Who Needs This Checklist?
If you're a procurement manager or owner of an indoor FEC (family entertainment center)—arcades, trampoline parks, amusement parks—this is for you. Specifically when you're sitting in front of a spreadsheet, comparing quotes from 3+ arcade game vendors.
Not sure where to start? This checklist breaks it down into six actionable steps. No fluff. Just the process I've refined over 6 years tracking $180,000 in cumulative spending on games, prizes, and service contracts.
Step 1: Map Your Floor Traffic (Not Your Wishlist)
Most buyers start by picking games they personally like. (I've done this too. Ugh.) Don't. Start by looking at your floor plan and traffic data from the past quarter.
What to do: Pull the hourly foot traffic data for your busiest zones. Not just total footfall—where are the bottlenecks? Where do guests linger? Where do they rush past?
The checklist item: Have I mapped the 3 highest-traffic zones on my floor plan? Do I know the average dwell time in each zone? (Think 7-10 minutes in an arcade corner vs. 2 minutes in a walkway.)
Should mention: You'll probably find a spot near the prize counter that gets 20% more traffic than the back wall. That's where your claw machine should go. Obvious? Sure. But I've seen managers put a new rhythm game in a dead zone and wonder why nobody played it.
Step 2: Calculate True Cost of Ownership (TCO) for Each Machine
The sticker price is a trap. Always has been. When I audited our 2023 spending, 34% of our 'budget overruns' came from hidden costs on machines that seemed cheap on paper.
What to do: For each vendor quote, build a TCO calculator. Include:
- Unit price: The number on the invoice.
- Shipping & delivery: Ask if it's included. (Often not.)
- Installation & setup: Some vendors charge $400+ for on-site setup.
- 1-year maintenance plan: Is it included? If not, budget $50–$100/month per machine.
- Prize restocking cost: For claw machines, this is recurring. Factor it in.
The checklist item: Have I calculated TCO for each machine? Did I ask each vendor: 'What is NOT included in this price?'
Here's a real example from Q2 2024: vendor A quoted $3,200 per claw machine. Vendor B quoted $2,800. I almost went with B until I calculated TCO: B charged $250 for shipping, $150 for setup, and their 1-year service plan was $600 extra. Total: $3,800. Vendor A's $3,200 included everything. That's a 16% difference hidden in fine print.
Step 3: Verify Player Appeal (Don't Guess—Use Data)
You might love a retro cabinet from 1976. Your guests? They might walk right past it. I recommend this for classic arcade zones, but if you're dealing with a crowd under 25, retro titles often underperform compared to modern rhythm games or instant-win prize machines.
What to do: Ask vendors for play-test data from similar venues. (If they can't provide any, that's a red flag.) Better yet, visit a comparable FEC nearby—anonymously—and watch what gets played. Not ideal, but workable.
The checklist item: Did I ask the vendor for revenue-per-play data from other FECs? Did I observe guest behavior at a similar venue?
The surprise wasn't the game quality—it was how much theme matters. A generic racing cabinet gets ignored. One with a recognizable IP (like classic Taito titles) can triple play frequency. Put another way: don't just buy a good game; buy a game your guests already recognize.
Step 4: Check Service & Maintenance Realities
Every vendor says their machines are 'reliable.' No machine is maintenance-free. (I should add that we learned this the hard way—vendor X's 'trouble-free' guarantee meant they'd send a technician... within 10 business days.)
What to do: On your contract, check these clauses:
- Response time for repairs: Is it within 48 hours? 7 days?
- Are spare parts stocked locally? Or shipped from overseas?
- Does the warranty cover labor, or only parts?
The checklist item: Got the warranty terms in writing? Confirmed spare parts availability?
Oh, and ask for a reference call with another FEC that has been using the vendor's machines for at least 1 year. The 'reliable' claim often cracks under real-world questions.
Step 5: Evaluate the Prize Strategy (Especially for Claw Machines)
The game is the hook. The prize is the reason they keep playing. If you're buying a claw machine, you're also buying an ongoing prize supply chain.
What to do:
- Source prizes that look high-value but have a margin of 60%+.
- Rotate prizes monthly to maintain 'freshness' (stale prizes kill play rates).
- Is the machine adjustable? (Claw grip strength, prize drop rate?) Some vendors lock these settings—avoid that.
The checklist item: Did I calculate the cost-per-prize vs. play-cost breakeven? Did I confirm the machine's settings can be adjusted on-site?
Step 6: Negotiate the Contract (With a Walk-Away Point)
Calculated the worst case: you sign a 3-year lease on a machine that underperforms. Best case: it generates $500/month in revenue. The expected value said 'go for it,' but the downside felt catastrophic if the traffic doesn't show up.
What to do:
- Always negotiate a 'right to remove' clause if the machine fails to hit a minimum revenue threshold (e.g., $200/month for 3 months).
- Compare lease vs. purchase: lease often includes maintenance, but costs more over 2 years.
- Get promises in writing: delivery timeline, setup, training for your staff.
The checklist item: Did I get a 'performance guarantee' clause? Is the contract cancellable with 30 days' notice?
Final Tips from Someone Who Learned the Hard Way
So glad I used this checklist on my last purchase. Almost trusted a single vendor quote, which would have cost us $3,800 in hidden fees over two years.
Dodged a bullet when I double-checked the maintenance clause—the 'free service' they offered was only for the first 90 days. Was one click away from signing a contract that could've locked us into expensive repairs.
The checklist item: Did I read the fine print line by line?
If you follow these 6 steps—floor mapping, TCO calculation, player appeal verification, maintenance checks, prize strategy, and contract negotiation—you'll avoid the most common pitfalls. Not every machine will be a hit (virtually no one will ask you about the Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Video Game from 5 years ago). But your average cost per play will drop, and your floor will feel more alive. Exactly what we needed.