A Gamers Paradise on the Denton Square

 On a quiet Wednesday in Denton, Texas, many people are going toward a large sign that advertises Denton’s resident bar arcade, Free Play. Families, couples, arcade enthusiasts and competitors fill the bar arcade as many enjoy the thrills of unlimited arcade games that Free Play Denton possesses. 

Bartenders, managers, and cooks serve guests while many sit down and enjoy the atmosphere in the unique bar arcade. Cabinet technicians roam around making sure that the games are all in working order. In a corner of the downstairs arcade, many gather to talk, eat, drink, and play to their heart's content in a place many consider to be a Paradise for video gamers off of the Denton courthouse square.

Free Play Denton’s location on the courthouse square is the second in Denton after the first closed on Hickory Street back in 2020. Freeplay Denton is one of the many locations for the bar arcade after the first location in Richardson opened in 2015. Since then Freeplay has brought a unique mix of arcade games and traditional bars to the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area. 

Corey Hyden, President of Free Play Incorporated helped found Free Play in 2014 when he said there were no other admission bar arcades across the country like Freeplay. Now he says there are over 400 across the country. 

“The thing that keeps me up at night is how many of these arcades are using the model without following our commitment to quality,” Hyden told me. “All Free Play games are running authentic logic boards and we're one of the only retro arcades in the nation that can say that. And despite the challenges of running hardware that can be 45-plus years old, we're also the industry leader in game condition and quality.”

The food and drinks have a unique local flavor, mostly from local or Texas breweries or are Texas-style food. Every little corner of the upstairs and downstairs of Free Play is meant to be filled with either a game or a place to enjoy food.

New Challenges

When the Denton location was originally announced in 2021 it took a few months to open. This was the first location to open after the 2020 pandemic when the chain had to close its bars for a short time. 

 “Since we were in the middle of the massive supply chain issues caused by the pandemic, sourcing our equipment and finding quality contractors was a huge challenge,” Hyden said. 

“We purchased the Denton building in 2021 when the entertainment industry was still deep in the pandemic,” Hyden told me. “It was a huge risk but I wanted desperately to give Denton an awesome arcade.” 

The new arcade had been thought to be opening in December 2021 but eventually had to delay its opening to January 2022. 

“There were items and equipment that we used at our other locations that now had a back order of 12 plus months and it was unclear if we would ever see them again,” Hyden said. “Many of our trusted contractors had been wiped out by the pandemic and figuring out who could actually accomplish anything in the 2021 environment was sometimes impossible.”

Regardless of the issues, the arcade opened in January 2022 on the Denton square. While smaller than some of their other locations, the building has a similar atmosphere and feel to the other locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. 

Unique machines

Free Play Denton has over 325 games and 60 taps. Many of the machines date back to times when arcades were more popular. Pac-Man, Galaga, and other classic ’80s, ’90s, and early 2000’s arcade games are featured heavily in the arcade. This makes it feel more like a classic arcade than something like Dave and Busters which has many of the newest and most expensive fixtures. 

Most of the locations feature similar arcade games, but Denton has a few unique machines that attract some particular arcade enthusiasts to their arcade. 

A giant DJ rhythm game dominates the sights on the top floor of the arcade as its large size and uniqueness from the other rhythm games in the arcade attract people to it. Another game on the bottom floor allows you to play a shooting game that shatters real targets in front of you while you try to be the fastest to complete its courses. Both give you experiences that can't be found at other arcades. 

The arcade’s biggest unique area features pinball machines you can not find anywhere else, like a Denton Courthouse-themed machine. These machines are used for weekly free tournaments that involve many beginner and experienced pinball players playing on all of the different machines. 

That area also features Japanese cabinets from various companies. Many of the machines run various rare old fighting games, but they also feature some classic 90’s games like Tekken and Street Fighter. 

All of the rare and one-of-a-kind cabinets require unique talent to keep them working in good condition.

“We have a logistics department and a technician department that total more than 20 staff members who are dedicated to ensuring our games are always fresh and working,” Hyden said. “It's another thing we do that nobody else does and it's insanely difficult.”

Community Play

Some arcade games like Killer Queen are a local Denton favorite. The game is a large double cabinet with 5 joysticks on both sides, allowing for unique large party play. Freeplay holds weekly sessions for groups of people to come out and play the game together with nights often having many people crowded around the machine trying to play. This is just one of several events that Free Play Denton runs every week to attract people to come to the arcade during weekdays.  

Other events that Free Play Denton Runs every week are tournaments for games like Super Smash Bros and other fighting games. The tournaments contribute to a community-like atmosphere in the arcade, a place where a lot of competitors and those who are there for fun come to play games together. 

“People come here and they start their mini-communities between each other.” Joey Ramirez, director of Free Play events told me. “It's a bunch of small gaming communities coming together in one place.”

The arcade's unique community feel in Denton is partially cultivated by Ramirez, who has been with the company since his own Denton geek venture, Freaks and Geeks, went under during the 2020 pandemic. Since then, He has run various gaming events at multiple Free Play locations. 

Ramirez runs the Smash Brothers and Fighting Game tournaments every week and can be seen across the arcade on any Tuesday or Wednesday night directing competitors and plain gamers alike.