Roughly eight months after Quake Family Fun Center opened in Kennewick’s Badger Canyon area, business has been, well, fun.

So much so that Quake plans to open a video game arcade inside Columbia Center mall.

“We just signed the deal. It’s going to be a pretty awesome arcade. There are going to be a lot of games that people have not seen before,” said Paul Knabe, one of Quake’s owners.

The location will be near the food court and Macy’s Men’s and Children’s store.

Opening an arcade at the mall makes sense, Knabe said.

“We know people will drive 90 minutes to shop at the mall,” he said.

Knabe believes they can put 25 arcade games inside the 2,000-square-foot storefront.

Quake’s owners are putting together a unique lineup, including technology and games not currently offered anywhere else in the Tri-Cities.

“There would be some games similar to what you see at Quake now,” Knabe said. “A fishing game where the fish fight back. Or a racing game that when you hit the nitrous and it puts you back into your seat. The games will be a lot similar in quality, but there is definitely going to be some different ones.”

An early August opening is planned.

Let’s play

Five families own Quake, and Knabe says a number of them do their research.

“It’s a really rough life. We go to places and play games,” Knabe said. “We go to three conventions a year to keep a pulse on the industry and get an idea on what’s coming out. How will kids react to games? Is the game gimmicky, or is the game good enough that people will want to play it? Then we also network with other arcade owners, ask them what they see working.”

Knabe said the mall location also will serve up some nostalgia in the form of retro games, like pinball machines.

“A lot of this stuff is what you can only play in an arcade,” he said. “It’s going to liven up the food court area.”

Success at Quake

The Quake Family Fun Center took a bit longer than expected to build.

The 40,000-square-foot facility opened in September 2023, with the owners investing $2.5 million.

That included spending more money per square foot than what the industry standard is, Knabe said. A Coeur d’Alene company supplied shock-absorbing, custom-built trampolines, for example.

But Knabe says the wait has been worth it.

“It’s actually been better than we thought. The community has really embraced us,” he said. “We initially had planned to hire 35 employees. But now we’re at 70. And we get a lot of repeat customers.”

Their long-range planning appears to have paid off. “We’re parents, and we said, ‘Let’s get some things right,’” Knabe said. “We planned it, and, wow, it worked out.”

The facility features a cafe and bar; toddler arena with an inflatable park; laser maze; 35-game arcade called Redemption Arcade; a tactical 3,600-square-foot laser tag arena; virtual reality attractions; ninja warrior course; 14,000-square foot trampoline park; and two golf simulators.

“We had a white canvas with this place, and we were able to shove a lot into the park,” Knabe said.

And if anything needs to be adjusted, they’ll do it, he said.

“Here’s an example: We had a huge ninja warriors course,” he said. “But we realized we needed some party space. So we turned that into the space, and we put in a sport court for volleyball and soccer.”

There seems to be an unwritten schedule for the customer base at Quake.

Mornings are usually for toddlers. Afternoons are for the younger kids, and nights are for the older kids.

At 6 p.m., the indoor park has glowing lights on, “and the floors glow,” Knabe said.

Adults have become big fans too, Knabe said.

“Our (Redemption Arcade) is incredibly popular. We didn’t realize it would be as popular as it is,” he said. “We have 35 arcade games currently at the park. This one that will be in the mall, we hope it appeals to a whole audience.”

What’s next?

More plans are in the works at the original location.

Quake struck a deal with Dino Drop-In to run 10 separate weekly summer camps at their park. Called Dino Shakes the Quake, the weekly themed camps begin June 17.

Each camp will run from Mondays through Thursdays, and they are open to kids ages 6-12.

Quake owners are contemplating a future expansion beyond the mall arcade, too.

“We would love to put another Quake park in this region,” Knabe said. “We built this one at 40,000 square feet. And some attractions we wanted to put in it wouldn’t fit in it. Maybe a place in Pasco or Yakima. So that project is definitely on our radar.”

Meanwhile, Quake owners and employees are ready for their first summer of fun.

“I’m glad we got the opportunity to do this here,” Knabe said of the indoor park. “We actually have had several people fly in from all around the country — people building parks — who wanted to see what we were doing.

“But we’re for the Tri-Cities. We’re local and we’ll be here for a long time,” he said.

Quake Family Fun Center is at 106904 E. Derrick Private Road in Kennewick. Go to: quakefamilyfun.com.