Arcades, pinball & oddball play in Des Moines
10 arcades and oddball play spots in Des Moines, Monsterama Pubcade, The Operating Room and Backpocket Pin & Pixel among them. Pinball basements, vintage cabinets, mini golf with a grudge — competitive, cheap and better than dinner for a first date. They spread across Southwest Des Moines, West Des Moines, Johnston, East Village, Des Moines and 4 more areas, so two or three can make a whole afternoon. Every entry is hand-vetted against real sources — not scraped off a top-ten list or averaged out of crowd ratings.
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Monsterama Pubcade
A horror-themed pubcade tucked into a strip on SW 9th, where the draw is a wall of pinball that leans into the creepy: Creature from the Black Lagoon, Ghostbusters, Dungeons & Dragons. Pool tables and darts round out the floor, and an unlimited game pass means no scrounging for tokens mid-flipper. It runs family-friendly until 8pm, then flips to 21+ for the rest of the night.
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The Operating Room
Founded by a local orthopedic hand surgeon, this medical-themed barcade puts bartenders in scrubs and covers its black walls with hand-painted medical terminology, symptoms and diagnoses. The drink list leans into the gimmick with craft cocktail slushies and shots served in syringes, while the game floor keeps a rotating lineup of recent pinball like John Wick and JAWS alongside arcade classics, all on a tap-to-play card system instead of coins. Minors are allowed with an adult until 7:30pm, after which it goes 21+.
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Backpocket Pin & Pixel
A craft brewery taproom in Johnston Town Center that pairs its in-house beer with a retro arcade and a row of duckpin bowling lanes. Duckpin uses short lanes, fat pins and palm-sized balls, so it is bowling stripped down to the social, competitive part with no heavy balls or rental shoes. The arcade mixes quarter-operated classics with pinball, and the kitchen turns out a full food menu.
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Up-Down Des Moines
An 80s/90s-themed arcade bar in the East Village where 60-plus classic cabinets, six skee-ball alleys and pinball machines all run on quarters. Console stations let you drop onto a couch for old Nintendo while a 20-tap craft beer list and house-made pizza by the slice keep things going. It is a strictly 21+ room, so it skews toward a night out rather than a family stop.
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Old School Arcade (Grimes)
The original location of an Iowa-grown arcade that stocks dozens of vintage pinball machines alongside classic cabinets, with an all-ages, nostalgia-first vibe. Instead of a bar, the draw is an old-fashioned soda-fountain side: ice cream shakes and malts served while you play. It is the rare local spot built around pure retro gaming rather than craft beer.
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Time Out Ames
A downtown Ames barcade with about ten pinball machines and a wall of retro arcade cabinets, plus pool and weekend karaoke. The pinball collection rotates and has carried crowd favorites like Jurassic Park and The Addams Family. It stays family-friendly until 7pm and turns 21+ after, making it an easy day-trip game stop north of Des Moines.
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The Operating Room - Pinball Bar Arcade
A pinball barcade founded by a local orthopedic hand surgeon, leaning hard into a medical gag: bartenders pour in scrubs and the walls are covered in anatomical sketches. The drink menu runs to craft-cocktail slushies and syringe shots, served alongside a rotating wall of around ten premium pinball tables like James Bond, John Wick, and Star Wars. It opened in 2017 and goes 21+ after 7:30pm.
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Monsterama Arcade
A monster-movie-themed pubcade where the gaming and the decor lean into classic horror, anchored by pinball tables like Creature from the Black Lagoon, Godzilla, and Dungeons & Dragons. Beyond its roughly dozen pinball machines there are pool tables, darts, and retro cabinets, plus a full bar and food menu and regular pinball tournaments. It is family-friendly until 8pm, then flips 21+.
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Rook Room Game Lounge & Cafe
A downtown board-game lounge, cafe, and bar where you can play from a wall of more than 1,000 board games, puzzles, and tabletop RPGs for as long as you like. The bar mixes game-themed cocktails (some chosen by rolling dice) alongside coffee, beer, wine, and non-alcoholic 'poptails,' and on-staff 'game tenders' help you pick something and learn the rules. It opened in 2025 as the area's dedicated game lounge.
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Escape Chambers Des Moines
Billed as the first live escape room in Des Moines, this downtown spot runs movie-inspired rooms across horror, mystery, adventure, and crime themes. It is more than just escape games: there is also a laser-tag room and an axe-throwing room, plus a bar where you can buy a drink and bring it into certain rooms. It is a one-stop combine-it-all option for an active night.
Arcades, pinball & oddball play in Des Moines — FAQ
Where can I play pinball in Des Moines?
Monsterama Pubcade (Southwest Des Moines), The Operating Room (West Des Moines), Backpocket Pin & Pixel (Johnston) and Up-Down Des Moines (East Village, Des Moines). Plus 4 more in the list below. Each listing has the address and what it costs to play.
Which arcades, pinball & oddball play in Des Moines are the strangest?
Ranked by how strange they actually are: The Operating Room - Pinball Bar Arcade, Monsterama Pubcade and The Operating Room. The Operating Room - Pinball Bar Arcade — A pinball barcade founded by a local orthopedic hand surgeon, leaning hard into a medical gag: bartenders pour in scrubs and the walls are covered in anatomical sketches.
Where in Des Moines are they?
Across Southwest Des Moines, West Des Moines, Johnston, East Village, Des Moines and Grimes and 3 more. Each listing gives the neighborhood and address so you can cluster a couple into one outing.
Is this a good weird date in Des Moines?
That's what the list is built for. Every entry has a specific move rather than a vague recommendation — at The Operating Room - Pinball Bar Arcade, for instance: Order two syringe shots and a slushie, then run a best-of-five pinball ladder across the John Wick and James Bond tables.
How were these arcades, pinball & oddball play chosen?
An agentic research system digs for the genuinely obscure — the spots even locals miss — and every one is verified against real sources before it makes the list. We deliberately skip the landmarks already on every Des Moines guide.