One of Funspot’s early pinball restoration priorities was a machine worn down by people enjoying it. The Addams Family had seen enough play to need an extensive rehabilitation. For an arcade, that is a satisfying problem to have—and still a problem somebody has to fix.

Funspot opened in 1952 in Laconia, New Hampshire. Guinness World Records lists it as the world’s largest video-game arcade, citing 581 classic and new games across three floors as of January 12, 2016. That is a dated count, not a fresh inventory. It also measures something easier to advertise than the work required to keep those games playable.

The Machines Had Earned Their Wear

In an October 2025 report by Paige Darrah for The Laconia Daily Sun, Dave Lawton, who became general manager after his father Bob’s death in November 2021, described a renewed commitment to pinball. His cousin Randy ran the technician team. The heavily played Addams Family was among the first machines pulled for extensive work.

Local player Sean Sturgill described Funspot’s earlier pinball reputation as “shaky at best,” citing machines in disrepair. Lawton said growing interest in leagues and tournaments helped prompt the refurbishment effort. Employees also transformed space near the bowling lanes and tavern into the Pinball Outpost, which opened in 2023.

A Reason to Come Back

Funspot’s 2026 pinball schedule gives that investment a recurring purpose: Thursday league nights, a November 7–8 endurance competition, and tournaments listed through December 13. The December 6 New England Pinball League finals require qualification through league play.

A collection can reward a single visit. A league asks people to return and put their scores beside somebody else’s. Maintenance becomes part of the social arrangement: the machine has to be ready for the next game.

An Archive That Still Takes Players

Upstairs, the American Classic Arcade Museum gives the building another kind of continuity. In Yankee’s 2010 account, Gary Vincent recalled persuading Bob Lawton to let him establish the museum in 1998, after watching vintage arcade games lose their place in everyday life.

Preserving a playable arcade machine leaves a useful complication intact. Visitors operate the object being preserved. Its controls, screen, sound, and response are part of what there is to understand. Keeping the cabinet alone would preserve only part of the experience.

Downstairs, the lineup has continued to change. The Daily Sun’s 2025 report noted additions including James Bond, King Kong, Godzilla, and a Harry Potter machine that arrived that August. The same building makes room for rediscovery and the attraction of a new game.

Keeping the Floor Alive

Expansion was less appealing. In the same report, Dave Lawton said the family had largely ruled out new projects, while remaining receptive to outside hospitality development on underused property.

There is plenty of ambition in looking after what is already there. A restored Addams Family returns to the floor, takes another player’s tokens, and starts accumulating wear again. At a working arcade, that is what successful preservation looks like.