Boss Battle Games opens at St. Laurent Shopping Centre with unlimited-play arcade experience

The arcade feels like stepping into 1999. Glowing marquees of original 1980s and 1990s game cabinets illuminate the floor. Neon screens flicker through gameplay demos while overlapping soundtracks collide in glorious chaos — racing rigs, pinball tables, light gun shooters, and a Dance Dance Revolution stage compete for attention. A retro living room setup in one corner holds a couch facing a Nintendo 64 and PlayStation connected to a CRT television. In the back room, Golden Axe sits a few screens down from the original Tetris.

Boss Battle Games opened at St. Laurent Shopping Centre with an unlimited-play model that changes the arcade math entirely. For $20 before tax, a wristband covers unlimited play until closing, with the option to leave and return the same night. That means no quarter-fed desperation at a continue screen — players can retry as many times as they need to master a game.

"It's unlimited play, so you try and you try and you try again until you understand it, and you get good at it," said Phylicia Burd, who opened the arcade with her husband, Dustin. "You can take time, and appreciate the characters, the background, the music. It is all an art form that has come together for the experience."

Jurassic Park — the cabinet styled after a park tour Jeep — draws repeat players who remember feeding quarters into it years ago. The seat lurches forward as pixelated raptors hurl themselves across the screen. A first attempt might last ninety seconds. Under the traditional quarter model, that would mean another coin. At Boss Battle Games, you just hit start again. "Whoa, I'm actually going to make it past the T-Rex," becomes possible.

Arm Champs II has become an unexpected sleeper hit. A mechanical arm on the cabinet forces your wrist toward the table as you arm-wrestle a digital opponent. People gather to cheer. "It's such a silly game, but it's a physical game," Burd said. "You're arm wrestling a robot." The back of your hand meets the pad if the robot wins. Most do.