The 7-Step Checklist for Buying Arcade & Game Room Equipment Without Regrets

If you're outfitting a new indoor play area, arcade, or hospitality venue, you've probably searched for terms like "ice-games," "ice breaker board games," or "lagoon amusement park equipment." The search results all look similar—flashy product pages, bold claims, and prices that seem too good to be true. Some of them are.

I’m a quality compliance manager for a company that sources hundreds of entertainment units annually. I review every piece of equipment before it reaches our customers. In Q1 2024 alone, I rejected 12% of first deliveries due to specification mismatches—everything from LED panels that didn’t match the color calibration to pool table slate that cracked during shipping.

Here’s the checklist I use for every purchase. It’s not glamorous, but it works.

Before You Start: This Checklist Is For You If...

You’re buying for a commercial space, a family entertainment center, or a high-traffic venue. You need equipment that lasts, fits your available floor plan, and can handle daily use. If you’re buying for a home game room, some steps still apply, but the standards are lower.

There are 7 steps. You’ll need about 2 hours to go through them thoroughly for each piece of equipment.

Step 1: Validate the Supplier, Not Just the Price

Everything I’d read about sourcing arcade equipment said to get at least three quotes and compare pricing. In practice, I found that relationship consistency beats marginal cost savings almost every time.

The lowest quote often comes from a supplier who doesn’t inspect their own inventory. I once bought 20 arcade cabinets from a vendor offering 30% below the next quote. When they arrived, the power supplies were mismatched, and the coin mechanisms were from two different manufacturers. The rework cost us $2,400 and delayed our opening by three weeks.

Here’s what you need to do: Look for a supplier with a clear quality assurance process. Ask for their acceptance criteria. If they can’t articulate it quickly, that’s a red flag.

“People assume the lowest quote means the vendor is more efficient. What they don’t see is which costs are being hidden or deferred.” — That’s a lesson I learned the hard way.

Step 2: Confirm Specifications in Writing—And Measure Them

From the outside, ordering an arcade machine looks simple: pick the model, pay, and wait. The reality is a nightmare of undocumented dimensions, power requirements, and material specs.

I walked into a venue once where the owner had ordered a pool table advertised as “standard size.” It arrived 12 inches too long for the room. The vendor refused to take it back because “it fit the spec in their catalog.” We had to cut a hole in the wall to install it. True story.

Your checklist item:

• Get a dimensioned drawing (not just a photo).
• Confirm power requirements (voltage, amperage, plug type).
• Ask about material thickness (cabinet wood, glass thickness, metal gauge).

Normal tolerance for cabinet depth is ±1/4 inch. For pool table slate, it’s ±1/8 inch. If the supplier can’t provide these numbers, move on.

Step 3: Request a Sample or Factory QC Photo (More Than One)

I ran a blind test with our sales team: same arcade cabinet with a matte finish vs. a glossy finish. 82% identified the matte as “more professional” without knowing the difference. The cost increase was $18 per unit. On a 50-unit run, that’s $900 for measurably better customer perception.

But you can’t rely on catalog photos. Request 3-5 QC photos taken during production. Do they show consistent paint coverage? Are the edges clean? Is the decal alignment straight? If the supplier sends you one photo, it’s their best unit. Ask for photos of a random unit.

Step 4: Verify the Warranty and Post-Delivery Support

The conventional wisdom is that warranty is a marketing tool. My experience with over 200 orders suggests otherwise—a strong warranty correlates with a confident manufacturer.

Look for at least one year on electronics and three years on structural components. Exceptions to this: arcade joysticks and buttons are consumable and usually covered for 90 days. That’s fine.

I only believed in checking warranty terms after ignoring them once and eating a $6,000 repair bill for a faulty power supply. That was a cheap lesson compared to what I’ve seen some venue owners pay.

Step 5: Inspect Shipping and Packaging Requirements

This is the step most people get wrong. They assume the supplier knows how to ship their product. They don’t always.

One vendor shipped arcade cabinets on standard pallets without corner protection. The units shifted during transit and arrived with cracked LCD screens. The wireframe of the cabinets was fine, but the screens were dead—8 units ruined.

Specify in your contract:

• The pallet must be at least 2 inches larger than the product footprint.
• Corner protection must be used.
• Foam or bubble wrap on all four sides.
• Shipping label must be on pallet wrap, not on the product box (labels on the box cause returns when customers refuse damaged packaging).

Step 6: Do a Physical Inspection Upon Delivery (The 24-Hour Rule)

Have 24 hours from delivery to inspect. Do not sign off before you’ve opened every box and checked every unit.

Things to check:

• Does it power on? (Plug it in, even if it’s just for a quick test.)
• Are all accessories present? (Coin bucket, keys, instruction manual, cables.)
• Is there any damage that’s hidden by the packaging? (Pull back foam, look under cardboard.)

If the vendor says “you must report damage within 12 hours,” know that’s a red flag. Industry standard is 24-48 hours.

Step 7: Keep a Record of Everything (For Future Orders)

Small doesn’t mean unimportant—it means potential. When I was starting out, the vendors who treated my $200 equipment orders seriously are the ones I still use for $20,000 installations.

Take photos. Save the quotes. Note which vendor was responsive and which disappeared after payment. This sounds obvious, but I’ve seen so many venue owners re-order from the same bad vendor because they didn’t save the original correspondence.

The National Video Game Museum in Texas uses a similar approach: they track every cabinet’s source and history. It saves them time on subsequent purchases.

Common Mistakes I See (Don’t Make These)

• Skipping the spec sheet: You think you’re saving time. You’re creating a problem. Just get the dimensions.
• Assuming all arcade machines are the same size: They aren’t. “Standard” is a myth. Measure your space. Measure the machine. Then measure again.
• Ignoring the power supply: Some units use 110V, some use 220V, some require a dedicated circuit. Know which one you’re getting.
• Blindly trusting the delivery date: Add 7-10 business days to the quoted timeline. Most suppliers underestimate shipping times, especially for large items like pool tables.

If you’ve ever had a delivery arrive damaged, you know that sinking feeling. Avoiding that feeling is worth the two hours it takes to go through this checklist.