105 of 107 places fit
Twelve high-end PCs and current consoles at Dhs5 an hour, about a tenth of mall prices, with free parking.
A coffee, board game and tabletop role-playing spot that runs regular public game nights you can join solo.
Fifty-plus stations across 5,000 sq ft with 5v5 battle arenas, open until 4am most nights, aimed at Valorant and League squads.
Sharjah's premium screens with VIP seating at every session, and the chain says it runs the emirate's only IMAX.
Pool tables in a neon games hall with bowling, AR cricket and darts, central for Bur Dubai and Oud Metha.
Six neon lanes alongside AR cricket cages, digital darts and pool, for a bowling night with a cricket fix on the side.
Free family films on a big outdoor screen by the JLT lakes every Saturday, with a Dhs30 beanbag-and-popcorn upgrade if you want it.
A small neighbourhood arcade with Mario Kart, Batman and Justice League cabinets plus Pac-Man and Space Invaders, at an outdoor dining strip in the far east of Dubai.
A hosted Saturday karaoke brunch with a sharing menu, where a queue keeps the mic moving and nervous singers can start with a duet.
Horror quests with live actors that are physically demanding as well as scary, open until 2am.
An all-ages warehouse where an arcade with classic and modern machines shares one reloadable card with bowling, a VR rollercoaster, a climbing wall and a trampoline park.
The second Ground Control site, with mini golf, arcades and darts on the Creek side of the city.
Sharjah's best-known game cafe, with a shelf of Made-in-the-UAE games such as Jackaroo and Legend of Laith alongside the usual strategy titles.
Ten gaming PCs plus racing sims inside a mall, the easy option for families in Al Zahia and Muwaileh.
Pool tables alongside bowling and arcade games in old Dubai, open until 2-3am.
Board games, a few thousand books and a co-working corner under one roof, which makes it the main option on the Deira and Sharjah-border side of the city.
Thirty-six proper league lanes with a pro shop, at under Dhs20 a game, where the city's serious bowlers actually play.
Indoor mini golf in a mall games venue with arcades, darts and axe throwing, open to families during the day.
A brewpub with pool tables and beer pong in JVC, the nearest place to play for the Al Barsha South and JVC crowd.
A 40,000 sq ft hall with 30-plus attractions, from arcade machines to an indoor roller glider, eight bowling lanes and rock climbing, on the metro in old Dubai.
Sharjah's main escape-style game: 24-plus cells mixing puzzles with physical tasks, priced lower for kids.
The brand's biggest UAE site with 16 rooms, open until 1am at weekends.
A licensed cinema: on licensed screenings you can order cocktails to your seat from the Azul bar.
Four rooms at City Walk, from a Houdini mystery to House of Bella with a live actor, handy before dinner on the strip.
A flat fee buys unlimited time with a library of around a thousand games, and the tables look straight at the Burj Khalifa.
An open-air screen with two-person cabanas, loungers and beanbags, Dolby 7.1 sound and snacks ordered to your seat.
Fifteen tournament-spec PCs and PS5s that stay open around the clock at weekends, with a night pass for all-nighters.
A single-screen boutique cinema with leather armchairs, full meals and occasional retro screenings alongside new releases.
Six Hyperbowl lanes with interactive projected targets, inside a 70,000 sq ft indoor theme park for when kids find normal bowling boring.
The GCC's first independent art-house cinema: about 130 seats, programming picked by hand, plus Arab, Hong Kong and classic film seasons you will not find at a mall multiplex.
The default family arcade in Dubai's City Centre malls: racing, basketball and ticket games on a tap card, with no booking and mall parking.
An adults-only arcade bar with retro cabinets, pinball and VR booths behind graffiti walls, plus a four-lane bowling alley and pool.
One of the bigger clubs, with 25 PCs, six PS5s and two racing sims, open till 1am every day.
Heated reclining seats with blankets and pillows, waiter service and a three-course menu, plus a pre-film lounge with billiards.
