The Heart of Gaming Reviews Summary

Experience and Atmosphere

Pros:

• "Such a wondrous place to be! I have visited here with friends twice now and on both occasions I have been blown away by the experience!"
• "The venue is spectacularly huge, easily catering to our group of 25."
• "You've also got Air Hockey and Table Tennis and a place to get cold drinks downstairs."
• "This place is a gamers paradise. An exceptional young served us this afternoon."
• "It's a hidden gem. I just went there for a couple of hours and ended up being 4 hours as it was so enjoyable."
• "This place is soo good and more than worth the money."
• "Love it! You pay £10 on entry and then all of the arcade machines are free."
• "It's a good shop lots of different selection of gaming stuff."

Cons:

• "The only downside to this place I'd say is that some of the cabinets really need some upkeep."
• "It's a shame that some of the machines were out of order."
• "Bewildering new policies against kids combined with rude, racist staff; Heart of Gaming is the latest place in Croydon to plummet in quality."
• "I wanted to like this place more and also enjoy it for longer, but unfortunately myself and my friend just couldn’t get into it."
• "This place is great. Loads of classic games, wasn't too busy and the staff were really nice."
• "It's okay. A decent selection of arcade machines though there's a lot of faulty machines around."
• "What a truly amazing place, took a group of 6 boys for 12th birthday and they loved it."
• "My first visit over the weekend. The staff were all polite."

Game Selection

Pros:

• "Fantastic range of arcade cabinets and games, actual CRT TVs hooked up to retro consoles."
• "The biggest and the best free play Arcades venue in London."
• "Great selection of old school retro games on the arcade machines like house of the dead and street fighter."
• "It's got a brilliant mix of retro gaming (SF2, Tekken, SNES, Neo Geo etc..) and then PS4/PS5 and Nintendo Switch gaming."
• "The game selection has grown and shrunk a lot over the may times I've visited."
• "A genuine experience of the old 90s arcade scene."
• "Best thing they have done in Croydon for the kids best thing retro gaming arcade."
• "You can also do vr for a bit extra or get in for free if you pay twenty pounds in the game shop."

Cons:

• "However, lots of the machines were in poor condition. This is not a fault of the people who own this arcade."
• "With most arcades these days comprising of ticket machines, 2p machines and other uninspired antics."
• "This place is really good. Lots of rare japanese cabinets like MaiMai, Pop'n'Music and Ikaruga."
• "I wanted to like this place more and also enjoy it for longer, but unfortunately myself and my friend just couldn’t get into it."
• "Also tip for arriving. Entrance is on outside. We got confused and lady at exit desk was no help and seemed uninterested."
• "Some of the machines don't work but that's cuz he needs to fix them."
• "My favourite arcade to visit, and one I plan to make frequent trips to."
• "Really enjoyed the two times I went there, only issue is that most of the arcade machines are fighting games."

Staff and Customer Service

Pros:

• "Staff is also great, friendly and cool! Will be back many times!"
• "Staff are friendly (and always have been) and it's a friendly environment to enjoy."
• "The staff here are very friendly and down to earth people."
• "The owner is really cool and friendly. Great selection of classic video games."
• "The staff were really nice too."
• "The owner and the staff are very friendly."
• "The staff are absolutely lovely and really enjoy being there as much as you will!"
• "Staff try hard to please and manager is very friendly and helpful all in all worth a visit."

Cons:

• "I was abruptly told “you have to call him back” by the disinterested member of staff at the till."
• "The rest of the interaction didn't get much better (“Computer says no”)."
• "Bewildering new policies against kids combined with rude, racist staff; Heart of Gaming is the latest place in Croydon to plummet in quality."
• "I have not received a response to this mailing sent on 3rd Nov 2021, as of yet."
• "I would never go back here. 0 Star - Poor customer service. Loathsome owner & staff."
• "This was said after they learnt there mistake and that I had actually paid after all."
• "Nice place with bad people working upstairs."
• "Girl working there tells us place is closed because there's no people."