Please reach us at undergroundretrocade@gmail.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.
Admission is required of all guests, playing or not. Once admitted, all video games, air hockey, basketball, skeeball, and some pinball are free to play as much as you want with limited* re-entry on day of purchase. Our Pro pinball selections are available to play priced as marked and are available for play without admission; with admission, Pro pinball is half price. Admission is not transferrable and all sales are final.
In the event your visit is suspended due to weather resulting in loss of power that causes us to end our day early, guests still on premisis will be offered a raincheck allowing them to continue their visit at a later date at no additional charge.
All children under 14 must be accompanied by a paid adult (age 21+) – no drop offs.
Children 8 and younger must have a paid adult playing DIRECTLY with them.
Just to set clear expectations: NO, children under 9 are NOT FREE at any time. In fact an adult must also pay for entry and accompany the child. That’s $40 for the two of you. Planning to attend with three children under the age of 9? You need three adults, one for each child.
The Underground must insist on adequate adult (age 21+) supervision of children ages 8 and under; to support this goal, we require guests with these younger children to maintain a 1:1 adult to child ratio, especially for their child’s first visit; they will need both your help to learn how to play and your good example of how to treat these classic games. Children under 48″ tall will have difficulty reaching the controls. Arcade controls are not designed to support your child’s weight, so please do not allow them to hang from joysticks or steering wheels. We have a limited number of plastic step stools are available to raise your child safely to a height where they can see into the games.
Pinball for guests under 14 only with direct adult supervision.
Navigating the particulars of a pinball machine can be a new experience, for players both young and old. We require proper supervision to ensure your child will have any help needed to understand how to properly start a game, launch the ball, and keep the ball in play using the flippers; while these skills seem simple to the initiated, to those unfamiliar they can be confounding and severly reduce a player’s enjoyment of the game.
In the event an unsupervised child is observed using an action game in conflict with that game's design or intended use they will no longer be allowed to play without the direct supervision of an adult. Examples of misuse include throwing rather than bowling skeeball, repeatedly bowling the skeeball hard enough to hit the top of the game, intentionally shooting baskets above the ceiling protecton netting, throwing a basketball to interrupt another players basketball shot, dribbling the basketballs on the floor, shooting baskets from a further distance or wider angle than necessary, repeatedly causing the air hockey puck to leave the table, hitting or dropping the air hockey mallet on the table, beating pinball flippers while the ball is no where near them, slapping or punching buttons, repeatedly pulling and releasing the plunger on a pinball machine in which there is no ball to be shot.
We endeavor to keep these games in a functional condition for all to enjoy and we hope you will help us to that end.
No outside food, beverage, candy or gum are permitted ANYWHERE in the Retrocade. Most places that offer refreshments for sale, like theaters and restaurants, will not allow you bring in your own; we regret that we too must maintain this policy. You are always welcome to leave, enjoy refreshments you brought with you in your car, and then return to play some more.
No alcohol is allowed at the Retrocade, but your admission always includes come and go access, so you’re just a few steps away from a wide range of drinking establishments! We focus on getting the games right, and leave the adult beverages to the excellent professionals just steps from our front door.
Private sessions available daily when booked in advance:
Additional people are $20/ea - every person entering the building, playing or not, counts
Must be booked in advance.
A $100 non-refundable pre-payment will be collected to secure your date. When you schedule we will send you a link you can use to pay online. Your date can be rescheduled without penalty up to 24 hours before event start. If you are a no-show your pre-payment is forfeited.
As with all other access, no food, drink, candy, gum, or other similar items are allowed inside the building; we regret this does indeed mean no birthday cake/cupcakes/gift bags containing candy. If you have guests who would like to extend beyond your private session into public hours, an additional per-person fee will apply.
When a game registers a credit, in some cases, it will suspend the attract animation that was designed to minimize monitor burn (that ghost image caused when the same picture is rendered on screen for an extended period of time.) Since replacement tubes are no longer manufactured, we ask that you help us to preserve the limited remaining supply – only credit a game once and then play that credit (credit twice for a two player game, etc.) “Coining up” a game with multiple credits helps no one, and contributes to a shortened lifespan for our original CRT displays. Games to be particularly careful with: Frogger, Space Duel, Bosconian, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Junior, Turbo, Tron, Space Invaders, Kickman, Rally-X, and more!
Occasionally you may find it necessary to lightly nudge the machine to release a ball that has become stuck, and little nudges are perfectly acceptable, but unless you're familiar with a machine’s particular quirks, some stuck balls require more than a little nudge. In this case, removal of the playfield glass is required to resolve stuck balls on some games (Star Wars Episode 1, Tales From the Crypt, etc.) Sometimes a stuck ball is caused by a playfield part coming loose, an issue that should be resolved before any further play is allowed. Please allow our professional staff address any such issues – we’re here to help!
