This place stinks - as in, it is smelly. The smell is hard to describe, but it is strong: it is a mix of cheap cologne and marijuana -- although the latter is perhaps better described as THC infused body odor, i.e. it came out of pores. My wife insisted that we leave soon after arrival. I sensed she was about to vomit. read more

We had the best family day at the Nickel Arcade! We came on a Saturday & it was pretty packed. All the kids had a blast playing all the games & having a cup full of nickels. The games are outdated as well as the interior as most reviewers state. Some of the games are out of order too. The prizes have very few options & very high ticket prices for small things such as candy & sticky hands. However, this did not take away from our experience & was more so a nostalgic feel. We will definitely be having more family days here! read more

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We really enjoyed this stop!!! Some of the machines were broken and there were lots of signs about the no refunds or no service for certain reasons, but I understand that it's a business! And everytime we had an actual issue with a machine, we didn't have any problems with the staff. They were friendly, fixed it, and did it quickly. It costs $3.95 for admission per a person. They charge for 2 years old and up. And then you can pay 5 cents for a cup to put all the nickels in that the kids play. So it's a reasonable price for using all the machines. My kids, 3 and 6, had the BEST time. But it wasn't because of the machines. It was because this arcade has ACTUAL tickets and coins to play the games!!! And there was a ticket eater machine that they could redeem their tickets. My son said that this was his best arcade, even though there were fewer selections and prizes than places like Chuckie cheese. It was the tickets and coins for the machines that were amazing. No digital cards that they couldn't see and points added to a card that they didn't understand. The tickets came out of the machine and they had to carry them everywhere, which they thought was so amazing and fun. As for the games themselves, there were lots of video games with no tickets, but they looked like games for older kids like racing and DDR or shooting. There we lots of little kids games where we spent $5 per kid and they played for an hour and could've stayed longer if we let them! The games ranged from 1 to 4 nickels. Most of games that lasted a bit longer were 3 nickels or if they were newer games it was 3 nickels. But there were a lot of games that were 1 nickel and game plenty of tickets, especially if you get a jackpot!!! Restrooms were clean and we were able to find parking easily. It felt like a safe place too so not sketchy. But no food or drinks are allowed--you can bring water though. Anyways, I think it is worth a stop if you are in the area! My kids gave it 5 stars. We had a good time. It's just a little older and not fancy--but sometimes those are the most interesting! read more

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We brought our kids in here yesterday since Dave & Busters was way too crowded. We had high hopes coming in here after reading reviews about games being out of order. Unfortunately upon paying to come in we began to realize that the negative reviews were true. About 1/2 of the games (mostly the ones our kids were excited to play) were out of order or just flat out ate our coins & wouldn't work. This place could be a really fun/cheaper alternative to cooperate arcades if they just kept up with the maintenance of the games & kept them running. We were there about 30 minutes before our kids got bored & wanted to go to the pet shop in the same parking lot to look around (which was fun.) Maybe we'll try this place again in the future with hopes that their maintenance guy will keep the games running properly. read more

Fun arcade! We go alot. Its 3.95 a person and usually get a couple prizes. Id recommend it. read more

Oh Wow Nickel Arcade - Arcade - Arcades Near Me - Fresno, California

We have been coming here a few times per month for the past 6-7 months or so. I grew up in the early 2000s coming to this arcade and I remember having an entire afternoon of fun on just $10. I am so sad to report that this arcade is no longer using NICKELS and PAPER tickets. It's all card. That was the entire allure of this place, the old games played the way they were intended. We spent significantly less here than we normally do because the kids hearts were just not in it, zero immediate reward. Part of the fun is actually receiving the tickets by the armful and feeding them into the counters, they loved it! I'm so disappointed and we won't be returning with the same frequency that we used to. They really could have upped the cover charge instead of ruining a bunch of vintage games by putting card readers on them. I'm thankful I was able to share this little piece of my childhood with my 3 kids, they enjoyed it while it lasted. read more

There's a $3.95 charge to walk through the door, AND THEN you pay additional money for each game/machine you play. The game play is inexpensive, so that's good. On the downside, a considerable number of their games are either completely out of order or are working less than perfectly. read more

