is the southern most of the three piers, with each Blackpool pier representing a tourist hotspot of attractions across the Blackpool Golden mile. The promenade stretches for nearly seven miles, though the Golden Mile tourist area represents around 1.7 miles of this today. 

Located opposite Station Road, views of the South Pier can be admired from the third floor of the popular Wetherspoons - the Velvet Coaster, situated close by on the Promenade. Beachside the Grosvenor Casino and Sandcastle Waterpark are located next door, and the famous Blackpool Pleasure Beach is just a three-minute walk away.

Being so close to the Pleasure Beach, South Pier is perfect for amusement park ride enthusiasts as it is the widest pier, and it has the largest assortment of theme park rides and arcade sideshows - just like a funfair. 

Visitors can enjoy two bars, a huge range of food and drinks kiosks serving all the best seaside staples and also many sideshow games where players can win prizes for aiming and shooting prowess. There’s a Helter Skelter, Roller Coaster, Waltzer, Merry-go-round Carousel and Sky screamer that propels thrill-seekers 200ft into the air. 

The main amusement arcade is located in the front building of the pier, though there is also a second arcade, found further down the pier. 

Arcade Entrance

Entering the front of the South Pier Arcade, there is a lower ground foyer area with young kiddie rides and EX-1 claw grabbers. Alongside various arcade games, this is where the Camel Derby Game is located. Though not the largest in Blackpool, this Derby Racer is Camel-themed and is great fun to play with the entire family. 

The front area then leads up five or so steps to the main amusement arcade, which opens out into a gorgeous Big Top Circus style area, giving it an instant funfair aesthetic. Not only is big top ceiling area pleasure to view, there are also old-time circus signs decorating the walls to match the fairground style décor.

In this large space there are many arcade machines of all types and also a large Prize Shop with many change and ticket eater machines close by.

Coin Pushers

The South Pier Amusements has a fantastic range of coin pusher arcade machines, and these range from classic coin pushers to modern ticket coin pushers to the latest closed loop pusher hybrids.

Classic coin pushers to look out for include large rectangular machines including Noble Knight, Surfers Paradise, Bingo Pharaohs Treasure. Classic circular coin pushers include Route 66, Let’s Twist Again, Coronation Street and the beautiful / rare Bar-X Electro-coin Coin Pusher. 

They have a selection of modern ticket paying coin pushers too and these include Rainbow Riches, Caterpillar and Scooby Doo. There is also a Let’s Go Bingo coin pusher that has the upper bingo feature board that can be activated for big ticket wins.

South Pier also has a couple of examples of the latest self-contained closed loop ticket redemption coin pushers, and these include the two-player SpongeBob SquarePants Pineapple Arcade and also a row of three Pearl Fishery, which is a closed loop ball pusher game.

A special mention should be made for the lovely two-player Happy Pigs coin flipper, which is a classic game where players have to try and flip two pence coins into the pigs opening and closing mouth for a ticket prize. A very fun and addictive classic game to look out for. 

Crane / Claw Machines

The South Pier Arcade has many arcade claw machines dotted around the venue, and these can be found in the foyer, the main Big Top arcade and the smaller amusements arcade.

There are classic claw grabbers such as E-Claws and Elaut EX-1 and also ‘The Big One’ which is a giant version of a regular claw machines, and they all have a great range of branded plush toys to try and win. 

For smaller hands there are several Toy Box Cubes and also Crazy Toy Cube, which is the pretty looking four-player crane machine with gift bow on the top. They also have many crane machines where you can win reems of tickets including Ticket Trail, Tickety Boo and Power Drop Extreme. 

For those with a sweet tooth, seek out the classic Sweetland Premia, which is a crane machine with a pusher shelf, that tests players resolve in grabbing sweets and chocolates from a moving conveyor belt to dump on the sweet shelf to see how many can be knocked off into the prize bucket. 

Classic Arcade Games

Fans of classic arcade gaming will love the selection at the South Pier, and these include popular arcade shooting games - Walking Dead, Jurassic Park and Terminator Salvation. There are also several air hockey tables throughout the venue including a Pac-Man Smash game.