No. It is against Underground policy to permit alcohol on the premises, even for private events. There are several drinking establishments within a short walk from the arcade, and your wristband allows you come and go access to the arcade. Please – enjoy a drink at one of our fine Dundee area bars responsibly, and then return to the arcade for more game play! Being caught with an alcoholic beverage – even unopened – will result in immediate ejection without refund.
Food and beverages may not be brought in to consume at the Retrocade. We have a wide selection of soft drinks available for purchase, many for as little as $1. You might also consider visiting one of the excellent dining choices within walking distance
We want to keep all games contaminant free and ready to play for you. To that end, the area at the front of the arcade is provided for you to take a break from play to enjoy refreshment without risk of an accident. Thank you for understanding and helping to keep these games in good repair!
We welcome all ages, but require proper supervision for younger guests. All who enter the arcade must purchase an entry; guests 8 and under must be accompanied by a paid adult. Guests under 14 may not enter the pinball room without direct adult supervision, nor may guests under 14 be allowed to stay in the arcade without an adult present: please no drop-offs. We can appreciate your kid is a whiz at Xbox, but that knowledge doesn’t directly translate into a familiarity with how to operate and care for these classic games. We want all guests to enjoy their visit, but that shouldn’t be at the expense of equipment damage or another guests’ enjoyment. If you are visiting with a guest under age 14, please consider sharing the experience with them – don’t miss out on making a new memory out of an old one.
By entering the arcade, guests grant the Underground Retrocade the right to film, video, record or photograph them in the arcade for any reason without payment or consideration. We request that all photographs or video taken by our guests be used for their personal use and enjoyment only, and that you please be mindful and courteous of other guests when capturing images. Any use, reuse or reproduction for commercial purposes without the express written consent of the Underground Retrocade is strictly prohibited. We reserve the right to refuse to allow photography of any kind as necessary. No commercial photography of any kind is permitted.
If the power does not return, or if threatening electrical storms require the games to be shut down for more than 30 minutes you will be issued a free pass for use on your next visit. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, but hope you will understand our desire to protect the games from irreparable damage. You must be present when the power goes out to be elligible for a free pass.
For the comfort of all our guests, we do not allow the use of any nicotine products within the Retrocade. You are most welcome to return after stepping outside to satisfy the need, but we ask that you please do not smoke within 15 feet of the entrance. Please do not bring cigarette butts back into the building for disposal in our garbage cans.
Wheelchair accessible entry is available – please call us in advance at 331-642-8274 so we can provide instruction on parking and entry.
We do not have an ATM, however Bamboozels just down at the corner does. We accept cash and all major credit and debit cards with no minimum transaction amount, so don’t hesitate to use your charge card to purchase a $1 item.
Please contact us at 331-642-8274 with a description of your item and we’ll be happy to look for it, or to let you know it has been turned in!
We have the ability to charge most USB powered devices at the front counter, but we ask that you please do not plug your own charger into any of our wall outlets. Bring your device to us at the front desk and we’ll be happy to charge it for you!
From Scott, the Owner: The release of the Tron sequel Tron Legacy touched off a nostalgia in me for the things I was enjoyed when the first Tron movie was released in the early 80’s. I dug out my original Atari 2600 and Atari 800 (thankfully stored in perfect working condition by my parents 30 years ago) so I could show my children what consoles and home computers were like when I was their age. One thing led to another and I started to look for places where I could play actual arcade games. My first step on the arcade floor at the Galloping Ghost was the watershed moment: the sounds and smell were right, and the games were lovingly maintained and better than I remembered. Several visits later I felt inspired; there was no reason I couldn’t go and recreate the pattern with my own embellishments.
We have several sources for our games. Traditional means such as Ebay and Craigslist are a good starting point, but we also work with collectors and other arcades in the Chicagoland area, as well as frequent visits to the forums at KLOV and Aurcade. Looking for an arcade game for your house? Look no futher that Prince Arcades.
We purchased our first arcade cabinet in February 2012, 4 months before we opened our doors. The consoles, on the other hand, have been in our family since new. The Atari VCS on display is the same one Santa delivered to our family for Christmas 1981.
Due to the fragile nature of these classics, most of which are now nearing 40 years old, we try to minimize moving them around as much as possible. Generally speaking, something breaks about 10% of the time when we move them, and we’d hate to commit to provide you your favorite game only to have it fail upon installation at your event.
It depends on the game; we work with Aurcade to referee score submissions and follow recommended guidelines to ensure each score submission meets the same criteria for fairness. In order for a score to be submitted, the machine needs to be set for the correct competition setting. Please see our High Scores page for more details.
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