One of the city's biggest libraries, several hundred titles, with staff whose job is to teach you the rules so you can skip the rulebook.
A food-and-games hall in Fountain Views with 15-plus arcade machines alongside duckpin bowling, AR darts and shuffleboard, open until 2am.
A mall-based cafe with more than a thousand games plus puzzles, handy for the JVC and Al Barsha South crowd who would otherwise drive into town.
Twelve themed rooms in one place, from a family Chocolate Factory to horror, so a group can come back several times without repeating.
Six rooms at one flat price, including a laser-and-timing art heist that is more physical than most puzzle rooms.
Ten Brunswick lanes with interactive projections and a VIP area of private lanes, plus mini golf and karaoke rooms in the same venue.
Three themed nine-hole courses with moving obstacles, a hot-air balloon and a waterwheel among them, wrapped in street-food stalls and cocktail bars.
Pool and snooker tables in a licensed bar with bowling and an arcade, open till 2-3am.
Twelve lanes inside a licensed bar with a retro arcade and pool tables, and Sunday afternoons halve the price of a game.
Seven themed private rooms, each named after a musician, with a catalogue of 80,000-plus songs and an hourly per-person rate that stays cheap for a big group.
Seven rooms in one JLT building, including a Louvre heist and a live-actor horror room called Ring's.
A short crazy golf course in a games bar, cheaper per head than the other options and easy to combine with darts or shuffleboard.
Six billiard tables beside a 12-lane bowling alley, a family-friendly, alcohol-free place to shoot pool by the metro.
Twelve lanes plus six billiard tables and a karaoke stage, the main option for families on the Discovery Gardens and Gardens side of town.
A winter rooftop-style screen with reclining seats, giant beanbags and double couches, and proper dishes brought to your seat.
Ras Al Khaimah's proper esports room: fourteen PCs in five-seat team rooms plus four PS5s and a racing sim.
Private karaoke rooms in a games venue, so the group can bowl or putt first and sing after.
A putting game with a live leaderboard, so every shot is scored and the group gets a ranking at the end.
Sixty-plus arcade machines, from Pac-Man cabinets to motorbike and car simulators, sit next to 12 bowling lanes in a licensed bar, so the arcade is a night out rather than a kids' zone.
Billiards on the 44th floor of a hotel tower, with skyline views, darts, pinball and the world's highest bowling lanes in the same bar.
Tuesday night karaoke at a sports bar by the F1 track, with no limits on song choice.
A private room in an award-winning Korean grill, so you can do barbecue and then sing without moving venue; you can bring your own decorations.
Eight lanes plus billiards and darts on the mainland side, so Al Shahama, Al Rahba and Al Reef residents skip the drive into the city.
Twenty-one retro arcade machines, an interactive wall, four billiard tables and a karaoke room under one roof on Saadiyat.
Four billiard tables in a retro lounge with 21 arcade machines and a karaoke room, the only cue venue on Saadiyat.
An alcohol-free karaoke room inside a retro arcade lounge, so it works for families and teenagers.
Al Ain's long-running arcade, from a group that started in Abu Dhabi's Tourist Club area in 1987, with separate zones for small kids and teenagers.
The Art in Motion screenings put films in the museum courtyard, free with advance booking.
The city's specialist game shop runs in-store events and tournaments, the easiest way to find regular players for card and strategy games.
Eighteen gaming PCs and racing sims on the same floor as Game Over and Zero Latency, handy for an office-crowd session after work.
Thirty-two short themed rooms mixing rope courses, balance tests, maths and music puzzles, so it suits mixed-age groups better than a horror room.
Four THEATRE screens with reclining leather seats and a gourmet menu served during the film, in the mall that also has Abu Dhabi's largest IMAX.
A four-lane neon alley inside a New York-style diner and bar, open until 3am at weekends, so bowling can be the second half of dinner.
Pinball at AED 5 a game, air hockey and arcade cabinets in a café that has been running since 1996.
