A POPULAR arcade in Taunton has provided an update after opening in the town earlier this year.
Continue Arcades, which opened inside the former Suite Dreams premises on East Street in Taunton on April 4, 2025, has welcomed tens of thousands of guests, with many of them returning due to the ever-changing arcade games available, among other things.
The arcade has received positive feedback on its 'free play' payment system, which allows customers the chance to play unlimited time on all machines after paying a one-off £12 payment (£10 for children and under 4s are allowed to enter for free).
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Games inside include retro 80s-90s classics such as Pac-Man, Street Fighter, Frogger, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, and more.
Inside, there is also a high-score leaderboard where gamers can fight for the title of being named best on a certain game. The arcade has proven popular among people, particularly the reviewers on Google, with a 4.6/5 rating from 46 reviews.
The space has been popular with people of all ages, not just the younger ones, according to the owner, as people see the arcade as a chance to relive their youth by playing classic games.
Owned by Austin Wood, Continue Arcades originally started out in Plymouth, opening in 2024, and has since become a popular venue for people to visit in the south west. Previously, he said that he hoped to open a future location in Bristol and other places near Taunton.
The arcade owner also hoped that someone would consider buying the bar/club opposite (formerly Harry's Pub/Retro nightclub), as he can see the potential of people coming into Taunton to go to the arcade, and then going to look for a nearby social spot afterwards.
Austin said: "Our Taunton location opened in April of this year and has already welcomed tens of thousands of guests. It has been a real hit on the Taunton High Street and something new to do for families and people on date night.
"The staff absolutely love the job, where better to work than at an arcade. It is a real positive for the high street, with so much doom and gloom surrounding town centres, it's great to have some positive change.
"We welcome families, teens, young adults, we have had birthday parties, hen dos, stag dos and lots of Christmas parties booked in.
"A Real cost-effective way to have fun, pay once and stay all day, offering people an opportunity to have as much fun as possible without feeling rushed. The great thing is we are popular with older people too, people in their 50s and 60s reliving their youth, having a go at Pac-Man and Space Invaders again.
"The best thing is watching people have fun, I know that's a staff favourite, hearing people talking to each other about how great the place is, it's amazing. Great Google reviews and a cool retro vibe, perfect."
The idea of Continue Arcades is to provide a social spot where you can have fun with family and friends whilst not "breaking the bank", according to Austin.
Austin added: "I built Continue to give people something fun to do without breaking the bank, an opportunity to play these games socially again like the good old days.
"People spend several hours moving from game to game and completing the games they never could, because it costs too much to put in pound coin after pound coin.
"Not here, here is just about having fun with family and friends"
You can find Continue Arcade at Unit 36, 38 East St, Taunton, TA1 3LS.
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