Amy Haneline

IndyStar

What do you do with a collection of retro arcade games and a friend who loves craft beer? Open a bar, of course.

Jeff Moulton and Aaron Miller, the arcade experts, and Austin Howard, the beer enthusiast, are the guys behind a new arcade bar — a hangout that combines gaming with drinks — in Fletcher Place. Taking cues 16 Bit Bar in Columbus, Ohio, and Arcadium in Lexington, Ky., the three friends saw a need for a similar bar in Indianapolis.

The idea hatched in 2014 when arcade games and pinball machines were collecting in Moulton’s spare bedrooms and lurking in any storage areas friends and family would offer up. The worst part was that he couldn’t share them with everyone.

Get your (arcade) game on: 15 places to play in Indy

So the friends teamed up to launch a crowd-funding campaign and raised $30,000 to open the bar. Flash forward a year-and-half and their vision is finally coming to life.

Tappers Arcade Bar is now open at 501 Virginia Ave. Here are the stats you should know before you go.

47 games

Tappers Arcade Bar has 47 retro arcade games and pinball machines. The key word here is “retro.” These games are from the video gaming heydays of the '70s and '80s. Classics include Galaga, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders and Ms. Pac-Man. But they also have lesser known games such as Time Pilot and Rampage.

“Aaron and I are really into this,” Moulton said. “So we know games that aren’t as recognizable. Time Pilot, in my opinion, is one of the most fun games in this bar, but it’s not one that a lot of people know.”

0 dollars

That’s what it costs to play the arcade games — nothing. “Free play” is important to the founders because they want people to enjoy the games and discover new ones. “If you’re not into games or you don’t see the value in pumping quarters into games, that is not barrier for you to come in. There is no cost in coming in here,” Howard said. There is a catch. The handful of pinball machines cost a quarter to play, mostly because they are high maintenance.

Sneak peek: Broken Beaker distillery opens on Mass Ave.

12 beers

Because the games are free, the bar is the money-maker. It will have 12 craft brews on tap, mostly from Indiana and Midwest breweries, domestic bottles and a small wine selection. There will also be soft drinks, coffee and snacks. High-top tables between games means there’s a place to set your beverage while you play.

232 donors

The whole endeavor “took a community of people,” Howard said. There were 232 people who donated to their IndieGoGo fundraising campaign. It doesn’t stop there. Local artist Martin Kuntz hand-painted the artwork on the bar’s walls, a local woodworker built the side tables — even the draft system and ATM were set up through local vendors. And the gaming community stepped up to help them restore and rebuild all the arcade games — like the more than 20 hours it took to repair Frogger. “Without all that, we wouldn’t be here right now doing this. We’d still just be a handful of kooks with arcade games in their houses,” Jeff laughed.

21 years (or older)

While a room full of arcade games seems like a kid’s paradise, Tappers is only those 21 and older. The team says that’s with reason. “Adults get that this was the genesis of games,” Moulton explained. Arcades blew up in the late '70s and early '80s, and Tappers has several of the “greatest hits” since then. “(Kids) think it’s neat, but it’s not relevant to them. They don’t really understand the significance of it,” Miller said, who has a 10-year-old son. The nostalgia is key. More advanced console games that kids play today killed arcade gaming, Moulton said, but we are now experiencing a revival.

Tappers Arcade Bar is open 4 p.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, noon to 1 a.m. on Saturday and noon to midnight on Sunday.

Follow IndyStar reporter Amy Haneline on Twitter and Instagram @amybhaneline, and Facebook. Call her at (317) 444-6281.