Came in and was excited to relive my childhood. Had to use the bathroom and so i asked one of the workers i don't know his name but i believe he is Asian and a younger adult. Anyways he wasn't very social or helpful to guide or even tell me the direction which i thought was very rude all he told me to do was ask the cashier who then asked and was very nice and respectful. overall teach your associates basic customer service. read more

I love Oh Wow Nickel Arcade. Been here two or three times, and it's always a good time. I grew up going to nickel arcades with my dad, and this one does not disappoint. They'll even give you a cup to carry your nickels around in. There are games for everyone, even pinball, skeeball, and other classics. I could spend days in here. And their ticket-giving games were more generous than I've seen elsewhere - my friends kids were able to get more prizes than they expected. I'll be back again for sure. read more

1/3 of machines are out of order . No air conditioning, All games that actually work , are outdated . This is hands down the worst arcade in the area . Save your money and time . read more

This is always a place where kids can go and for $20. They could be there for a very long time depending on the game that they're playing.

First time here and I had fun. It seems weird that there's an admission fee. Overall it's a unique outing. Pros Games are 1-4 nickel's depending on the game. Clean Unique Cons Admission $4 per person Quite a few games were out of order Some of the games ate my money Poor prize choices for tickets read more

Oh Wow Nickel Arcade - Arcades Near Me - Fresno, California

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Everything is broken. It costs $4 to walk in the door and it's musty and dirty and just trash everywhere. I went there to play pinball. There were 4 machines, 2 were off and sign saying not working. The other two didn't even have working lights and they swallowed all our nickels. So disappointing. Kids all had to go pee. It smelled like pee. Those cups you put your nickels in are another 35 cents. This place has 100% gone down hill since I was last here about 7 years ago. It should close. Realistically you are paying more than two quarters for each game. Booo! read more

Overall just an okay time. It felt like 1/3 of the games were out of order and the prizes, as expected, weren't that great. Come in with an open mind. read more

If you're looking for a great time with the kids and on a budget this is the place. Great place to escape the heat. The staff is very friendly and accommodating. Grew up going here and it didn't disappoint. read more

DON't even go here!!! They charge 3.95 per person to play on broken down machines and then you purchase your nickels to be take by all their broken down machines. My 8 and 4 year old were super disappointed, as were we!! It's run down with almost mostly broken machines!!! read more

More broken games than games that actually work. No refunds and there is an entry fee to get in. read more

Oh Wow Nickel Arcade - Arcades Near Me - Fresno, California

The Nickel Arcade has been here before I was born! I remember as a little my dad and mom would take my sister and I here for some family fun! I am so happy that my sisters and I are able to pass on the tradition of going to the Nickel Arcade. You can't help but to love this place. It has an old vintage feel to it. Some games don't work but still it's a great place to have some fun. My favorite is air hockey. Which I won hands down to my niece. Although she was pretty good. We were so competitive that she hurt her little princess finger as the puck smashed her finger due to the force. One of the workers gave her a bandaid and she was set to go and have fun again. The dude was happily playing all the games. A worker paid a few times for my niece to play games which the hospitality is awesome here! When we first arrived there was not a lot of people but as time went on it was packed as people were coming due to birthday parties. We won a bunch of tickets and my niece had a blast cashing them out. We were able to pick a prize which my niece got upgraded to pick any prize she wanted and since we went in October she picked a cute little Witch and left a happy camper. Overall, this place is a lot of fun and definitely Family Friendly. My parents love it. I love it. My family loves it! What's not to love about an Nickel Arcade! I hope this place continues to remain open as this is one of Fresno's special Gems! read more

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This place (along with the arcade at Blackbeards, owned by the same company), is LONG past its prime... After selling off any machines most people may be interested in, what is left is kinda a joke... really sad consider what this place and blackbeards used to be... read more

Great place to take kids but some machine takes their nickels and some games didn't work read more

Oh Wow Nickel Arcade - Kids loved it - Arcades Near Me - Fresno, California

Okay so the people complaining saying "it cost 4 bucks to enter" are broke asses. It's 4 bucks but everything cost a Nickel. Anywhere from 1-4 Nickels on games. Sure some arcade machine are broken but it doesn't take away from the experience. There's also no air conditioning but other than that, worth every penny read more

pros: Very fun experience, lots of games, retro cabinets, nice and kind staff. Cons: Ticket prizes are lousy and off brand or knock offs, and out of order games. Overall it was a fun experience would recommend. read more

