Arcade bar · End of Pier 9
Pixel Pier
Stay all night
42 restored cabinets, six pinball tables and a neon cocktail bar hanging over the sea. Open till 2am Fridays and Saturdays.
Adds a free credit for the bonus stage game further down the page.
- 42 cabinets
- 6 pinball tables
- 14 taps
- Free play Mondays
- Open till 2am Fri & Sat
- Every cocktail comes with a token
Stage 01
The machines
Forty-two cabinets restored in our workshop under the pier boards: every joystick re-switched, every tube re-capped, every coin door polished. Here are eight house favourites. Pick a genre, then come and break a record.
1 token = £1 12 tokens = £10 30 tokens = £20 Free-play wristband = £15 (Mondays)
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Star Lancer ’84
Vertical-scrolling space shooter with a bomb button that feels like cheating. The most fiercely contested board in the building.
1 tokenUpright
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Neon Drift GT
Twin sit-down cabs with force-feedback wheels. Link up and race your mate down a coast road that never ends.
2 tokensSit-down
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The Haunted Lighthouse
Wide-body table with a spinning lamp toy, three-ball multiball and a ghost who steals your bonus if you dawdle.
2 tokensWide-body
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Kung-Fu Kitchen
Eight chefs, one wok, best of three rounds. The rolling-pin special is frankly unfair and we love it.
1 tokenUpright
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Block Cascade DX
Falling-block classic on a 27-inch tube. Our resident champ clears level 29 most Thursdays and doesn’t talk about it.
1 tokenUpright
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Ghost Gobbler
Chomp the dots, dodge four grudge-holding ghosts. A sit-down cocktail table. Yes, you can rest your drink on it.
1 tokenCocktail table
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Rocket Rodeo
Space-cowboy table with a magnetic lasso ramp and a launch-pad multiball. Loudest machine on the pier, by request.
2 tokensStandard
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Pier Invaders
Our own house-built cabinet: defend the boardwalk from descending pixel crabs. Sticker-bombed by twelve years of regulars.
1 tokenHouse build
Stage 02
High scores
Boards reset on the first of every month. Top spot on each machine wins a £50 bar tab and three glowing initials above the bar until someone knocks them off.
Star Lancer ’84 · Top 8
| Rank | Name | Score | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1ST | KAZ | 0987650 | 03 OCT |
| 2ND | NEO | 0912400 | 28 SEP |
| 3RD | JDX | 0874120 | 11 OCT |
| 4TH | MEG | 0801990 | 19 SEP |
| 5TH | RAD | 0765300 | 07 OCT |
| 6TH | ACE | 0702150 | 22 SEP |
| 7TH | VHS | 0655000 | 01 OCT |
| 8TH | BOB | 0590420 | 14 OCT |
Neon Drift GT · Best laps
| Rank | Name | Lap | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1ST | ZIP | 1:11.842 | 03 OCT |
| 2ND | KAZ | 1:12.090 | 09 OCT |
| 3RD | LUX | 1:12.517 | 27 SEP |
| 4TH | TRB | 1:13.004 | 12 OCT |
| 5TH | SAM | 1:13.660 | 30 SEP |
| 6TH | JJ7 | 1:14.212 | 05 OCT |
| 7TH | POP | 1:14.895 | 21 SEP |
| 8TH | ELF | 1:15.330 | 13 OCT |
Block Cascade DX · Top 8
| Rank | Name | Score | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1ST | ZED | 1204880 | LV29 |
| 2ND | MEG | 1118240 | LV27 |
| 3RD | ORB | 0986500 | LV24 |
| 4TH | KAZ | 0941370 | LV23 |
| 5TH | TIL | 0803960 | LV21 |
| 6TH | DOT | 0754010 | LV20 |
| 7TH | RAY | 0690220 | LV19 |
| 8TH | FIN | 0612480 | LV18 |
Haunted Lighthouse · Grand champs
| Rank | Name | Score | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1ST | LOU | 2.14B | 08 OCT |
| 2ND | NEO | 1.98B | 02 OCT |
| 3RD | WIZ | 1.75B | 25 SEP |
| 4TH | KAZ | 1.50B | 11 OCT |
| 5TH | PIP | 1.31B | 17 SEP |
| 6TH | ACE | 1.12B | 06 OCT |
| 7TH | DOT | 998.4M | 29 SEP |
| 8TH | RAY | 874.2M | 14 OCT |
Reigning pier champ
KAZ
Kaz Moreno-Achebe holds four boards at once this month. Signature move: refusing to blink. Bounty for knocking KAZ off Star Lancer: a round on the house.
