About the business
I run a few game room locations. Each one has a counter, a floor of machines, and a small team. I'm not at any of them every night, which is exactly where the trouble started.
The problem: six tools, six answers
Over the years, every problem got its own tool. A card reader and a cash box at the counter. A spreadsheet for machine readings. A separate app for the staff schedule and payroll. A punch clock. Paper tickets. A whiteboard for payouts.
Each one worked fine on its own.
The trouble was the close. If I asked how a night went, I got six answers in six formats, and I added them up by hand. The total rarely matched the deposit. Staff typed the same thing into two places. When a number looked wrong, nobody could say which tool was right.
With more than one location, it got worse. I was driving between stores to count cash, because that was the only way to trust a number.
What we changed: one platform, moved in order of pain
We didn't switch everything in one weekend. That would have been asking for trouble. We moved in order of what hurt most.
- The counter first. Every match tied to a checked-in player, with a receipt. That's where the money was leaking.
- Machine readings next. Every reading entered with a photo of the meter, and the photo checked against the number.
- Staff after that. Schedules, clock-in with each person's own access code at the Match System, timesheets and payroll in the same place.
- Promos last. Spins, raffles and wallet passes, once we trusted the numbers underneath them.
Our snack register stayed as it was. Not every tool has to go. What matters is that the numbers that decide whether a night went well end up in one place.
The result: one report, from anywhere
The shift report is done when the closer clocks out, and it lands in my email. I can check every store from my phone. I don't drive in to count cash anymore.
When something looks off, I can follow it back to one record, with a time and a name on it, instead of asking which of six tools to believe.
The biggest change was in my head. I stopped asking "which number is right?" and started asking "what do I do about it?"
Where to start depends on where your floor leaks. For most operators it's the counter or the readings. If you're shopping for hardware, read the game card comparison first. If the numbers are fine and the nights are quiet, start with loyalty. You can also see ArcadeX itself.
Tell us which tools you close on today. We'll sketch the order we'd move them in, tell you which can stay, and set up the free one-week test at the store that worries you most. No lock-in.
Free one-week test
We put a Match System on your counter for one week, on your real machines. If it doesn't show you something you didn't know, you walk away. Buy it and your first month of Premium is free.
- Free for one week
- Your real machines
- First month free when you buy