It is very fun and very cheap compared to Dave & busters and I absolutely love all the retro games in there as well read more

Oh Wow Nickel Arcade - In part of the arcade - Arcades Near Me - Fresno, California

Hadn't been since I was a kid . Took my boys on Friday and had a blast . The girls working were hustling and were very impressive . It was very special to me playing some classics I grew up on . Thank you Christina and other staff . See you soon ! read more

1-Star for Customer Service. 5-Star for Pricing. They have select arcade systems for sale on their website. Although the selection is limited, it's a bargain price. Especially if they have why your looking for. Employees and the lack of service they offer is to be expected. You get what you pay for. read more

some machines had issues like eating the nickels or buttons not working. but overall I had a great time. Played some TMNT, In The Groove (close enough to DDR), Marvel vs. Capcom. I love arcades like this that take me back to my childhood read more

This arcade back in the late 90's and early 00's was popular and packed, but those days are long gone. Today what you see is an arcade graveyard and its's been on a slow painful decline in quality for years. My recent visit to the "Oh wow! Nickel arcade" was with my girlfriend and our daughter and it wasn't an enjoyable experience. After paying $2.95 per person what we saw were that most the machines were in sub-standard condition: 1. Pinball Machines with broken flippers and buttons 2. Arcade Games: Broken buttons, no sound, poor video display 3. Redemption Machines: Broken coin slots (not accepting coins), ticket dispensers not giving tickets. (You had to get an attendant every time to get a machine to dispense tickets) A majority of the arcade is redemption machines with a small section of old video game (action, fighting, racing, shooting) there's more open space for tables (birthday parties) and unused space in general. Most of the games are a between 5 - 15 cents. For such a small place it's quite hot and poorly ventilated you'll actually see box fans scattered all over the venue. The venue takes little to effort to maintain or any of the machines, you're money is better spent going to "John Incredible" or "Dave & Busters" or "Chuck E Cheese" because the owners of the "Oh Wow! Nickel Arcade" and "Blackbeards" are the same and are content to let both locations remain a state of severe decline. I wouldn't advise anyone to come here unless you want to waste time in a hot venue with broken machines. read more

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Went here last night. Very clean and spacious business. It's a shame their skii ball machines were down at the time but not a deal breaker. The staff was very friendly and helpful. They had one of my favorite childhood games there: Gauntlet Dark Legacy. Just a heads-up, they do charge admission for everyone who comes in, whether they play or not, but, it's totally worth it and not even very expensive. They even offer cups(not sure if theyre for sale or complimentary as i didnt need one thanks to my cargo pants) to hold your nickles. And to the staff of the facility itself, thank you for such an entertaining evening. Will be returning in the future. read more

Ye ol nickle arcade How I love and hate thee.... Your odor is of smelly kids and failed child hood dreams. Your security is shotty and staff a tad bit snotty But how ever your charm remains as the years go by and screens begin to fade. You never miss a beat and thanks to you I can finally play the games I never got to beat! read more

Oh Wow Nickel Arcade - A little street fighter action - Arcades Near Me - Fresno, California

You pay 1.95 to get in and then you get to play games and SKEE BALL for a nickel. And, would you believe this, they even have coupons in the phone book for bogo on the admission! That's some pretty amazing cheap fun to me. And I *know* cheap fun!!!! note: I've heard that they don't have the "latest" video games, but I was never hip enough to realize what games were in, so this seems like a bucket of smiles to me!!!! read more

It's a great place to spend family time without breaking the bank. My nieces and nephews had a great time playung games and redeeming their tickets for cute prizes. The arcade was clean, including the bathrooms, which is always appreciated. The staff was friendly and patient with the kids. The only thing keeping me from giving 5 stars is that they do not sell water, only soda, in the vending machine. (But I was able to walk to a nearby store in the shopping center and allowed to bring in the outside drink). read more

Oh Wow Nickel Arcade - Great (and reasonably priced) time for children and adults. - Arcades Near Me - Fresno, California