- Photo or it didn’t happen. Shout for a staff member before you walk away and we’ll snap the screen.
- Monthly reset. Boards wipe at opening on the 1st. Old champs go up on the Wall of Fame.
- No turbo pads, no cheat codes. Except the one hidden on this website. That one’s fine.
Stage 03
The bar
Fourteen taps, a back-bar glowing like an attract screen, and cocktails named after the games that inspired them. Every cocktail comes with a free token, because of course it does.
Happy hourMon–Thu 4–7pm · any cocktail £6.50 · pints £4 · tokens still free
Stage 04
Select your night
Something on every night of the week. Today’s game is highlighted. No tickets needed unless we say so.
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MON
Free Play Monday
5pm – close
£15 wristband and every cabinet is on free play. Bring your thumbs.
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TUE
Retro Quiz
8pm sharp
Six rounds of 80s and 90s pop culture, teams of up to six. Winners take 200 tokens.
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WED
Pinball League
7:30pm
Ranked flipper league on all six tables. Newcomers get a mentor.
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THU
Tournament Night
8pm · £5 entry
One game, one bracket. The champ’s initials go up in neon.
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FRI
Neon Nights
9pm – 2am
Resident DJs on synthwave, italo and city pop. Cabinets stay live.
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SAT
80s Karaoke
8pm – 1am
Main stage plus two private booths. 1,400 power ballads, zero judgement.
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SUN
Family Arcade
11am – 4pm
Under-16s welcome with an adult. Pancake stack plus 10 tokens for £8.
Tournament sign-up opens at 7pm on the night: 32 places, first come, first served. Quiz tables can be reserved by phone.
Hire the whole pierStage 05
Party mode
Birthdays, leaving dos, team socials people actually turn up to. Pick a mode, set the headcount and our party boss will be in touch within one working day.
- Tokens on arrivalEvery guest gets a pouch of tokens at the door, no fumbling for change.
- Hosted tournamentWe run a bracket on the game of your choice, with a trophy for the winner.
- Your own neonYour name on the marquee and a cocktail named after the guest of honour.
“Forty of us, Co-op Mode, and our finance director ended up on the Star Lancer board. Nobody has recovered.”
Marisol, team social, September
Bonus stage
Zap the invaders
Can’t make it down to the pier tonight? Warm up your reflexes here. It costs one credit, and credits are free.
- +10for every invader you zap.
- +15if you get it within half a second of it appearing.
- HIYour best score is remembered on this device.
Rumour has it the old codes still work here. Try UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT B A on a keyboard (arrow keys, then B and A).
Stage 06
Continue? Find the pier
We’re in the old pavilion at the very end of Pier 9. Follow the Esplanade until the boards start glowing.
Getting here
- RailSaltmarsh Bay station, then seven minutes down Station Street to the seafront.
- BusThe 77 and the N7 night bus stop at Pier Gates every 20 minutes until 3am.
- ParkMarina car park, £1 an hour after 6pm. Six EV bays on level 1.
- BikeCovered racks for 30 bikes at the pier gates, watched till close.
Hours below
- Monday4pm – midnight
- Tuesday4pm – midnight
- Wednesday4pm – midnight
- Thursday4pm – midnight
- Friday4pm – 2am
- Saturday12pm – 2am
- Sunday11am – 11pm
Address
Pixel Pier, The PavilionPier 9, Esplanade Road
Saltmarsh Bay SB4 9PX
Access & age
Step-free via the east ramp, lift to the mezzanine and six cabinets at seated height. Quiet hour Sundays 11am–12pm with sound and lights dimmed. Over-18s only after 7pm.