Fans of arcade racing machines will enjoy Sega Rally, Grid Racing, H2Overdrive and the Typhoon Simulator. They also have a classic Zoltar fortune teller machine and Deal or No Deal Quiz machine. Dance Machine fans will also spot the Pump It Up Prime 2 Dance Machine ready for some foot tapping mania. 

Fairground Arcade Games

Blackpool South Pier embodies everything the British love about funfair and fairground games. Along side the amusement park rides and sideshow games, there is a great range of modern fairground style arcade machines that pay out instant prizes and ticket wins. 

Fans of throwing games will love the great range of basketball arcade games at this arcade venue, and these include Sonic Allstars, Go Go Basketball, Allstars, Doubleshot and Game On Basketball. 

Modern fairground style games include two-player Cool Drops, Fishin Frenzy, Fast Gunman, Space Guard and Zombie Outbreak and they all reward players with tickets for good shooting and timing skills. 

Skee ball style games include Zombie Bowling and Aqua Ball, whilst throwing fans can play Down the Clown, Shark Park, Fast Food Frenzy and many more.  

There are also some nice 2p ticket machines to look out for and these include Ticket (tomb) Raider roll-down, Crazy Typhoon and a unique machine called Touchdown Fortune, which is an American Football style ticket redemption game. 

Big Ticket Arcade Games

The South Pier Amusement Arcade has some big ticket arcade games to match the big amusement park rides, both bringing joy to patrons in equal measure. Here, friends can enjoy a two-player game on the giant Connect Four arcade game and win tickets at the same time. 

There is also a two-player Space Invaders Frenzy, which is the classic game on a huge screen and also Bump-n-Smash which is a four-player Mario Kart style game. They also have the two-player Demolition King, which is a unique game where players throw a wrecking ball to smash up targets on buildings.

Wheel Spinners

Keen eyes will spot some Fabolous wheel spinner arcade games dotted around this venue and they have the classic Crank It and Big Bass Fishing for those who want to spin a ticket win fast. If you enjoy bigger wheel spinners, check out the two-player Monopoly Roll-n-Go and the Magicians Wheel for more ticket winning fun. 

High Strikers

South Pier Arcade has some fun high strikers, and these include the giant King of the Hammer, Mini Monkey Striker and a Whack-n-Win for those who like to hit stuff.

Ticket Slot Machines

There are many ticket slot machines dotted around the South Pier Amusement Arcade, and these include some classic standalone ticket slots including Freddies Vacation, Pieces of Eight and Tickety Boo. Most of the ticket fruit machines pay out jackpots of 500 tickets and there are also some triple row machines such as Dracula, Aladdin and Ticket (tomb) Raider with upper feature boards.

£5 Jackpot Fruit Machines

A strong suit of the South Pier Arcade is the amount of interesting British fruit machines they have dotted around the venue. They have a blend of older classic machines and also some of the latest triple slots such as Batman Begins and Party Time by Astra Gaming. 

There are many classic £5 jackpot fruit machines to explore and these include King Ker Ching by Maygay, Crazy Fruits Down Under and Deal or No Deal variants. Skill Ball fans will also revel playing the Zingy 2 and Skill Ball Deluxe bingo quick draw games where players can win up to £50.

Casino Slots 

There does not appear to be an adult casino slots section here, and with South Pier being a family orientated amusement park (and the local casino next door), it really does not seem like it needs an adult slots lounge as there are so many other great games and fruit machines to play. 

Venue Verdict

The big top funfair style amusement arcade is very impressive and enhances the atmosphere giving visitors a real sense of being inside an old-time funfair or at the fairground. There is a wide selection of classic games mixed in with the latest ticket redemption games and the wider fun park with amusement park rides really make for an immersive experience. Highly authentic British seaside fun and the perfect location to end a night, after a day of exploring Blackpool. Do not visit the Golden Mile without experiencing the Blackpool South Pier Arcade.

Featured Machine: Zombie Bowling Ticket Redemption Game