For those who haven’t found out yet about At The Pier Arcade in Orland Square Mall‘s temporary closure, a mall representative informed me on April 5, 2025 that the space is supposed to start under a new operator. However it still needs to be approved by Orland Park ordinances. There is a distinct possibility though that it may not happen because Orland Park ordinances are no longer keen on arcades. So things are up in the air.

What To Do With Your Game Card

Yorktown Mall in Lombard is the only At The Pier open in Illinois now—a little over 35 minute drive from the Chicago Southland, using I-355.

I stopped by there earlier this afternoon since I had to be at Oak Brook for a meeting. I spoke with the Yorktown manager and he said that nationwide At The Piers have been struggling as of late . So definitely use up your points and get a prize to be safe.

Why Arcades Matter

It’s hard for me to believe that this happened, and I’m genuinely sad about it.

I didn’t grow up going to arcades, save for birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese and the like. My parents saw them as a waste of money. Play is important though, and in my indulging my daughter half a dozen times a year at an arcade, we connected in a way I never did with my parents.

I wasn’t keeping track, but I am certain that playing at At The Pier saved us money because my daughter wasn’t thinking about shopping, or getting things—she wanted to get out of the house and play with us (and beat us).

Just as malls have always been a social gathering place in their communities, so too are arcades.

For instance, while at the Yorktown At The Pier, a young man was giving me tips on which games were good when I got there. When one of the levers in a game we were playing stopped working, a nice young woman (who told me she comes every Tuesday to play) called the manager because she noticed what had happened. After the manager fixed the lever, she found me and told me I still had 12 more plays left in the game. She didn’t need to do that, she could’ve taken advantage of the situation and used up those remaining plays for herself. Finally when it came time to claim prizes, the manager let us get a prize that was just a few points above what we had left on our card. None of these people needed to be as nice as they were—as much as division is the way our time is painted, on closer inspection through actually be out in your communities you find that there are many more instances of goodness. You only see that when you leave yourself open to it.

New Arcades

Ironically, a couple of new arcades have opened very recently South of the mall, near the intersection of 159th Street and 94th Avenue. Unvreal VR Lounge and Ultimate Gaming Xperience. Both 7 minutes walking distance from each other. Definitely worth checking out.

How To Get An Arcade Back at Orland Square

I sincerely hope a new arcade operator gets approved by the Village of Orland Park. But what we as consumers can do to better the chances of getting any arcade approved at Orland Squre are reaching out to the Village of Orland Park and At The Pier corporate. Express why you’d like to see an arcade at the mall, ask questions, and make your voice heard your way.

Tell your friends and family to check out the At The Pier in Yorktown to get a feel for it—word-of-mouth carries more weight than people know. And maybe that’s part of why arcades struggle these days, besides the fact that technology advancements have made at-home play so much more immersive and stimulating.

Heck, if you want to open up an At The Pier as a franchisee, go for it.