A panorama shows the bar and dining area at left and games at right.

If arcade games, craft drinks and American-style cuisine sound appealing, then GameWorks might be your next destination.

The new entertainment center is located in the former Circuit City retail space between Bass Pro Shops and Super Target in Northfield. The arcade offers a mix of classic and modern games in a spacious setting that includes a private meeting room, full bar, restaurant, a big-screen television viewing area and a state-of-the-art laser tag setup.

“We are geared toward kids’ birthday parties, adults, sports viewing and corporate events. You name it. We do it all,” says Assistant General Manager Kyle Lockwood, who was preparing for a Super Smash Bros. tournament at the time of this interview. “We also host e-sports tournaments, which are popular. These tournaments are console gaming events that use Xbox Ones. We follow the tournaments on a large monitor as well as using PCs and Macs. And we can send out feeds to other TVs in the venue.”

The 40,000-sq.-ft. operation, which opened on March 24, is the first GameWorks in Colorado. Other locations exist in Las Vegas and Seattle as well as in Kentucky, Virginia and Ontario, Canada. Customers can earn discounts on food and game rewards through the arcade’s GamePerks program. Lockwood says the business sees a lot of younger kids and college-aged patrons but that he anticipates younger people of all ages in the summer months.

“Evenings and weekends are huge for us. We have a full menu that includes pizza, sandwiches, pastas and entrees—the whole works. And we have a full bar with tons of local beers. We have 42 local bottles and local taps too with a full liquor offering as well,” says Lockwood, who moved to Denver from Minneapolis, where he worked for a similar arcade business at the Mall of America.

Assistant General Manager Kyle Lockwood plays one of the many games at Gameworks in Northfield.

The business currently employs a total of 90 people, with eight employees working on weekdays and upwards of 20 staff working at any given time during weekends. GameWorks, which is looking to open more locations, touts a safe and welcoming environment.

GameWorks was drawn to the Stapleton area based on the area’s boom in residential development. Lockwood says the arcade is somewhat similar to venues such as Punch Bowl Social, which opens in Stapleton’s Central Park West neighborhood this fall, but has a different feel.

For more information, visit www.gameworks.com/locations/denver. GameWorks is located at 7950 Northfield Blvd.; 720.330.9444. Open Sun.–Thurs. from 11am-10pm. Fri. and Sat. from 11am-12am. After 10pm the venue is 21+.