Michael Armagost had his first pinball machine at age 5 or 6. It was a High Roller, and it sparked a lifelong love of the game — one born growing up around Saratoga and Encampment, where the onset of winter made pinball a welcomed indoor escape.
His business partner, Aaron King, traces his pinball passion to Video Junction, a video rental store in his hometown of Riverton that had four machines.
One called Funhouse, featuring what he described as "a little evil puppet" that would "eat the ball," left a lasting impression.
"That's kind of where I found my love for pinball," King told Cowboy State Daily.
Last April, King approached Armagost with a vision.
"He was like, ‘Man, I have this great idea for a pinball arcade,'" Armagost recalled. "’And I think pinball is having a resurgence, and I think a pinball arcade would do well here.’"
Armagost, who is from Encampment and runs a small business consulting company, was intrigued.
Starting businesses is what he does — Arcade Laradise will be his fourth company, he said.
To flip the plan into action, King and Armagost needed pinball machines and space in a good location.
The hunt was on.
Going Competitive
Earlier this year, Wyoming was the only state not to send a pinball competitor to the North American Championship.
Armagost and King want to change that by restoring old machines locally and connecting with Stern Pinball in Chicago, a giant in the industry.
"We're working with Stern right now to become an official Stern retailer as well as a pinball provider," Armagost said. "So, we'll be able to have those competitions kind of in our space here so people don't have to travel to Fort Collins or Montana."
King, who plays competitive tournaments at Pinball Jones in Fort Collins, said the goal is to join the national pinball circuit.
"As far as having a dedicated competitive pinball hall, I think we're the first ones," King said.
King said he hopes Arcade Laradise draws in untapped talent from across Wyoming.
"My dreams would be if there's some guy who's just wicked good at pinball, or some kid, and they hear about our tournament and wouldn't mind traveling down," King said. "We might be able to give them a real opportunity."
The Space
The Laramie City Council considered their application for a secondhand dealer license at its Dec. 2 meeting.
The license, required for buying, selling and trading used goods, will allow the partners to deal in retro gaming consoles and games in their new location at 220 S. 2nd Street, formerly a grocery store.
The 1,200-square-foot space will house about 12 pinball machines, six stand-up arcade cabinets and two Skee-Ball machines.
The partners worked with Trey Sherwood at Laramie Main Street to secure the downtown location.
"It was definitely a struggle for a while, but we were able to secure funding and we were able to open up basically in the heart of downtown Laramie," King said. "It couldn't have worked out any better."
The partners got their start last May when someone offered them a beat-up 2007 Family Guy pinball machine headed for the dump.
Armagost, who knew nothing about repairing pinball machines, had it working within a week. That machine now sits at the Roughed Up Duck bar in Laramie.
Retro Gaming
Beyond pinball, Arcade Laradise’s retro gaming lounge will include a functioning 1977 Atari system that customers can play.
The space will have display cases with information about gaming history — the console wars between Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis, for example.
"The idea is, with an old-school system, you can go in and play just like you used to, or maybe show your kids how gaming used to be when you were growing up," King said.
King's personal favorites among modern pinball machines are the Deadpool — his favorite comic book character — and the Godzilla Premium, which features innovative magnetic technology that can lock multiple pinballs and launch them in unexpected ways.
All Ages
Arcade Laradise will operate as an all-ages venue, with live music on weekends and occasional late-night events.
Joseph Edwards, owner of Night Heron Books & Coffeehouse in Laramie, said the all-ages aspect fills a gap in Laramie's entertainment options.
"We got a lot of bars. We've had new gambling dens open up in the last six months," Edwards said. "But we don't have anything that is targeted towards folks that can't just go out and party. Arcade Laradise is going to bring that to Laramie in a way I think is going to have an incredibly positive impact on the community."
Armagost said he hopes the arcade can serve the broader creative community, with plans to include 3D printing and miniature painting alongside the pinball and vintage games. A vending machine will feature work from local artists.
"Almost everything right now is just dedicated to making sure that we are able to help our community as well as create a fun environment for people to relax," Armagost said, confident Arcade Laradise will latch on to pinball’s rising profile.
As King said, “In the last five years, pinball has seen a crazy huge resurgence, not only in the nostalgia market, but also just people in general are starting to love pinball a lot more and get out of their houses. There’s some serious opportunities that, yeah, we'd love for Wyoming to be a part of."
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
