Flip Out Pinball Club / Fun House bar with ballpond - 13.11.2021

What a hidden gem this place transpires to be. Tucked away in the recesses of an industrial park, it is easy to miss. Little by the way of signage or promotion. Only when you are walking directly up to the open door do you spy the world of flashing lights and celebratory pinball music inside. 

At present it costs £10 to visit for unlimited sessions of free pinball game usage (some of the machines do appear to cost extra to play, but not so many of them as to spoil a day out if you show up with empty pockets - as I did because my entry was free with my Buckt subscription)

The staff are super friendly and mostly stay out of the way and let you do as you will unless you require them. There is a kitchenette with an honour-system of one paying what one deems fair into a jar and making ones own cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate when one requires refreshment. It is quaint and lovely.

There are 3 rooms of pinball games of varying age and theme. Having not played much pinball myself, I was surprised to find just how comprehensive the challenges could be, directing the player to target specific areas of the table within a certain order or certain amount of time in order to yield the maximum score. Teenie-bopper pinballer that I am, I was happy just to get a respectable number of ‘pings’ before losing the ball to the unreachable centre of the main lower flippers. I very often did not. It was enjoyable nonetheless, and the constantly ‘pinging’ musical and colourfully lit ambience was an enjoyable environment in which to spend a couple of hours. It is a wonderful little place and well worth remembering when in the area again.

Onwards March to The Funhouse - a bar also located in Croydon that boasts a ball pond. How is one to resist? It doesn’t open until 8pm, so a couple of hours are killed in a local generic pub. 

Upon entering Funhouse one is treated to a day-glo and crazily decorated interior as is befitting the name. The use of the approx 8ft x 10ft (?) glass tank containing the ball pond is a surprisingly cheap £5 pp. My friend almost immediately loses his wedding ring in it, thus providing a cautionary tale and the evenings objective all in one. I was the one to find it, so his first born is mine now. I’ll probably just accept first round next time we’re drinking. Kids are a pain in the ass and I hear that you have to feed them almost every day!

One has plenty fun enough regressing to childhood by leaping into the ball pond and burrowing oneself down beneath them. But when one emerges possibly some 15 minutes later there are reasonably priced cocktails on offer, which is a must. Let’s face it, if one is in the mood for a ball pond, one is almost certain in the mood for cocktails.

Flip Out Pinball, Unit 10, James Business Park, Mill Lane, Croydon, CR0 4AA

FunHouse, 91-101 High street, Croydon, CR0 1QF