This is a project to create a space for people to play, talk about, and watch others play indie games over coffee and food. Unlike traditional arcades which are loud, unaccommodating, and cater mainly to nostalgic or hardcore gamers, this will be a relaxing space that anyone with an interest in games can enjoy.
The space will also host challenges, tournaments, and other game-related events.
The game stand software is finished and Gammon is now in the business planning and preparation stages, with a goal of opening early 2025.
A customer enters the store
They order at the counter. Each menu item includes 1 or more "play tokens". The clerk charges an NFC card with their tokens and gives it to the customer to use while in the store.
While the customer waits for their order they can start playing games or watch others play (or demo videos) on the big screen.
If the customer gets tired of playing games, they can order a drink and take a break to watch others.
The store staff will help players play games and find other players for multiplayer games.
For indie developers, there are a lot of benefits to having a game in the arcade. In no particular order:
It's an additional source of revenue - aside from a small amount of work adapting the game for the arcade there's no costs.
It provides exposure - while in the arcade, other players will see it being played which will build interest.
If someone enjoys the game at the arcade, they may decide to purchase it themselves.
Multiplayer games have limited lifespans due to needing an active player pool. But at the arcade there's an always-available pool of players (other customers).
Home gaming tends to favor long-form games with tens of hours of content, but a game with only 5 or 10 minutes of content is viable in an arcade setting.
The arcade provides a way to do limited early or demo releases and gather feedback.
The arcade is a great location to hold release events, tournaments, and other promotional activities.
We'd love to have games that are easy to pick up and where an average play lasts around 5 minutes. The games can be single- or 2-player, or possibly allow local multiplayer.
For example:
Traditional arcade games
Racing games
Sports games
Fighting games
Boss rush games
Puzzle games
Game-jam games or experimental games
Game demos - a self-contained segment of a larger game
Short narrative games
A longer game that has many stages could be modified so that a single play is a single level, with a level-select screen.
Basically, games must move to the action as directly as possible (i.e. not have an intro/main menu/settings/tutorial/pause screen) and must accept tokens.
There are two approaches to accepting tokens:
Gammon handles payment and player select - this is the easiest option.
The game can define the minimum and maximum number of players in a manifest file. The Gammon software will handle player selection and token payments. Once players and payments are selected, the game will be launched which can move immediately to gameplay.
The game handles payment and player select - this is the most flexible option.
Gammon has a simple HTTP API for requesting and accepting play tokens. When a player selects the game, the game will be immediately launched. The game is responsible for allowing players to join and receive tokens via the HTTP API.
This is the most flexible option, allowing a custom player-select screen and advanced payment mechanics, like paying to revive after failure or for in-game boosts. It also makes repeated plays of the same game faster since there's no need to re-start the game executable.
Contact: Andrew Baxter (e-mail) @gammon_japan
I'm a software developer who's been living in Japan (in the Tokyo area) for 13 years. I love indie games and thought by starting a cafe like this I could get more involved in the community and create a great place to hang out.