Central Pier Arcade & Speedway

My children really enjoyed this arcade. I preferred it to your average arcade. Most games were reasonably priced and the prizes were different from your run of the mill offerings.

This place is soooo much fun. We went very late in the season (November 20), has to wear coats and everything but still had a blast! Only mistake we made was going to playcade first then trying to have to 7 year olds walk the mile and a half today this arcade, which is the playcade 10x’s over!!! Anyway we had to get pushed in the little pushcart things but that was fun to! Had a blast!

I actually really liked this go-​kart set up! We went a little late in the season (early November) but it didn’t make it any less fun. You pay up $ 8 per person (you can also ride with a child) at the front and then you get a ticket which you show before you enter. Then, you get in your go kart and GOO!
It’s really fun and it’s pretty large — comparable to ones that I’ve been in at larger arcades that weren’t on the boardwalk. The boardwalk and music blasting and picture taking make it really fun. We went around several times before we had to slow down. There’s a «tunnel» (under the «bridge») and lots of turns and ups and downs!
The arcade was also super fun. They had some of the same things they have at Dave & Buster’s. Once you’ve collected your tickets, bring em to the ticket counting machine, get a receipt and redeem! We didn’t win enough for the giant stuffed animals, but we got some candy! There’s also the claw machines (which I never have any luck with anyway!) as you exit the arcade.
Only downside to this is that there are no bathrooms in this place. However, it’s on the boardwalk and there is one as you exit the arcade on your left (across from Ripley’s). Plus, lots of casinos are located nearby and bathrooms are inside.

Absolutely love this place. So much fun for adults and kids. We had a blast. My younger son was a bit upset because he was too small to drive the go karts by himself but he warmed up when we zoomed passed his older brother.

My favorite entertainment center in Atlantic City! Lots of great games, awesome prizes and the go karts are the fastest I’ve ever been on. Make sure you see Ron in the game room, he will take care of you!

This arcade is awesome! They have the best games, all quality high end electronics, every toy imaginable for the kids, video games, paintball and the best go karts around!!! this is the perfect place to bring the entire family! There is something for everyone! They even have a photography stand that can capture your best memory riding the go karts! Not to mention the staff that goes out of their way to! make sure your every need is met! Its definitely the best place to go if you want to have a fun filled day with your family! 5 stars for Central Pier!

What a joke. Played the claw drop game. For anyone that hasnt played this game, a metal claw drops into childrens prizes. The claw then pulls the toy up. I played $ 5 worth. That allowed 7 plays. I pulled the toy up 7 times. Everytime the claw got to the top, it would open, losing the toy. I understand this is petty, but I asked the owner. He tried to explain that instead of being a game of skill, it is a game of chance. If that is the case the game must have the odds of winning posted just like every other slot machine or games of chance in atlantic city. I questioned him more. He said that the prize would be obtainable on a predetermined number of plays. He had no idea what he was talking about. I hope atleast one person listens to my warning instead of making this scum one cent richer. I also mentioned that I would lodge a complaint with the New Jersey Gaming comission if it is a game of chance. He laughed.

With such an imposing and awesome looking building on a pier, you’d think a grand gaming experience would be waiting inside the Central Pier Arcade. Unfortunately, you would be wrong. This arcade is an opportunity to give visitors a chance to get away from tacky casinos and expensive bars and actually give then something fun to do. Instead, it is an absurd disappointment that only continues the theme of putting your money into a machine and getting little to no reward back.
The first thing that hits you when you enter the building is the long hallway of crane machines on either side of you. These can be fun, but overall are a pretty useless waste of money. How many times can you try to win an iPod that the crane is never going to grab onto before you’re bored? Walking further into the building you come across a small room packed with arcade machines, which makes you think «Ok, here are some fun machines». Wrong again. There are slot machines, which, if you’re in Atlantic City, you might be sick of seeing. There are random machines whose sole functionality is to put coins into and watch a random amount of tickets come out. Nothing interactive, nothing remotely fun. There are skee ball-​like machines, but they’re not even real, classic skee ball machines. By the time you’ve looked around the room for something fun to do, only a handfull of minutes has gone by. At best you get some tickets, a fistfull of green army men, and you’re done.
The thing that strikes me most about this place is that Atlantic City is looking desperately to find non-​gambling, family-​friendly entertainment, and this is a gargantuan missed opportunity. Central Pier is large and impressive, and could be a huge center for family entertainment. Instead it’s a place to merely hand your kid $ 20 and watch them waste it staring blankly at fake slots. I wished this could have been more like an arcade in nearly any other shore town; the arcades of Ocean City and Wildwood are legendary, and offer so many different kinds of games. Yes those too have slots and ticket-​spouting machines, but they also have real skee ball, air hockey, and walls lined with real arcade games like racing games, pinball machines, fighting games, etc. Sadly, Central Pier was just such a disappointment that I hope I never come within a mile of this place as long as I live.

Um, the only reason why this place gets TWO stars is because they had Skee Ball.
What self-​respecting arcade on an NJ boardwalk DOESN’T have Ms. Pac-​Man? OOOH OOH PICK ME PICK ME.
The answer… NONE.

My first time in an Atlantic City arcade that isn’t Playcade, but I enjoyed myself here a lot.
First, the arcade is pretty straightforward. My family had a lot of fun playing Deal or No Deal, but also on our old favorites (slots, that thing with the quarters on edge, that one with the light spinning around in a circle… haha sorry for my ridiculous descriptions!). Also, walking towards the arcade, there’s all these claw machines for Coach bags, Nintendo DSs, iPods, and plush toys. My brother spent a good amount of money trying to get a DS and was pretty close. It seems like people do win every now and then, but never think it’s easy! That’s how they getcha!
Second, the go kart racing! Pretty simple track with a good number of cars with fun logos (Batman, DBZ, yeah!) Your average go kart experience, lasts about 5 minutes per round.
Third, there is paintball! Not actual paintballing, but they have mounted guns for shooting at their little targets, but it’s a nice little feature they have.
A lot of fun things to do to spend an afternoon and win some prizes. I like that there are so many ways for you to burn a whole in your pocket. XD