Forty years ago, a person could go into a serious quarter deficit in a place like the Silverball Museum in Delray Beach.
With 88 pinball machines as well as two dozen arcade games, the attraction has been attracting the flipper-obsessed since it opened in 2016.
Nowadays, though, you just pay a flat fee and it’s free play. For $25, you could pull back and let her rip all day long, or just play for 30 minutes for $7.50 or one hour for $10. There are $15 afternoon and evening passes as well.
So you don’t have to throw your back out lugging around a pocketful of quarters while you try your hand at Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure. There’s also pinball games for “Rocky,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “The Addams Family.”
For music fans, try the Elvis, Guns ’n Roses or Ted Nugent pinball machines. And there’s not one but two KISS pinball games, one in English and one in German. Also, don’t get starstruck by the Elton John-inspired Captain Fantastic.
The 1970s are well represented with games for daredevil Evel Knievel, TV show “Charlie’s Angels,” and boxer Muhammad Ali. There’s a slew from earlier decades as well.
For those who like joysticks and pixels, classic games include Ms. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Centipede, Asteroids, Frogger, Missile Command, Space Invaders and even Tank.
And yes, there’s skee ball too. But the star is the pinball machine, which surprisingly has the ability to suck in not only the crowds that grew up on such entertainment, but also the younger minds of Generation Swipe.
The 9,000-square-foot Delray Beach location is the second for Pinball Museum, which opened its first in Asbury Park, N.J., in 2009.
Owner Rob Ilvento has pinball machines dating back decades with several machines from the 1950s and 1960s, with a few from this side of the millennium around as well.
While the site has TVs, you better not count on hearing anything over the din of flippers flipping. It’s loud in there, but there are free ear plugs for those who want them.
Also on site is boardwalk food fare, including pizza, hot dogs, wings, tenders and funnel cakes. A more refined menu offers things like lobster rolls, shrimp cocktail, hummus platters, crab cakes and even kale salad with poppy seed dressing. There’s also beer, wine and $5 bottomless soda.
Open daily, the attraction is open 11 a.m.-midnight Sunday-Thursday and 11-2 a.m. Friday-Saturday.
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IF YOU GO
Silverball Museum
19 NE 3rd Ave., Delray Beach
561-266-3294
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