Location from Stranger Things by The Duffer Brothers
Hawkins' local arcade — a neon-lit sanctuary of Dragon's Lair, Dig Dug, and quarter-fueled competition where the Party goes to be normal kids.
The Palace Arcade is one of the few places in Hawkins that belongs entirely to the kids. It is where Dustin obsesses over his Dig Dug high score, where Lucas first meets Max, and where the rhythms of normal adolescence play out in quarters and competition. The arcade represents the '80s childhood the show is built on — a pre-internet world where social life happened in physical spaces and status was measured in high scores. It is also where the Upside Down's intrusion feels most violating: this is supposed to be safe, supposed to be fun, and even here the shadows find a way in.
A dim storefront packed with arcade cabinets, their screens casting shifting colored light across the low carpet. The air is thick with electronic bleeps, the clatter of joysticks, and the smell of spilled soda. Dragon's Lair and Dig Dug command the most traffic. A high-score board on the wall tracks local legends. Neon signs glow in the windows. Outside, bikes are piled against the wall in a tangle of handlebars and banana seats.
Also known as: the Palace Arcade, the arcade, Palace Arcade