I got to hand it to Ms. ausretrogamer, her research skills and effort to find fun (gaming related) venues in cities we visited on our North American trip, was second to none. I knew Seattle was going to be a cool city to visit, but we were totally blown away by how much there was to do and see. Rather than cram everything in one article, we thought we would start with the highlight, the Seattle Pinball Museum!
The Seattle Pinball Museum (SPM) is in the heart of Seattle’s Chinatown / International district (508 Maynard Ave S Seattle). Entry is $13USD for an adult ($18USD if you want to come and go), which gives you unlimited play on all the pinball and arcade machines inside the multi-storey entertainment centre. Once you pay your entry fee, you just hit start on any machine and go for your life (except The Wizard Of Oz machine)! We started proceedings on the world’s biggest pinball machine, Hercules! This thing was massive! Instead of a metallic sphere to knock around, Hercules uses a white billiard ball! The flippers were more like bats, and there was no way you could bump and tilt like you would on a normal table. I must say, it was an experience playing on Hercules, but my eyes quickly diverted to Fish Tales!
On the ground floor, the pinball tables were arranged from oldest to the latest offerings from Stern and Jersey Jack Pinball. There were no queues to wait (on the day we were there), so we jumped from one table to the next – experiencing everything from the early 70s right through to the current day machines.
Upstairs was a mix of pinball tables (Gorgar, The Flintstones, Taxi, Terminator 2, Space Invaders among others) and arcade machines straight out of the golden age era – Asteroids, Missile Command, Pacman and Galaga, just to name a few. It was great to see these machines once again, and it was even better seeing the new generation of kids enjoying these classics.
We had such a great time at the Seattle Pinball Museum, we totally lost track of time. Ms ausretrogamer had to tap me on the shoulder to let me know that we were the last ones inside and that the other machines were being turned off for the day. Luckily for me, Mike (from SPM) was cool enough to let me finish my game. Before we did leave, we bought a few souvenirs from the SPM, an awesome tee and a few pinball badges to remind us of the great time we had. If we lived in Seattle, I know where we would go every week!
At last, we arrive!
Entering the wonderful world of the Seattle Pinball Museum!
Even the wall art was awesome (and in theme) in this place!
The pinball wizards having some flippin fun
Whoa! The World’s largest pinball game! This thing was huge!
Yep, that’s a billiard ball to play on the largest pinball game on the planet!
Yours truly enjoying some Fish Tales! Haven’t played this in ages! So good!
The pinball tables were arranged from oldest to latest – Texan is the oldest at the Museum
Texan’s starting control deck – oh how beautiful
Oh wow, this Star Trek Enteprise Limited Edition table had to be seen to be believed (it was so sleek and gorgeous)
No matter where you turned, there were pinball tables begging to be played!
Best part of being here – trying pinball games I had never played before!
LoTR is now in my top 10 fave pinball tables of all time! That’s a big call!
Nice to look at, but a nightmare to play. Perhaps I needed more practice…
Ms. ausretrogamer was hooked on Scared Stiff
Woo hoo – top 4 high score on Theatre of Magic!
He shoots, he scores! Another classic Bally table!
This Indy machine brought back lots of fond memories.
Make it so, Number One. Two absolute classics side-by-side!
Let’s start shootin!
A signed Stern AC/DC Pro table! We loved the info on top of each pinball machine.
Found a couple of Pinball 2000 machines too.
Looking back at all the awesomeness.
Ah, The Wizard Of Oz – a table you must play at least once in your life!
The rise of the arcade machines……..
I wonder what wonderment we’ll find upstairs?
More awesome pinball machines upstairs, and……..
Golden Age arcade machines!
Baby Pac-Man – a hybrid arcade and pinball machine!
A different perspective of Baby Pac-Man
Oh wow, I had forgotten how hard Missile Command was at the arcade!
Aha, there she is! She is still beautiful, even after all these years…..
The new generation enjoying the old generation of arcade machines
Oh man, another absolute classic from the Golden Age!
The view from above.
Finally, I get to play the real Gorgar instead of playing it on the iPad!
The view below still looks good.
What to play first? The Who’s Tommy Pinball Wizard or Taxi? Tough decision.
Another rock band inspired pinball table!
While we are here, we might as well have a go on The Flintstones.
More awesome wall art upstairs (wish we could have taken some home!).
Oh yeah baby, a bit of Stardust always goes down well.
Another one of my all-time fave tables – you better believe it!
Found you! I can never get enough of Monster Bash!
Just reading up on my fave table before we have to leave *sad face*
We couldn’t leave the Seattle Pinball Museum without some souvenirs and mementos! Hooray!
Venue: Seattle Pinball Museum
Address: 508 Maynard Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104
Hours of operation:
— 10 to 5 on Sunday | Monday | Wednesday
— 12 to 10 on Thursday | Friday | Saturday
— Closed on Tuesday