St. Laurent Shopping Centre

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A genuinely awesome "new" addition to St. Laurent and a true attraction!

New Ottawa arcade brings back a taste of the 90s

Couple make their longtime dream of opening an arcade in Canada a reality

Jenna Legge · CBC News · Posted: Aug 05, 2026



For anyone who grew up in the 1980s and 90s, the electric buzz, hoots, hollers and beeps of a classic video game arcade are likely familiar.

It's an environment one pair of high school sweethearts is bringing to the St. Laurent Shopping Centre with a heavy dose of nostalgia.

Boss Battle Games, which opened on the mall's main floor on July 31, is filled with carefully curated games like Star Wars and Jurassic Park and was a long-time dream of co-owners Phylicia and Dustin Burd.

The couple had plans for the arcade back in 2019 as a second location of their arcade of the same name in Indianapolis.

When the pandemic hit, those plans were paused.

"We were very lucky that we were able to survive through COVID and we were able to finally take that leap to move," Phylicia to CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning.

Each machine has a story, Phylicia said, adding that the pair have gone through some interesting lengths to secure their collection.

"We go out and we buy games that are in horse pastures, barns, basements, auctions. We've gone to a building before that was about to be demolished," she said.

"We want to give these machines a second chance. We do all our own maintenance, we do all our own art restoration. We love these machines."



With gaming done largely online these days, Phylicia said that the community connection is not the same. Growing up, she said she remembers the role her local arcade had in community building and it's a role she wants to bring back.

"I believe that arcade games and arcades in general are a really cool third space that we don't appreciate anymore as a society," she said.

"Back in the day, you'd go to an arcade and you would line up quarters for who was playing next, and you met people. You could challenge people."

She added that their first location was a clear example.

"We've had people get engaged at the arcade, we've had people get married at the arcade, we've watched children grow up in the arcade."



Boss Battle Games comes with a twist from the days of lining up for quarters: free play. Customers are able to pay once and then can play as much as they want for as long as they want.

The goal is for players to have the chance to try new games that they would potentially shy away from if they had to pay per play, and also get better at their favourites.

"They can come in and they can practice the combos or the moves or different characters, and there's no pressure to keep pumping coins in so then they actually get really good at it."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-boss-battle-games-arcade-stlaurent-9.7296567