Took my littles one (kindergarten age) and they liked it a lot. But me, I was very disappointed. They charge every person to get in which is fine it's only like 3.50 each but I wish they would have let me know that more than half of the games here do NOT work before I exchanged my bills for so many nickels. The ones that do work either eat up your coins or don't dispense tickets. The games that my little ones wanted to play were obviously the ones that dispense tickets because they wanted to win prizes but (for example) the ones that had 4 sides for 4 people to play at once on all of them only 1 side was working on each machine so on each machine there were adults standing there with piles of tickets hogging up the machines like if it was a slot machine lol . My kids lost most of their Nickels on machines that ate them up and didn't work and it was too busy to ask attendants for help. Extremely dirty ,the games, floors, tables, and bathrooms. I don't know if I will ever bring my kids back. read more

Great fun for the whole family! I've been many times with friends, gone with my girlfriend and the kids and even had a 7th birthday party for one of the kids there in December. They were super helpful and they had a great deal on the tables for the party. We took in our own pizza, cupcakes, ice chest, etc and the kids had a BLAST for hours without spending a fortune. Yes their games are older, but a lot of them are classics I used to play as a kid and for the price, you definitely can't beat it. read more

Oh where to start... I have been driving past this place since I was a kid and for some reason just never went in. I always read the reviews and people were so negative about the place which made me never want to check it out. Well they were wrong. This place is tons of fun! While the games are older they still have a decent selection from racing games, ticket games, crane games, shooters, pinball and much more. It is 2.95 to get in and most of the games are 3-4 nickels and some less. This means you can stay here for a LONG time with just a few bucks.1 dollar will get you at least 6-7 games. DDR PLAYERS: They do have a ITG2 machine which is modded with hundreds of songs from other DDR games. like...a lot. They also have a pump it up nx absolute machine. To address some of the bad reviews: -the place doesn't smell -it is relatively clean -pretty much every machine works (only had 1 which ate my coins, no big deal) Can't wait to come back! read more

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My first time to this place for a birthday and never going back. Employees were extremely rude. I left and sadly I had to tell my niece we would not be staying. I went in and walk to the front counter to pay for my niece and I. It was my first time and was unaware that I was never supposed to walk up to the counter. The employee, 2 males kept mumbling how I just walked in without waiting, was upset at my other 2 friends who had already paid who walked in as well. You can tell he was giving us the dirtiest looks ever. So I told him I don't know how this works it's my first time. Instead of politely providing customer service and making me feel welcomed he did the opposite. Horrible business practice. Will tell all my friends to never host a party there again. read more

The place had bad games horrible prizes the only good ones range from 13,000 to 91,000 And Customer service was bad as well. read more

This place needs to get air condition. It's really went down hill. I thought I might have a heart stroke trying to celebrate my granddaughters birthday. read more

Really you cant beat 5 cents to play video games. You basically pay like a $3 cover charge (tax included) and can play forever on like $5. Spend $10 and your basically there for like half the day...well maybe depends on the type of gamer you are. Here they have the old school games and of course the new games which always tend to cost more than 5 cents...haha oh well just something i notice. From other reviews, they are right about the cleanliness of the place, but really what ya expect with a place that attracts game-loving kids and is cheap. Believe me I did bring out my hand sanitizer out quite a bit, and used ALOT of it along with the nephew. This place is one of those places to let kids be kids and have fun. Yeah youll see the "older" gamer that probably dont have g/f's but at least they are outta the house and off the streets right?? Its a nice little arcade with great A/C and you really cant beat the prices. read more

$2.95 entrance fee whether you play or not play. Can't beat the 5 cent arcade games! Some games require 2 or 3 nickles but still considered a great deal. Prizes are ok. This place does need some remodeling/rearrangement. A few games were out of order during my visit. You may want to think twice if you're germophobic. Bring a lot of hand sanitizer. read more

I went at 10am on Saturday celebrating my friends graduation and the owner was working. This five stars is for owners customer service alone! I could have spent all day here!! The only downside is MANY of the games eat nickels (which isn't that big of a deal because it only a nickel.) but many of them don't give tickets when they should and that is very frustrating. But I understand it $2 to get in and with all games only costing a nickel upkeep cant be that big of a priority. read more