Arcades in Chelmsford

Looking for flashing lights and high scores in Chelmsford, Essex? There are 21 arcades mapped here. That's 21 arcades mapped around Chelmsford. Machine condition varies wildly between venues, so the one with the best-maintained cabinets wins regardless of size. Check whether the venue runs on tokens, cards or coins before you arrive with the wrong currency.

This guide covers every arcade we could verify in and around Chelmsford (within about 40 km), built from OpenStreetMap's community-maintained data. Names you'll run into include Boom Battle Bar and Gravity Active, plus Nickelodeon Adventure. If an arcade's missing from Chelmsford's list, it probably just hasn't been mapped yet.

The Chelmsford arcade lineup

21 mapped within about 40 km:

What the map tells us about arcades in Chelmsford

3 of the 21 list their opening hours on the map, which is genuinely useful — arcades keep long hours, so the listed times are usually good.

6 have websites listed. Worth a look for tournament nights and free-play evenings.

6 arcades list websites — worth a look for opening times and whether they run leagues or tournament nights.

The Chelmsford arcade run

Plot these on a map and the day plans itself: Boom Battle Bar on 106 Bond Street, Gravity Active on Rose Gallery, Nickelodeon Adventure on West Thurrock Way, Laser Quest Romford on 57-59 High Street, Amusement Park, Astro City Amusements on 2c Southchurch Road, Fantasia, and Happidrome on 52 Marine Parade. That's 21 stops on the Chelmsford arcade run. 13 more are listed below.

Arcade tips for Chelmsford

The regulars' rules for Chelmsford's arcades:

• Don't feed a broken machine at Boom Battle Bar. If it eats your credit without starting, tell staff immediately. Good venues refund; all venues should know.
• Eat before the big session at Gravity Active. Arcade food is priced for captives. Eat properly beforehand and save the budget for games.
• Check the retro corner. The old cabinets in the back are often the best-maintained — they're somebody's pride and joy.
• Check the payment system first. Tokens, reloadable cards, coins, or tap-to-play — every venue differs. Ask at the counter before you feed the wrong thing.

Good to know

We searched about 40 km around Chelmsford — that covers the town itself plus the surrounding communities you'd reasonably drive to. Listings come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by local volunteers, so a brand-new arcade in Chelmsford can take a while to appear. If you spot one of the 21 that's closed, or a great arcade we missed, the fix is to update the map itself — that's where this guide reads from.

We don't list machine lineups — they change too often. What we list is the where: real venues, verified by real mappers.

If you run one of the 21 listed here and something's wrong — a closure, a move, new hours — the fix is the same: update the shop on OpenStreetMap and the correction flows through to this page on the next daily refresh.