PS5 at AED 25 an hour, a third of the mall-lounge price, with food from the café downstairs brought to your sofa.
Five private rooms of different sizes with leather sofas and coloured lights, open until 2am, the most room choice in the city.
Horror rooms like Mad Surgeon and Creepy Dolls where you can turn the fear level down if someone in the group is nervous.
Open-stage karaoke in a British pub where the room sings along to the big choruses.
AED 20 an hour is about the cheapest table in the city, and they run coaching if you want to stop potting by luck.
Family films on the lawn on winter weekends for the price of park entry, AED 10.
Six soundproof booths you can book for just 30 minutes, with costume props and a photobooth, so it works for two people on a whim.
35,000 square feet of racing and rollercoaster simulators, VR, PC gaming and video games around a 12-lane bowling alley.
Twelve lanes open until 1am most nights, with pool tables, VR rigs and racing simulators around them if half the group gets bored.
A working snooker hall in Mussafah where local tournaments are played, open until 5am at weekends.
A 17th-floor bar that turns Saturday evening into a three-hour karaoke drinks session, with happy hour daily until 9pm.
Four lanes inside a country club, with a karaoke bar next door, makes it feel like a private alley rather than a mall attraction.
Abu Dhabi's largest multiplex at 21 screens, with a THEATRE dine-in hall and the city's only full laser IMAX.
A neon retro arcade bolted onto a New York diner and bar, open until 3am at weekends.
The UAE's first internet café, open since 1996, now a shisha-and-games room with pool tables next to the pinball and PS5s.
Board games alongside pool tables, pinball and PS5s, so a group that tires of one game has three more in the same room.
A medieval-tavern-themed café where staff teach you the rules, which makes it the easiest start if nobody in your group knows the games.
Four pool tables next to a 12-lane bowling alley, so a mixed group can split between cues and pins.
More than 400 games on the shelves, indoors in Sheikha Fatima Park, with specialty coffee and late hours.
A billiard hub inside Al Ain Mall's bowling centre, the easiest place in Al Ain to rack up after dinner.
Al Ain's bowling alley: twelve ten-pin lanes plus billiards, table tennis and PlayStation, and among the cheapest games in the country on weekdays.
Al Ain's esports club and the only True Gamers branch with VR, on KatVR walking bases, plus PCs, PS5s and racing sims.
Eighteen PCs, five PS5s and two racing sims, with a 5-hour PC block bringing the rate down to AED 32 an hour.
An Arthouse Theatre for festival and independent films, full recliners with waiter service in VIP, and the city's largest screen in the XXL hall.
A four-floor, 4,500-square-metre gaming complex whose top floor is given over to retro cabinets like Pac-Man and Street Fighter.
The city's biggest gaming venue: four floors of PCs, consoles, VR scenarios and an esports bar, with an esports academy on site.
Twelve lanes on the Galleria's top level, so you can pair a game with the trampoline park, climbing walls or a film at the VOX downstairs.
Nine rooms in one place, from Pirates to Alice in Wonderland to horror, so a group can come back several times without repeating.
A 225-square-metre free-roam arena where up to eight of you walk through the game together with no cables or backpacks.
Arcade games, a trampoline park and climbing walls on the Galleria's top floor, a short walk from the VOX and True Gamers.
Twenty-four-plus prison cells, each a short puzzle or physical task, so you score points against other teams rather than solve one long story.
Forty lanes means you almost never wait, even on a Friday night, and the same hall has billiards tables for between games.
The city's biggest billiards hall sits inside the 40-lane bowling centre, with pool and snooker tables and a social league if you want regular games.
Friday karaoke runs until 2am, and the Lion's Den private room takes up to 12 any day of the week.
Abu Dhabi's first board game café, with 200-plus games from Sequence to Catan and an all-day pass under AED 40.
Six screens with electric full recliners and call-button food service in VIP, plus two-person couches and a Starlight Theatre that also hosts live shows.
More than 100 board games in a mall café attached to nine escape rooms, handy for a warm-down after a game.