Before the video game age, arcades were one of the biggest social spots for mainly kids and teenagers to commute, compete, and share their passion. Once home video game became a mainstay allowing kids a more personal and intimate video gaming experience. This prompted the unfortunate collapse of the arcade industry for a very long time. That is until the last twenty years when many folks that fondly recall the arcade age and the joy it brought them sought to revive not just the arcade, but the social experience of the arcade.
It’s quite ironic how “Token Taverns” not only reflects the sheer core nature of humans and their instinct to be social animals, but the way that the rise and fall and rise again of arcades has reflected the digital age in general. Where we once commuted among one another for information, we retreated in to our own corners for solitude, only for us to retreat back in to the communal space for experiences we couldn’t get on a small screen. “Token Taverns” is not just about a niche industry, but an industry heavily reliant on the human experience. Director Bob Rose delivers on a touching, sweet, and often excellent exploration of the human mind and how he’s able to prove that arcades were anything but a fad, once upon a time.
As I mentioned, humans are social animals, and we would eventually go back in to the public settings where many niche franchises were created around token arcades. “Token Taverns” focuses on a trio of independently owned Taverns, both of which are mainly for the adults that craved the ability to re-live their childhood while also enjoying socializing and finding shared experiences. Through this discussion about the advent of mom and pop token taverns comes also a sad look at the fragility of this industry, the emotional needs that come with it, and how COVID almost destroyed every tavern that wasn’t owned by a corporate entity.
Through the pixels and blinking lights, there’s a really engaging story that unfolds with director Rose constantly keeping his finger on the pulse of his film’s real heart, and that is the people. While “Token Taverns” approaches every person in the documentary with admiration and dignity, the film does convey the idea that they’re in need of something that the internet can not provide. Furthermore, for a few of these people, the token taverns were what often helped them find companions in an increasingly alienating society. “Token Taverns” is a stellar documentary and that is so much more complex than pinball machines and classic Pac Man; although, those are great, too.
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